Thinking & Reasoning

Enable reasoning capabilities across providers with unified interface

Thinking & Reasoning

Many models support thinking/reasoning capabilities where they show their internal thought process before generating a response. The library provides both a unified interface and provider-specific options.

Checking Reasoning Support

Check if a model supports reasoning:

import { getModel } from '@mariozechner/pi-ai';

const model = getModel('anthropic', 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514');

if (model.reasoning) {
  console.log('Model supports reasoning/thinking');
}

Reasoning-Capable Models

Models that support reasoning across providers:

• OpenAI: o1-preview, o1-mini, o3-mini, gpt-5-mini, gpt-5-nano, gpt-5.1-omni
• Anthropic: claude-sonnet-4-20250514
• Google: gemini-2.0-flash, gemini-2.5-flash, gemini-2.5-pro
• xAI: grok-code-fast-1, grok-beta, grok-vision-beta
• Groq: openai/gpt-oss-20b, openai/gpt-oss-40b
• Cerebras: gpt-oss-120b
• OpenRouter: Various models (e.g., z-ai/glm-4.5v)

Unified Interface (Recommended)

Use streamSimple and completeSimple for automatic cross-provider compatibility:

import { getModel, completeSimple } from '@mariozechner/pi-ai';

// Works with any reasoning-capable model
const model = getModel('anthropic', 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514');
// or getModel('openai', 'gpt-5-mini')
// or getModel('google', 'gemini-2.5-flash')
// or getModel('xai', 'grok-code-fast-1')

const response = await completeSimple(model, {
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Solve: 2x + 5 = 13' }]
}, {
  reasoning: 'medium'  // 'minimal' | 'low' | 'medium' | 'high' | 'xhigh'
});

// Access thinking and text blocks
for (const block of response.content) {
  if (block.type === 'thinking') {
    console.log('Thinking:', block.thinking);
  } else if (block.type === 'text') {
    console.log('Response:', block.text);
  }
}

Reasoning Levels

Five reasoning levels with automatic provider mapping:

Level	Description	Token Budget (approx)
minimal	Very quick, basic reasoning	~1,000 tokens
low	Quick reasoning	~2,000 tokens
medium	Balanced reasoning (recommended)	~4,000 tokens
high	Deep reasoning	~8,000 tokens
xhigh	Maximum reasoning (OpenAI only)	~16,000+ tokens

xhigh is only available on OpenAI models with extended reasoning. On other providers, it automatically maps to high.

Custom Token Budgets

Override default token budgets for token-based providers:

const response = await completeSimple(model, context, {
  reasoning: 'high',
  thinkingBudgets: {
    minimal: 500,
    low: 1000,
    medium: 2000,
    high: 4000
  }
});

Provider-Specific Options

For fine-grained control, use provider-specific options:

OpenAI

import { getModel, complete } from '@mariozechner/pi-ai';

const model = getModel('openai', 'gpt-5-mini');

const response = await complete(model, context, {
  reasoningEffort: 'medium',  // 'minimal' | 'low' | 'medium' | 'high' | 'xhigh'
  reasoningSummary: 'detailed'  // OpenAI Responses API only (o3 models)
});

Streaming Thinking Content

Thinking content is delivered through dedicated events:

import { getModel, streamSimple } from '@mariozechner/pi-ai';

const model = getModel('anthropic', 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514');
const s = streamSimple(model, context, { reasoning: 'high' });

for await (const event of s) {
  switch (event.type) {
    case 'thinking_start':
      console.log('[Model started thinking]');
      break;
    
    case 'thinking_delta':
      // Stream thinking content in real-time
      process.stdout.write(event.delta);
      break;
    
    case 'thinking_end':
      console.log('\n[Thinking complete]');
      console.log('Full thinking:', event.content);
      break;
    
    case 'text_start':
      console.log('\n[Response started]');
      break;
    
    case 'text_delta':
      process.stdout.write(event.delta);
      break;
    
    case 'text_end':
      console.log('\n[Response complete]');
      break;
  }
}

const message = await s.result();
console.log(`Reasoning tokens: ${message.usage.output}`);

Thinking with Tool Calling

Combine reasoning with tool calls:

import { getModel, streamSimple, Type, Tool } from '@mariozechner/pi-ai';

const tools: Tool[] = [{
  name: 'calculate',
  description: 'Perform mathematical calculations',
  parameters: Type.Object({
    expression: Type.String({ description: 'Math expression to evaluate' })
  })
}];

const context = {
  messages: [
    { role: 'user', content: 'Calculate the area of a circle with radius 5' }
  ],
  tools
};

const model = getModel('anthropic', 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514');
const s = streamSimple(model, context, { reasoning: 'medium' });

for await (const event of s) {
  if (event.type === 'thinking_delta') {
    console.log('[Thinking]', event.delta);
  } else if (event.type === 'text_delta') {
    console.log('[Text]', event.delta);
  } else if (event.type === 'toolcall_end') {
    console.log('[Tool]', event.toolCall.name, event.toolCall.arguments);
  }
}

Cross-Provider Handoffs

Thinking blocks are preserved when switching providers:

import { getModel, complete } from '@mariozechner/pi-ai';

const context = {
  messages: []
};

// Start with Claude (with thinking)
const claude = getModel('anthropic', 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514');
context.messages.push({ role: 'user', content: 'What is 25 * 18?' });

const claudeResponse = await complete(claude, context, {
  thinkingEnabled: true
});
context.messages.push(claudeResponse);

// Switch to GPT-5 - it will see Claude's thinking as <thinking> tagged text
const gpt5 = getModel('openai', 'gpt-5-mini');
context.messages.push({ role: 'user', content: 'Is that calculation correct?' });

const gptResponse = await complete(gpt5, context, {
  reasoningEffort: 'medium'
});
context.messages.push(gptResponse);

// Thinking blocks from different providers are automatically converted
// to text with <thinking> tags for cross-provider compatibility

How Cross-Provider Thinking Works

• Same provider/API: Thinking blocks preserved as-is
• Different provider: Thinking blocks converted to text with <thinking> tags
• Tool calls: Preserved unchanged across all providers
• Text content: Always preserved unchanged

Redacted Thinking

Some providers may redact thinking content for safety:

for (const block of response.content) {
  if (block.type === 'thinking') {
    if (block.redacted) {
      console.log('Thinking was redacted by safety filters');
      // block.thinkingSignature contains encrypted payload for continuity
    } else {
      console.log('Thinking:', block.thinking);
    }
  }
}

Complete Example

Full workflow with reasoning:

import { getModel, streamSimple, Type, Tool, Context } from '@mariozechner/pi-ai';

const tools: Tool[] = [
  {
    name: 'search',
    description: 'Search the web',
    parameters: Type.Object({
      query: Type.String({ description: 'Search query' })
    })
  },
  {
    name: 'calculate',
    description: 'Perform calculations',
    parameters: Type.Object({
      expression: Type.String({ description: 'Math expression' })
    })
  }
];

const context: Context = {
  systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful research assistant.',
  messages: [
    { 
      role: 'user', 
      content: 'How many days until the next leap year, and what will the date be?' 
    }
  ],
  tools
};

const model = getModel('anthropic', 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514');
let maxIterations = 10;

while (maxIterations-- > 0) {
  const s = streamSimple(model, context, { reasoning: 'high' });
  
  let thinkingContent = '';
  let textContent = '';
  
  for await (const event of s) {
    switch (event.type) {
      case 'thinking_delta':
        thinkingContent += event.delta;
        process.stdout.write(event.delta);
        break;
      
      case 'thinking_end':
        console.log('\n[Thinking complete]\n');
        break;
      
      case 'text_delta':
        textContent += event.delta;
        process.stdout.write(event.delta);
        break;
      
      case 'toolcall_end':
        console.log(`\n[Calling ${event.toolCall.name}]`);
        break;
    }
  }
  
  const response = await s.result();
  context.messages.push(response);
  
  if (response.stopReason === 'stop') {
    console.log('\n[Complete]');
    break;
  }
  
  if (response.stopReason === 'toolUse') {
    // Execute tools
    for (const block of response.content) {
      if (block.type === 'toolCall') {
        console.log(`Executing: ${block.name}`);
        const result = await executeTool(block.name, block.arguments);
        
        context.messages.push({
          role: 'toolResult',
          toolCallId: block.id,
          toolName: block.name,
          content: [{ type: 'text', text: JSON.stringify(result) }],
          isError: false,
          timestamp: Date.now()
        });
      }
    }
    continue;
  }
  
  break;
}

console.log('\nUsage:');
const lastMessage = context.messages[context.messages.length - 1];
if (lastMessage.role === 'assistant') {
  console.log(`Tokens: ${lastMessage.usage.totalTokens}`);
  console.log(`Cost: $${lastMessage.usage.cost.total.toFixed(4)}`);
}

Cost Considerations

Reasoning tokens are included in output token count:

const response = await completeSimple(model, context, { reasoning: 'high' });

console.log('Input tokens:', response.usage.input);
console.log('Output tokens:', response.usage.output); // Includes reasoning tokens
console.log('Total cost:', response.usage.cost.total);

// For Anthropic, thinking tokens are separate from text tokens
let thinkingTokens = 0;
let textTokens = 0;

for (const block of response.content) {
  if (block.type === 'thinking') {
    thinkingTokens += block.thinking.length / 4; // Rough estimate
  } else if (block.type === 'text') {
    textTokens += block.text.length / 4; // Rough estimate
  }
}

console.log(`Estimated thinking tokens: ${thinkingTokens}`);
console.log(`Estimated text tokens: ${textTokens}`);

High reasoning levels can significantly increase token usage and costs. Use medium for most tasks.

Provider Comparison

Provider	Thinking Format	Token Control	Streaming	Cross-Provider
OpenAI	Effort levels	No	Yes	Converts to text
Anthropic	Token budget	Yes	Yes	Converts to text
Google	Token budget	Yes	Yes	Converts to text
xAI	Effort levels	No	Yes	Converts to text
Groq	Effort levels	No	Yes	Converts to text
Cerebras	Effort levels	No	Yes	Converts to text

Best Practices

1. Start with medium: Balanced performance and cost
2. Use high for complex tasks: Math, coding, logical reasoning
3. Avoid xhigh unless necessary: Very expensive, only on OpenAI
4. Stream for UX: Show thinking in real-time for transparency
5. Monitor costs: Reasoning can 5-10x your token usage
6. Use unified API: streamSimple/completeSimple for portability

Next Steps

Streaming

Learn about streaming thinking events

Tools

Combine reasoning with tool calling