diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/rpc/rpc-client.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/rpc/rpc-client.ts
index f401d3922..3fa485aa7 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/rpc/rpc-client.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/modes/rpc/rpc-client.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * Spawns the agent in RPC mode and provides a typed API for all operations.
  */
 import type { AgentEvent, AgentMessage, ThinkingLevel } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-agent-core";
-import type { Effort, ImageContent, Model } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-ai";
+import type { ImageContent, Model } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-ai";
 import { isRecord, ptree, readJsonl } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-utils";
 import type { BashResult } from "../../exec/bash-executor";
 import type { SessionStats } from "../../session/agent-session";
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ export class RpcClient {
 	/**
 	 * Cycle thinking level.
 	 */
-	async cycleThinkingLevel(): Promise<{ level: Effort } | null> {
+	async cycleThinkingLevel(): Promise<{ level: ThinkingLevel } | null> {
 		const response = await this.#send({ type: "cycle_thinking_level" });
 		return this.#getData(response);
 	}
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/session/agent-session.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/session/agent-session.ts
index c5d120285..434f16871 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/session/agent-session.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/session/agent-session.ts
@@ -2905,14 +2905,12 @@ export class AgentSession {
 	 * Cycle to next thinking level.
 	 * @returns New level, or undefined if model doesn't support thinking
 	 */
-	cycleThinkingLevel(): Effort | undefined {
+	cycleThinkingLevel(): ThinkingLevel | undefined {
 		if (!this.model?.reasoning) return undefined;
 
-		const levels = this.getAvailableThinkingLevels();
-		const currentIndex =
-			this.thinkingLevel && this.thinkingLevel !== ThinkingLevel.Off && this.thinkingLevel !== ThinkingLevel.Inherit
-				? levels.indexOf(this.thinkingLevel)
-				: -1;
+		const levels = [ThinkingLevel.Off, ...this.getAvailableThinkingLevels()];
+		const currentLevel = this.thinkingLevel === ThinkingLevel.Inherit ? ThinkingLevel.Off : this.thinkingLevel;
+		const currentIndex = currentLevel ? levels.indexOf(currentLevel) : -1;
 		const nextIndex = (currentIndex + 1) % levels.length;
 		const nextLevel = levels[nextIndex];
 		if (!nextLevel) return undefined;
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/test/agent-session-role-thinking.test.ts b/packages/coding-agent/test/agent-session-role-thinking.test.ts
index f99bcb6d2..81a7221a3 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/test/agent-session-role-thinking.test.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/test/agent-session-role-thinking.test.ts
@@ -196,4 +196,34 @@ describe("AgentSession role model thinking behavior", () => {
 		expect(session.thinkingLevel).toBe(Effort.High);
 		expect(session.getAvailableThinkingLevels()).not.toContain("xhigh");
 	});
+
+	it("cycles through off before returning to effort levels", async () => {
+		const model = getAnthropicModelOrThrow("claude-sonnet-4-5");
+
+		const agent = new Agent({
+			initialState: {
+				model,
+				systemPrompt: "Test",
+				tools: [],
+				messages: [],
+				thinkingLevel: Effort.High,
+			},
+		});
+		const authStorage = await AuthStorage.create(path.join(tempDir.path(), "testauth-cycle-thinking.db"));
+		authStorage.setRuntimeApiKey("anthropic", "test-key");
+		const modelRegistry = new ModelRegistry(authStorage, path.join(tempDir.path(), "models-cycle-thinking.yml"));
+
+		sessionSettings = Settings.isolated();
+		session = new AgentSession({
+			agent,
+			sessionManager: SessionManager.inMemory(),
+			settings: sessionSettings,
+			modelRegistry,
+		});
+
+		expect(session.cycleThinkingLevel()).toBe("off");
+		expect(session.thinkingLevel).toBe("off");
+		expect(session.cycleThinkingLevel()).toBe(Effort.Minimal);
+		expect(session.thinkingLevel).toBe(Effort.Minimal);
+	});
 });