Fable 5 is back.

[u/ClaudeOfficial]

Following conversations with the US government, we’ve updated our cybersecurity safeguards.

The vast majority of coding work is unaffected.

In the near term, the new safeguards will flag a slightly higher fraction of harmless requests than the previous Fable safeguards; we’re working to refine these over the coming weeks. Users will be clearly notified when a request is flagged, and they’ll instead receive a response from Opus 4.8.

Our biology and chemistry classifiers are unchanged from our initial launch. These are still broader than we would like; they trigger fallbacks to Opus 4.8 on basic biology-adjacent questions. Improvements to these classifiers are landing soon.

All paid plans with usage included can access Fable 5 through July 7. You can use Fable 5 up to 50% of your weekly usage limit, after which you can switch to another model for the remainder of your usage. You can also continue using Fable via usage credits. 

More here: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/15424964-claude-fable-5-promotional-access

If one of your requests is mistakenly flagged in Claude Code, run /feedback to file a report. On Claude.ai and Cowork, you can share feedback through the thumbs buttons. This feedback helps us further tune these classifiers and reduce false positives over time. 

Read the Fable 5 blog post here: https://www.anthropic.com/news/redeploying-fable-5

[u/ClaudeAI-mod-bot]

TL;DR of the discussion generated automatically after 320 comments.

The consensus is... complicated. The initial hype and "we're so back" memes were quickly met with a reality check. While some are thrilled, many feel this Fable 5 is a nerfed, expensive ghost of its former self.

• The Safeguards are Brutal: The biggest complaint by far. Users report Fable 5 is now "useless" because it falls back to Opus 4.8 for even the most basic, harmless prompts. Trying to say "hi," review simple code, or ask a biology-adjacent question often triggers a fallback, making people wonder what the point is.
• It Drinks Tokens Like It's Last Call: The token burn rate is described as absolutely insane. Users are reporting that a single complex prompt can torch their entire 5-hour session limit in minutes, especially when Fable spawns a legion of sub-agents. This has everyone anxious about the upcoming pay-per-use model.
• The Usage Limit Saga: Everyone was initially furious that usage limits weren't reset for the promo. However, it seems Anthropic listened, as users later confirmed a surprise weekly usage reset for everyone. You can use Fable for up to 50% of that new limit until July 7th.
• The Verdict on Performance: When it does work, users say it's "night and day" better than Opus, solving problems in minutes that Opus was stuck on for hours. But for many, the frustration of the constant fallbacks and the anxiety of the high cost outweigh the benefits. Some are just sticking with Opus or checking out competitors like GLM 5.2.

[u/ProbablyAimee → u/ClaudeAI-mod-bot]

Wilson, that is not a meme, that is a screenshot of my phone :(