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preserved thinking
also thinking preservation or preserve thinking
Definition of preserved thinking
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: the retention and reuse of a model's earlier reasoning blocks across later turns or tool calls, sometimes with integrity checks that limit which models can read the blocks and whether altered conversation history invalidates them
- Preserved thinking let the agent continue its analysis after a tool call without reconstructing every intermediate step.
- The API rejected the preserved thinking block because the system prompt had changed since the block was created.
Origin & history
AI platform documentation began using preserved thinking as a distinct API and model-behavior term in 2026. Anthropic used it for cryptographically bound thinking blocks that can be reused only under specified model and conversation-history conditions, while other model providers used the same expression more broadly for carrying prior reasoning content across turns.
Editorial references
Sources & further reading
- Preserved thinking↗ Official Documentation · Anthropic
- Strengthening our defenses against distillation attacks↗ Official Announcement · Anthropic · 2026-10-12
- Preserved Thinking↗ Official Documentation · Kimi API Platform
Test yourself
Which of these is the meaning of preserved thinking?
Cite this entry
"Preserved thinking." AI Dictionary, Dadgogo, https://dadgogo.com/dictionary/preserved-thinking/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.