[DOCS] Doc Missing for alwaysThinkingEnabled Setting

Documentation Type

Missing documentation (feature not documented)

Documentation Location

The setting is missing from the primary configuration documentation pages: https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/settings https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/common-workflows (in the "Use extended thinking" section) https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/interactive-mode

Section/Topic

• The "Available settings" table within the settings.json section of the Settings documentation. - The "Environment variables" table on the same page, if a corresponding environment variable exists. - The sections explaining "extended thinking" should also be updated to reflect this configuration method.

Current Documentation

The documentation does not mention the alwaysThinkingEnabled setting at all. The only documented method for permanently enabling extended thinking is through an environment variable in en/docs/claude-code/settings:

MAX_THINKING_TOKENS: Enable extended thinking and set the token budget for the thinking process. ... Disabled by default.

The documentation also mentions toggling the feature on-demand with the Tab key or by using keywords like "think". There is no mention of a boolean setting in settings.json to force it on by default.

What's Wrong or Missing?

There is a functional but undocumented setting, "alwaysThinkingEnabled": true, that can be added to settings.json. When this setting is present and set to true, Claude Code starts with "Thinking mode" enabled by default.

This is a useful feature for users who prefer to have thinking mode on for all sessions without needing to toggle it manually with the Tab key each time. The complete absence of this setting from the documentation means users are unaware of its existence.

Suggested Improvement

The settings.json table in the documentation should be updated to include this new setting.

Suggested addition to the "Available settings" table:

| Key | Description | Example |
| :-------------------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------- | :------ |
| alwaysThinkingEnabled | Whether to enable thinking mode by default on startup (default: false) | true |

Additionally, the documentation on extended thinking should be updated to mention this setting as the primary way to enable the feature permanently, alongside the MAX_THINKING_TOKENS environment variable.

Impact

High - Prevents users from using a feature

Additional Context

Setting "alwaysThinkingEnabled": true in ~/.claude/settings.json and launching claude successfully forces thinking mode on, as shown in the screenshot below. The status line clearly displays "Thinking on (tab to toggle)" upon startup.

Screenshot showing the feature in action:

 ▐▛███▜▌   Claude Code v2.0.5
▝▜█████▛▘  Sonnet 4.5 · Claude Max
  ▘▘ ▝▝    /Users/user/Desktop

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> Try "how do I log an error?"
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  cwd: /Users/user/Desktop                                                        Thinking on (tab to toggle)
  ...