[BUG] API Error: Claude's response exceeded the 32000 output token maximum.

### Preflight Checklist - [x] I have searched [existing issues](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20state%3Aopen%20label%3Abug) and this hasn't been reported yet - [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs) - [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code ### What's Wrong? Hi, I just asked Claude Code to implement something relatively hard. After 8 minutes of thinking, there is this error in the Claude Code terminal window: > ⎿  API Error: Claude's response exceeded the 32000 output token maximum. To configure this behavior, set the CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS environment variable. However it still seems to be thinking (14 minutes now), so it's probably still going. It hasn't given me any feedback of what it's doing or thinking. > ✽ Shenaniganing… (11m 35s · ↓ 35.0k tokens · thinking) Claude Code on PowerShell on Windows Terminal, Windows 11, latest version (updated today). Using Opus 4.6. On the Pro plan currently. I found a few related issues (other users encountering this issue) but they are all closed or in a different context. ### What Should Happen? No error, or a better explanation. ### Error Messages/Logs ```shell API Error: Claude's response exceeded the 32000 output token maximum. To configure this behavior, set the CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS environment variable. ``` ### Steps to Reproduce I can share my prompt privately if you want to contact me. But I suspect this

Posted by patrikhuber on Feb 8, 2026, 12:04 AM

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