# NousResearch/hermes-agent · 'max' reasoning effort mangled on custom OpenAI-compatible relays

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

A bug where the reasoning effort value 'max' is silently rewritten to 'xhigh' when using custom OpenAI-compatible relays in Responses/Codex API mode. The cluster includes the bug report and related fix attempts addressing vocabulary declaration for this effort level.

## TL;DR

- 3 member(s): 0 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 0 open PR(s), 1 merged PR(s), 1 PR(s) closed without merging.
- A fix was merged to main in PR #114808. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #114808 (and any competing PRs below) before filing. Confirm the merged change covers your symptom.

## Maintainer resolution verdict

- Internal-tracker verdict over this cluster's issue members: `resolved` · deciding PR(s): `pr-114808`. This is distinct from the fix status above. Weigh it yourself.

## How this cluster was grouped

- Link evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.
- Pairwise link density `0.67`: the share of member pairs that carry a link, counting a structural link in full and a relevance-only link at 0.36. `1.00` means every pair is linked.

## Closed / duplicate issues

- #114249: \[Bug\]: reasoning effort "max" is silently rewritten to "xhigh" on custom OpenAI-compatible relays (api_mode: codex_responses)

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#114808: fix(codex): a configured max reasoning effort reaches custom Responses relays instead of xhigh (#114249, salvage #114255)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `agent/transports/codex.py`, `plugins/model-providers/custom/__init__.py`, `tests/agent/transports/test_router_codex_efforts.py`, `tests/plugins/model_providers/test_custom_profile.py`, `website/docs/integrations/providers.md`
- **#114255: fix(custom): declare the OpenAI-compat effort vocabulary so Responses keeps a configured max**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `merged_via`; implication `superseded`; refs `d7f26441419d`, `#114808`, `#114249`, `#114255`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #114808 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-09-18`.