r/ClaudeAI: Developer Discovers Claude Can Now Switch Models and Effort Levels Within the Same Conversation Thread — 'Pretty Sure Before You Could Not Change Models Within a Thread'

A developer testing Claude.ai in-browser reported discovering they can now switch between effort levels (standard, extended thinking) and between models such as Opus 4.8 and Sonnet 4.6 within an existing conversation thread — a capability the poster believes was not previously possible mid-thread. The post attracted confirming responses from other users, suggesting this is a live behavior change rather than a one-off account anomaly. No official Anthropic changelog entry has been identified for this behavior as of posting.