Claude Code

Fast Mode - Claude Code

2.5x faster Opus at a higher token cost (research preview).

Developers Digest•April 23, 2026•1 min read

Fast mode runs Opus with an accelerated inference path - roughly 2.5x the throughput at a higher per-token price.

What it does

When fast mode is enabled, Claude Code routes Opus calls through a lower-latency backend. You pay more per token, but turns complete faster. Quality matches standard Opus. It's a straight speed-for-cost tradeoff for sessions where wall-clock time matters more than spend.

When to use it

Interactive work where latency hurts flow.
Pair-programming sessions where Claude needs to keep up with you.
Time-critical debugging or incident response.
Demos and recordings where dead air looks bad.

Gotchas

Fast mode is a research preview. Availability and pricing can change.
Cost can balloon on long sessions. Watch your /status regularly.
Only Opus is accelerated. Sonnet and Haiku ignore the flag.

Official docs: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/fast-mode.md

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