anthropics / anthropics/claude-code

[Bug] Fable 5 safeguard `[reasoning_extraction]` false-positives on a one-word greeting ("Hi")

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#87,640 13 comments 15 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
area:model bug platform:macos
Dominant language
Python
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Description

### Summary

Fable 5 returns `API Error: Fable 5's safeguards flagged this message` with `Details: [reasoning_extraction]` on a message whose user text is the single word `Hi`.

The `[reasoning_extraction]` classifier guards against prompts attempting to extract the model's chain of thought. Nothing in the conversation does that — the first and only user turn was a greeting.

### Error

```
API Error: Fable 5's safeguards flagged this message (https://www.anthropic.com/legal/aup).
This sometimes happens with safe, normal conversations. Claude Code can't respond to this message with Fable 5.

Double press esc to edit your last message, or try a different model with /model.

Details: `[reasoning_extraction]`

Request ID: req_011CeAG9pE2qTzUcm6Vbm3aD
```

### Steps to reproduce

1. Start Claude Code in a project that has a global `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`, a project `CLAUDE.md`, a memory index file, and a large set of installed skills + MCP servers.
2. `/model fable`
3. Send `Hi`.
4. Request is rejected with the error above.

The same session context works normally on Opus 5 — only Fable 5 rejects it, which points at the additional Fable-only safeguards rather than at the conversation.

### Expected

A one-word greeting is not a reasoning-extraction attempt and should not be blocked.

### Observed / notes

- Retrying reproduces the block rather than passing intermittently.
- No user-authored instruction in the loaded context asks the model to reveal, dump, or reproduce its reasoning or system prompt.
- The practical effect is that Fable 5 is unusable in this project regardless of what is typed, because the rejection is driven by the loaded context, not the message.

### Environment

- Claude Code: 2.1.234
- Model: Fable 5 (`claude-fable-5`)
- Platform: macOS 26.3 (Apple Silicon)
- Request ID: `req_011CeAG9pE2qTzUcm6Vbm3aD`

### Related

Existing Fable-safeguard false-positive reports, all dual-use/security-code flavored rather than `[reasoning_extraction]`: #85303, #73577, #86856, #86804.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

Research direction

Reproduce in Claude Code 2.1.234 with the global and project CLAUDE.md files, memory index, installed skills, and MCP servers described in the report. Compare the same session using Fable 5 and Opus 5, and use the reported reasoning_extraction error and request ID to trace the failure. Done means a one-word greeting is accepted without the safeguard error.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
cli, security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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