[BUG] Model picker Ultracode selection reports effort.level "xhigh" to statusline, while /effort ultracode reports "ultracode"

Environment

• Claude Code: 2.1.210
• OS: macOS 26.5.2 (arm64), Terminal TUI
• Statusline: custom statusLine command that renders effort.level from the stdin JSON verbatim, with "refreshInterval": 1

Summary

Selecting Ultracode in the model picker (Option+P) and selecting ultracode in the /effort menu report different effort.level values to the statusline JSON:

| How ultracode is set | effort.level reported to statusline |
|---|---|
| /effort → ultracode | "ultracode" |
| Option+P picker → Ultracode slider position → Enter | "xhigh" |

Every other effort level (low/medium/high/xhigh/max) chosen via the picker + Enter is reflected in effort.level immediately and correctly. Only Ultracode degrades to "xhigh".

Steps to reproduce

1. Configure a statusline command that prints .effort.level from stdin JSON (plus "refreshInterval": 1 to see updates quickly).
2. Run /effort and select ultracode → statusline shows ultracode (the stdin JSON contains "effort":{"level":"ultracode"}).
3. Open the model picker (Option+P), move the effort slider to Ultracode (✦ Ultracode effort ←/→ to adjust), press Enter → statusline shows xhigh.
4. For comparison, pick any non-Ultracode level in the picker + Enter → statusline updates to that exact level immediately.

Expected

Both entry points set the same mode, so they should report the same effort.level value (either both "ultracode", or both "xhigh" plus a separate documented flag for the ultracode/workflow state).

Actual

The reported value depends on which UI path was used (see table above). This makes it impossible for a statusline script to reliably indicate whether ultracode is active.

Additional observations

• The full effort object in the statusline JSON contains only {"level": ...} — captured across 15 concurrent live sessions (2.1.210); no separate ultracode flag is surfaced that could disambiguate.
• After picking Ultracode in the picker and pressing Enter, the persisted default in settings.json is written as "effortLevel": "xhigh" — consistent with the ultracode flag being dropped somewhere on the picker path.
• Docs contradiction: statusline.md currently states "Ultracode is not a distinct level and reports as xhigh" — that matches the picker path but contradicts the observed /effort behavior on 2.1.210. Either the docs are stale (if "ultracode" is now an intended distinct reported value) or the picker path loses the flag (if /effort behavior is the intended one).
• Open question for maintainers: does selecting Ultracode via the picker actually enable workflow orchestration for the current session, or does it silently set plain xhigh? If the latter, this is a functional bug (users believe ultracode is active when it is not), not just an inconsistent status report.

Related issues

• #69653 — /effort presents ultracode as a top tier while it is xhigh + workflow flag
• #68754 (closed) — VS Code effort slider not reflecting persisted ultracode
• #66476 — /clear drops ultracode while the indicator still shows it
• #75927 — ultracode dropped from --effort during agent dispatch serialization