What is effortless?
Effortless is a beta plugin for Claude Code that adjusts reasoning effort prompt by prompt, so the model can spend more or less effort on each coding request. It also tracks how long the prompt cache remains warm, signals when starting a fresh chat may help, and summarizes conversations during compaction. It is designed for developers working in Claude Code who want these decisions handled inside a chat, using their own Claude login without an API key.
effortless Features:
Effort Selection: The plugin judges each prompt and selects an effort level instead of applying one fixed setting across the coding chat.
Cache Countdown: A countdown shows how long the prompt cache stays warm and indicates when it has gone cold.
Fresh Chat Signal: Haiku can indicate when opening a fresh chat would be worthwhile, with a Handoff indicator for that suggestion.
Chat Load: The plugin signals when a conversation is getting heavy and eases off before the chat reaches its limit.
Compaction Summaries: Haiku 5.5 summarizes every compaction, whether it happens automatically or is started by hand.
Install Options: Users can ask Claude Code to install the plugin or add its marketplace and install it from the terminal, then reload plugins.
effortless Benefits:
Lower Model Spend: For coding tasks, the product reports 21% lower cost than Opus at medium effort while returning the same answers.
Less Manual Tuning: Prompt-by-prompt effort selection avoids making developers choose a single reasoning setting for requests with different needs.
Better Chat Timing: Cache and fresh-chat cues help users judge whether to continue a conversation or start another one.
Context Continuity: Summaries of compacted conversations give users a concise record to work from as a chat continues.
Simpler Setup: Using an existing Claude login means users do not need to supply a separate API key to run the plugin.
Use Cases:
Mixed Coding Prompts: Use it in a Claude Code session that moves between straightforward requests and tasks that may need more reasoning effort.
Cost-Conscious Coding: Try it when working on coding tasks where controlling Opus spend at medium effort matters.
Long Chat Sessions: Watch cache and chat-load signals during extended coding conversations to decide when to continue or switch chats.
Fresh Chat Decisions: Use the Handoff signal when a coding thread has accumulated enough context that a new conversation may be useful.
Compacted Conversations: Rely on compaction summaries when a long Claude Code chat is compacted manually or automatically and work needs to continue.