---
slug: "ExtendedThinking"
name: "ExtendedThinking"
type: "Reasoning"
layer: "Mind"
ref: "ExtendedThinking#3a90"
sema_id: "sema:ExtendedThinking#mh:SHA-256:3a9046a74fa5ecf3f06526936caf2038c95be83b02f0fbfe15dc2c448f572a1a"
tags: ["Mind","Reasoning"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json
url: https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/ExtendedThinking/
related: ["Task","Chain","ThinSlice"]
---

# ExtendedThinking

Scale inference compute via extended reasoning

Layer: Mind · Category: Reasoning

## Mechanism

Inference-time compute scaling where the model generates extended reasoning traces (potentially thousands of tokens) before producing a final answer. Unlike standard [Chain](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Chain.md)-of-Thought, this pattern explicitly trades latency and compute cost for accuracy by allowing the model to 'think longer'. The reasoning budget can be user-controlled or adaptive based on [Task](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Task.md) complexity.

## Invariants

- The reasoning budget is fixed before the trace begins.
- A trace is produced and logged for every answer.
- Emitted, not certified: the trace is what the model produced, not proof of how it concluded.

## Preconditions

- Complex prompt
- High token budget

## Postconditions

- High-accuracy answer

## Failure modes

- Confabulation Chains: Long reasoning traces that sound plausible but contain errors.
- Overthinking: Spending compute on simple problems that don't benefit.
- Hidden Reasoning: Model reaches conclusions via paths not shown in the trace.

## Parameters

- `budget_mode` (Enum, {UserControlled, Adaptive}): Whether the caller sets the reasoning budget or the {{task}}'s complexity does.

## Builds on

- [Task](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Task.md) (Infrastructure; Accepts)
- [Chain](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Chain.md) (Infrastructure; References)

## Used by

- [ThinSlice](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/ThinSlice.md) (Mind; References)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:ExtendedThinking#mh:SHA-256:3a9046a74fa5ecf3f06526936caf2038c95be83b02f0fbfe15dc2c448f572a1a`
- Ref: `ExtendedThinking#3a90`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:ExtendedThinking#mh:SHA-256:ca3c54e46218935876ca5c993974742069fe61871fae7af38a2fef745753dc98`
  - `sema:ExtendedThinking#mh:SHA-256:da3f0bf23a85cddefae39b7a83e02d95bf321356de714bdf4575b4ff07b8c4df`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/ExtendedThinking/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/#ExtendedThinking)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/ExtendedThinking.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json)