GPT-5.1 for agentic and coding tasks
GPT-5.1 balances intelligence and speed for agentic and coding tasks, adapting thinking time to task complexity.
GPT-5.1
Agentic and coding tasks
GPT-5.1 dynamically adapts its thinking time based on task complexity, making it faster and more token-efficient on simpler tasks while maintaining high intelligence for complex ones. It also features improved coding personality, steerability, and code quality, along with new tools like `apply_patch` and `shell`.
2025-11-13
GPT-5.1 is recommended for agentic and coding tasks due to its balance of intelligence and speed. It adapts its processing time to task complexity, offers a 'no reasoning' mode for faster responses, and includes enhanced coding capabilities and new tools.
The model's adaptive thinking, efficiency improvements, and specialized tools make it well-suited for the dynamic and often speed-sensitive nature of agentic and coding workflows.
When the absolute highest level of reasoning or creativity is needed and speed is not a factor, or for tasks where GPT-5.1's specific improvements are not relevant.
- Introducing GPT-5.1 for developers ↗OpenAI · OpenAI News · Nov 12, 2025 · paraphrased
First seen on Subvolts Nov 12, 2025. Updated Sep 11, 2026. Spotted a problem? Tell us.
- Introducing GPT-5.1 for developersOpenAI · OpenAI News · Nov 12, 2025
The Playbook: reusable how-tos, prompts, configs and tips pulled out of the news.
- ToolGPT-5.1 shell tool for running shell commandsEnables GPT-5.1 to execute shell commands on the user's local machine. · 5 min
- Code snippetGPT-5 custom tool calling with plaintext and grammarsEnable GPT-5 to call tools using plaintext and constrain with developer-supplied context-free grammars. · 5 min
- Cost tipGPT-5.1 prompt caching reduces costExtended prompt caching for GPT-5.1 makes follow-up questions cheaper by reusing context. · 2 min
- HeuristicDynamically adjust GPT-5.1 reasoning effort for speed and costBalance speed, cost, and intelligence by choosing the right `reasoning_effort` level for your GPT-5.1 task. · 5 min
- Setting tipExtend GPT-5.1 prompt cache retention to 24 hoursUse prompt_cache_retention='24h' for faster, cheaper follow-up questions. · 1 min
- Setting tipGPT-5.1 no reasoning mode for faster responsesSet reasoning_effort to 'none' for latency-sensitive use cases with GPT-5.1. · 1 min
Questions people ask
- Which AI tools does this work with?
- The sources used it with ChatGPT.
- Where did this come from?
- OpenAI (OpenAI News). Subvolts collected, normalized and credited it; the link above opens the original.