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thinking-exhausted Hook

Metadata​

name: thinking-exhausted
version: 1.0.0
category: orchestration
status: active
priority: P1
trigger: ThinkingBudget depleted
derived_from: Claude Operating Preferences v6.0

Description​

Triggered when the extended thinking budget is exhausted during a task. Creates a checkpoint of current reasoning state and notifies the user.

Trigger Conditions​

  • Thinking token usage reaches 95% of budget
  • Thinking budget fully depleted
  • Interleaved thinking context about to be lost

Actions​

  1. Checkpoint Current State

    • Save intermediate conclusions
    • Preserve thinking summary
    • Record current task progress

  2. Notify User

    • Display warning about budget exhaustion
    • Show thinking utilization percentage
    • Suggest continuation options

  3. Recommend Next Steps

    • Suggest appropriate budget for continuation
    • Offer to create checkpoint file
    • Provide resume instructions

Configuration​

# hooks/thinking-exhausted.yaml
hook:
  name: thinking-exhausted
  enabled: true

triggers:
  - event: thinking_budget_warning
    threshold: 0.95
  - event: thinking_budget_exhausted
    threshold: 1.0

actions:
  - type: checkpoint
    include:
      - thinking_summary
      - current_task
      - completed_steps
      - decisions_made

  - type: notify
    message: |
      Thinking budget exhausted ({utilization}% used).
      Checkpoint created: {checkpoint_path}

  - type: suggest
    options:
      - "Continue with DEEP tier (16K tokens)"
      - "Continue with EXTENDED tier (32K tokens)"
      - "Save and resume later"

Example Output​

[HOOK: thinking-exhausted]

Thinking Budget Exhausted
-------------------------
Budget:      16,000 tokens
Used:        15,847 tokens (99.0%)
Status:      EXHAUSTED

Checkpoint Created
------------------
File: checkpoints/2025-12-31T15-04-00Z-thinking-exhausted.json
Summary: "Analyzing authentication race condition. Identified 3 potential causes..."

Recommendations
---------------
1. Continue with EXTENDED tier (32K) for deeper analysis
2. Resume from checkpoint with current conclusions
3. Proceed with partial analysis

Run: /thinking-config --tier EXTENDED to continue

Integration​

class ThinkingExhaustedHook:
    """Hook handler for thinking budget exhaustion"""

    def __init__(self, checkpoint_dir: str = "checkpoints"):
        self.checkpoint_dir = checkpoint_dir

    async def on_thinking_warning(
        self,
        budget: int,
        used: int,
        thinking_summary: str
    ):
        """Handle 95% warning"""
        utilization = used / budget
        print(f"[WARN] Thinking budget at {utilization*100:.1f}%")

    async def on_thinking_exhausted(
        self,
        budget: int,
        used: int,
        thinking_summary: str,
        current_task: str
    ):
        """Handle exhaustion"""
        checkpoint = self._create_checkpoint(
            thinking_summary,
            current_task
        )
        self._notify_user(checkpoint)
        self._suggest_next_steps(budget)

    def _create_checkpoint(self, summary: str, task: str) -> str:
        """Create checkpoint file"""
        import json
        from datetime import datetime

        checkpoint = {
            "timestamp": datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + "Z",
            "thinking_summary": summary,
            "current_task": task,
            "status": "thinking_exhausted"
        }

        path = f"{self.checkpoint_dir}/thinking-exhausted-{checkpoint['timestamp']}.json"
        with open(path, 'w') as f:
            json.dump(checkpoint, f, indent=2)

        return path

    def _notify_user(self, checkpoint_path: str):
        """Notify user of exhaustion"""
        print(f"\n[HOOK: thinking-exhausted]")
        print(f"Checkpoint: {checkpoint_path}")

    def _suggest_next_steps(self, current_budget: int):
        """Suggest continuation options"""
        next_tier = "EXTENDED" if current_budget < 32000 else "MAXIMUM"
        print(f"\nRecommendation: /thinking-config --tier {next_tier}")
  • skills/extended-thinking-patterns/ - Thinking configuration
  • agents/thinking-budget-manager.md - Budget management
  • commands/thinking-config.md - CLI configuration