agent seed: thinking levels low|medium|high|xhigh|max|off on both APIs (card #128)

New config field `thinking` (OpenAI: reasoning_effort still wins): Anthropic adaptive thinking +
output_config.effort (thinking blocks kept and sent back), OpenAI reasoning.effort. A 400 that rejects
the effort is retried with the nearest accepted level (from the error's list, lower on a tie), logged,
never dropped to off.

agent/src/llm.rs

@@ -14,11 +14,49 @@ pub struct Config {
     pub base_url: String,
     pub model: String,
     pub token: String,
-    /// Optional reasoning effort for OpenAI models ("low", "medium", ...).
+    /// Optional reasoning effort for OpenAI models only (wins over `thinking` there).
     #[serde(default)]
     pub reasoning_effort: Option<String>,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub max_tokens: Option<u32>,
+    /// Thinking effort for both APIs: "low", "medium", "high", "xhigh", "max" (`LEVELS`), or "off"/unset for none.
+    /// Anthropic: adaptive thinking + output_config.effort; OpenAI: reasoning.effort. A level the model rejects is
+    /// replaced by the nearest accepted one (logged), never by "off".
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub thinking: Option<String>,
+}
+
+/// Thinking levels, lowest first.
+pub const LEVELS: [&str; 5] = ["low", "medium", "high", "xhigh", "max"];
+
+/// The level nearest to `want` (lower on a tie) among those a 400 error lists in quotes (else all levels), not
+/// yet `tried`. None: nothing left, so the request goes out without an effort field (model default).
+fn fallback_effort(want: &str, error: &str, tried: &[String]) -> Option<String> {
+    let listed: Vec<&str> = error.split('\'').skip(1).step_by(2).filter(|w| LEVELS.contains(w)).collect();
+    let pool = if listed.iter().any(|l| *l != want) { listed } else { LEVELS.to_vec() };
+    let at = LEVELS.iter().position(|l| *l == want).unwrap_or(1) as i32;
+    pool.into_iter()
+        .filter(|l| *l != want && !tried.iter().any(|t| t == l))
+        .min_by_key(|l| {
+            let i = LEVELS.iter().position(|x| x == l).unwrap_or(1) as i32;
+            ((i - at).abs(), i > at)
+        })
+        .map(str::to_string)
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::fallback_effort;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn nearest_accepted_level() {
+        let anthropic = "HTTP 400: output_config.effort: Input should be 'low', 'medium', 'high' or 'max'";
+        assert_eq!(fallback_effort("xhigh", anthropic, &["xhigh".into()]).as_deref(), Some("high"));
+        let openai = "HTTP 400: Invalid value: 'ultra'. Supported values are: 'none', 'minimal', 'low', 'medium', 'high', 'xhigh', and 'max'.";
+        assert_eq!(fallback_effort("ultra", openai, &["ultra".into()]).as_deref(), Some("medium"));
+        // No list in the error: step to the neighbour, never to off.
+        assert_eq!(fallback_effort("max", "HTTP 400: effort max not supported", &["max".into()]).as_deref(), Some("xhigh"));
+    }
 }
 
 #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Clone, Debug)]
@@ -32,7 +70,7 @@ pub enum Entry {
     },
     ToolCall { id: String, name: String, arguments: String },
     ToolResult { id: String, output: String },
-    /// A provider item that only this API shape understands (OpenAI reasoning).
+    /// A provider item that only this API shape understands (OpenAI reasoning, Anthropic thinking).
     Opaque { api: String, item: Value },
 }
 
@@ -43,10 +81,28 @@ pub struct Tool {
 }
 
 pub async fn complete(cfg: &Config, system: &str, tools: &[Tool], history: &[Entry]) -> Result<Vec<Entry>, String> {
-    match cfg.api.as_str() {
-        "openai-responses" => openai(cfg, system, tools, history).await,
-        "anthropic-messages" => anthropic(cfg, system, tools, history).await,
-        other => Err(format!("unknown API shape {other:?}")),
+    let want = match cfg.api.as_str() {
+        "openai-responses" => cfg.reasoning_effort.clone().or_else(|| cfg.thinking.clone()),
+        _ => cfg.thinking.clone(),
+    }
+    .filter(|t| t != "off");
+    let mut effort = want.clone();
+    let mut tried = Vec::new();
+    loop {
+        let result = match cfg.api.as_str() {
+            "openai-responses" => openai(cfg, system, tools, history, effort.as_deref()).await,
+            "anthropic-messages" => anthropic(cfg, system, tools, history, want.is_some(), effort.as_deref()).await,
+            other => return Err(format!("unknown API shape {other:?}")),
+        };
+        match (result, effort.clone()) {
+            // The model rejected the effort level: retry with the nearest accepted one (thinking stays on).
+            (Err(e), Some(current)) if e.starts_with("HTTP 400") && e.contains("effort") => {
+                tried.push(current.clone());
+                effort = fallback_effort(want.as_deref().unwrap_or(""), &e, &tried);
+                eprintln!("agent: {} rejected thinking effort {current:?}; retrying with {effort:?}: {e}", cfg.model);
+            }
+            (result, _) => return result,
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -67,7 +123,7 @@ async fn post(url: &str, headers: &[(&str, String)], body: &Value) -> Result<Val
     serde_json::from_str(&text).map_err(|e| format!("invalid JSON in response: {e}"))
 }
 
-async fn openai(cfg: &Config, system: &str, tools: &[Tool], history: &[Entry]) -> Result<Vec<Entry>, String> {
+async fn openai(cfg: &Config, system: &str, tools: &[Tool], history: &[Entry], effort: Option<&str>) -> Result<Vec<Entry>, String> {
     let mut input = Vec::new();
     for e in history {
         match e {
@@ -104,7 +160,7 @@ async fn openai(cfg: &Config, system: &str, tools: &[Tool], history: &[Entry]) -
     if let Some(max_tokens) = cfg.max_tokens {
         body["max_output_tokens"] = json!(max_tokens);
     }
-    if let Some(effort) = &cfg.reasoning_effort {
+    if let Some(effort) = effort {
         body["reasoning"] = json!({"effort": effort});
     }
     let url = format!("{}/v1/responses", cfg.base_url);
@@ -143,7 +199,14 @@ async fn openai(cfg: &Config, system: &str, tools: &[Tool], history: &[Entry]) -
     Ok(out)
 }
 
-async fn anthropic(cfg: &Config, system: &str, tools: &[Tool], history: &[Entry]) -> Result<Vec<Entry>, String> {
+async fn anthropic(
+    cfg: &Config,
+    system: &str,
+    tools: &[Tool],
+    history: &[Entry],
+    thinking: bool,
+    effort: Option<&str>,
+) -> Result<Vec<Entry>, String> {
     // Merge consecutive blocks of the same role into one message.
     let mut messages: Vec<(String, Vec<Value>)> = Vec::new();
     let mut push = |role: &str, block: Value| match messages.last_mut() {
@@ -163,6 +226,8 @@ async fn anthropic(cfg: &Config, system: &str, tools: &[Tool], history: &[Entry]
             Entry::ToolResult { id, output } => {
                 push("user", json!({"type": "tool_result", "tool_use_id": id, "content": output}))
             }
+            // Thinking blocks go back unchanged (with their signature): required next to tool use.
+            Entry::Opaque { api, item } if api == "anthropic-messages" && thinking => push("assistant", item.clone()),
             Entry::Opaque { .. } => {}
         }
     }
@@ -171,13 +236,19 @@ async fn anthropic(cfg: &Config, system: &str, tools: &[Tool], history: &[Entry]
         .iter()
         .map(|t| json!({"name": t.name, "description": t.description, "input_schema": t.parameters}))
         .collect();
-    let body = json!({
+    let mut body = json!({
         "model": cfg.model,
         "system": system,
         "messages": messages,
         "tools": tools,
         "max_tokens": cfg.max_tokens.unwrap_or(32000),
     });
+    if thinking {
+        body["thinking"] = json!({"type": "adaptive"});
+        if let Some(effort) = effort {
+            body["output_config"] = json!({"effort": effort});
+        }
+    }
     let url = format!("{}/v1/messages", cfg.base_url);
     let resp = post(
         &url,
@@ -199,6 +270,9 @@ async fn anthropic(cfg: &Config, system: &str, tools: &[Tool], history: &[Entry]
                 name: block["name"].as_str().unwrap_or_default().to_string(),
                 arguments: block["input"].to_string(),
             }),
+            Some("thinking") | Some("redacted_thinking") => {
+                out.push(Entry::Opaque { api: "anthropic-messages".into(), item: block })
+            }
             _ => {}
         }
     }

flake.lock

@@ -1,5 +1,20 @@
 {
   "nodes": {
+    "crane": {
+      "locked": {
+        "lastModified": 1791754810,
+        "narHash": "sha256-cN0Mgk+sQtCJcGWs9H4M0CnLRAuC4I8aCwiBTcBJs6E=",
+        "owner": "ipetkov",
+        "repo": "crane",
+        "rev": "bd63bf1d0a0f6dcacd7549c714a671ee63b0db6a",
+        "type": "github"
+      },
+      "original": {
+        "owner": "ipetkov",
+        "repo": "crane",
+        "type": "github"
+      }
+    },
     "flake-utils": {
       "inputs": {
         "systems": "systems"
@@ -36,6 +51,7 @@
     },
     "root": {
       "inputs": {
+        "crane": "crane",
         "flake-utils": "flake-utils",
         "nixpkgs": "nixpkgs",
         "rust-overlay": "rust-overlay"

flake.nix

@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
     flake-utils.url = "github:numtide/flake-utils";
     rust-overlay.url = "github:oxalica/rust-overlay";
     rust-overlay.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
+    crane.url = "github:ipetkov/crane";
   };
 
-  outputs = { nixpkgs, flake-utils, rust-overlay, ... }:
+  outputs = { nixpkgs, flake-utils, rust-overlay, crane, ... }:
     flake-utils.lib.eachSystem flake-utils.lib.allSystems (system:
       let
         pkgs = import nixpkgs {
@@ -20,13 +21,28 @@
           targets = [ "wasm32-wasip2" ];
           extensions = [ "rust-src" ];
         };
-        rustPlatform = pkgs.makeRustPlatform { cargo = rust; rustc = rust; };
-        sausage = rustPlatform.buildRustPackage {
+        # Crane builds the dependencies once (`cargoArtifacts`, keyed only on
+        # Cargo.toml/Cargo.lock), so a change to our own crates rebuilds
+        # just them.
+        craneLib = (crane.mkLib pkgs).overrideToolchain rust;
+        common = {
           pname = "sausage";
           version = "0.1.0";
           src = ./.;
-          cargoLock.lockFile = ./Cargo.lock;
-          cargoBuildFlags = [ "-p" "sausage" ];
+        };
+        # The test packages for `checks.tests`.
+        testPackages = "-p sausage -p sausage-actor -p agent";
+        cargoArtifacts = craneLib.buildDepsOnly (common // {
+          doCheck = false;
+          # The dependencies of the host binary and of the tests.
+          buildPhaseCargoCommand = ''
+            cargoWithProfile build --locked -p sausage
+            cargoWithProfile test --locked --no-run ${testPackages}
+          '';
+        });
+        sausage = craneLib.buildPackage (common // {
+          inherit cargoArtifacts;
+          cargoExtraArgs = "--locked -p sausage";
           doCheck = false;
           nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgs.makeWrapper ];
           # The `cargo` actor runs cargo at runtime. Build scripts need a C linker.
@@ -34,7 +50,7 @@
             wrapProgram $out/bin/sausage --prefix PATH : ${pkgs.lib.makeBinPath [ rust pkgs.stdenv.cc ]}
           '';
           meta.mainProgram = "sausage";
-        };
+        });
         # `nix run .#loop -- <world>` runs the newest `sausage run <world>`
         # (without a folder: bare `sausage`, i.e. ./world, created if needed)
         # from the public repo, again and again: after a crash or a broker
@@ -62,10 +78,14 @@
         # `nix flake check` runs every test of the host, the SDK, and the
         # agent. The tests build WASM actors with cargo, offline, from the
         # vendored crates of Cargo.lock.
-        checks.tests = sausage.overrideAttrs (old: {
-          pname = "sausage-tests";
-          doCheck = true;
-          cargoTestFlags = [ "-p" "sausage" "-p" "sausage-actor" "-p" "agent" ];
+        # The binary the host loop runs (`nix run`), built from the same
+        # cached dependencies as the tests.
+        checks.package = sausage;
+        checks.tests = craneLib.cargoTest (common // {
+          inherit cargoArtifacts;
+          cargoExtraArgs = "--locked ${testPackages}";
+          # Nothing builds on the test run's target folder: don't store it.
+          doInstallCargoArtifacts = false;
           preCheck = ''
             # Its own lock file pins crates that the vendored set may lack.
             rm -f cli/tests/actors/toolbox/Cargo.lock