jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

Could not enable Adaptive thinking

Error message

Could not enable Adaptive thinking

What it means

When --think is enabled, setAdaptiveThinking() must flip the Adaptive thinking toggle. If it returns {ok:false} after retries, the library throws CommandExecutionError because the requested thinking mode could not be enabled.

Source

Thrown at clis/claude/ask.js:102

            }

            const modelResult = await withRetry(() => selectModel(page, wantModel));
            if (!modelResult?.ok) {
                if (modelResult?.upgrade) {
                    throw new ArgumentError(
                        `${wantModel} model requires a paid Claude plan.`,
                        'Pick --model sonnet or --model haiku, or upgrade your account.',
                    );
                }
                throw new CommandExecutionError(`Could not switch to ${wantModel} model`);
            }
            // Post-toggle settle dropped — the next CDP eval (setAdaptiveThinking) gives
            // React enough time to flush aria-checked updates between rountrips.
        }

        const thinkResult = await withRetry(() => setAdaptiveThinking(page, wantThink));
        if (!thinkResult?.ok && wantThink) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError('Could not enable Adaptive thinking');
        }
        // Post-toggle settle dropped — the next CDP eval (sendMessage / sendWithFile)
        // gives React enough time to flush aria-checked updates.

        if (kwargs.file) {
            const baseline = await withRetry(() => getBubbleCount(page));
            try {
                const fileResult = await sendWithFile(page, kwargs.file, prompt);
                if (fileResult && !fileResult.ok) {
                    throw new CommandExecutionError(fileResult.reason || 'Failed to attach file');
                }
            } catch (err) {
                // SPA navigates after send; "Promise was collected" means send succeeded
                if (!String(err?.message || err).includes('Promise was collected')) throw err;
            }
            // Pre-waitForResponse settle dropped — waitForResponse's first 3 s polling
            // tick covers the same window without an unconditional sleep.
            const result = await waitForResponse(page, baseline, prompt, timeoutMs);

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

  1. Re-run the command to give the page more time to render the toggle.
  2. Drop --think if the current model/plan doesn't offer Adaptive thinking.
  3. Update opencli if the toggle markup changed in a Claude UI update.

Example fix

// before
opencli claude ask "solve this" --think --model haiku
// after
opencli claude ask "solve this" --model sonnet --think  # model supporting adaptive thinking
Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Validate before calling

// Only request --think for models/plans that expose the toggle
const supportsThinking = ['sonnet', 'opus'].includes(opts.model);
if (!supportsThinking) delete opts.think;

Try / catch

try {
  return await opencli.claude.ask(prompt, { think: true, model: 'sonnet', new: true });
} catch (e) {
  if (/Could not enable Adaptive thinking/.test(e.message)) {
    return await opencli.claude.ask(prompt, { model: 'sonnet', new: true }); // retry without --think
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running `claude ask ... --think` where the Adaptive thinking toggle is absent from the DOM, already in a conflicting state, or not clickable within retries; wantThink is true and thinkResult.ok is false.

Common situations: Plan or model that doesn't support adaptive thinking (toggle hidden); Claude UI change moving/removing the toggle; page not fully hydrated when the toggle is clicked.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4511cc157229086a. Report an issue: GitHub.