diff --git a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/modes/welcome-suggestions.ts b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/modes/welcome-suggestions.ts
index de60a7073..2dfbc0407 100644
--- a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/modes/welcome-suggestions.ts
+++ b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/modes/welcome-suggestions.ts
@@ -24,4 +24,9 @@ export const WELCOME_SUGGESTIONS: readonly WelcomeSuggestion[] = [
     label: 'Explain promises with code',
     value: 'Explain JavaScript promises with a fenced code block in TypeScript.',
   },
+  {
+    label: 'Solve a multi-step puzzle (try Effort = high)',
+    value:
+      'Three friends start with 14 apples. They share them so each gets a different prime number of apples and one gets exactly twice as many as another. How many does each get? Walk through your reasoning step by step.',
+  },
 ];
diff --git a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/control-palette.component.html b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/control-palette.component.html
index 62fdcf0ee..961bc0952 100644
--- a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/control-palette.component.html
+++ b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/control-palette.component.html
@@ -42,6 +42,15 @@
       </select>
     </label>
 
+    <label class="palette__group palette__group--model">
+      <span class="palette__label">Effort</span>
+      <select [value]="effort()" (change)="pickEffort($event)">
+        @for (opt of effortOptions(); track opt.value) {
+          <option [value]="opt.value">{{ opt.label }}</option>
+        }
+      </select>
+    </label>
+
     <button
       type="button"
       class="palette__toggle"
diff --git a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/control-palette.component.ts b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/control-palette.component.ts
index 87e57696f..5eabfd50c 100644
--- a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/control-palette.component.ts
+++ b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/control-palette.component.ts
@@ -24,10 +24,13 @@ export class ControlPalette {
   readonly mode = input.required<DemoMode>();
   readonly model = input.required<string>();
   readonly modelOptions = input.required<readonly { value: string; label: string }[]>();
+  readonly effort = input.required<string>();
+  readonly effortOptions = input.required<readonly { value: string; label: string }[]>();
   readonly debugOpen = input.required<boolean>();
 
   readonly modeChange = output<DemoMode>();
   readonly modelChange = output<string>();
+  readonly effortChange = output<string>();
   readonly debugOpenChange = output<boolean>();
   readonly newConversation = output<void>();
 
@@ -52,6 +55,11 @@ export class ControlPalette {
     this.modelChange.emit(value);
   }
 
+  protected pickEffort(event: Event): void {
+    const value = (event.target as HTMLSelectElement).value;
+    this.effortChange.emit(value);
+  }
+
   protected toggleDebug(): void {
     this.debugOpenChange.emit(!this.debugOpen());
   }
diff --git a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/demo-shell.component.html b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/demo-shell.component.html
index 78f59b413..2195efc74 100644
--- a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/demo-shell.component.html
+++ b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/demo-shell.component.html
@@ -5,9 +5,12 @@
     [mode]="mode()"
     [model]="model()"
     [modelOptions]="modelOptions()"
+    [effort]="effort()"
+    [effortOptions]="effortOptions()"
     [debugOpen]="debugOpen()"
     (modeChange)="onModeChange($event)"
     (modelChange)="onModelChange($event)"
+    (effortChange)="onEffortChange($event)"
     (debugOpenChange)="onDebugChange($event)"
     (newConversation)="onNewConversation()"
   />
diff --git a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/demo-shell.component.ts b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/demo-shell.component.ts
index 4146535d2..660b0e27d 100644
--- a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/demo-shell.component.ts
+++ b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/demo-shell.component.ts
@@ -48,9 +48,15 @@ export class DemoShell {
     { initialValue: modeFromUrl(this.router.url) },
   );
 
-  /** Source of truth for the model picker. Injected into submit() via the patched agent. */
+  /**
+   * Source of truth for the model picker. The shell owns it; the
+   * patched submit injects it into state on every send.
+   */
   readonly model = signal<string>(this.persistence.read('model') ?? 'gpt-5-mini');
 
+  /** Reasoning effort for the next submit. Persisted across reloads. */
+  readonly effort = signal<string>(this.persistence.read('effort') ?? 'minimal');
+
   protected readonly debugOpen = signal<boolean>(this.persistence.read('debug') ?? false);
 
   protected readonly modelOptions = signal<readonly { value: string; label: string }[]>([
@@ -59,6 +65,13 @@ export class DemoShell {
     { value: 'gpt-5-nano', label: 'gpt-5-nano' },
   ]);
 
+  protected readonly effortOptions = signal<readonly { value: string; label: string }[]>([
+    { value: 'minimal', label: 'minimal (fast)' },
+    { value: 'low',     label: 'low' },
+    { value: 'medium',  label: 'medium' },
+    { value: 'high',    label: 'high (visible reasoning)' },
+  ]);
+
   /** Persisted thread id (null on first run). Reactive so reload reconnects to the same thread. */
   private readonly threadIdSignal = signal<string | null>(this.persistence.read('threadId') ?? null);
 
@@ -83,7 +96,14 @@ export class DemoShell {
       opts?: Parameters<typeof a.submit>[1],
     ) =>
       orig(
-        { ...(input ?? {}), state: { ...((input as { state?: Record<string, unknown> })?.state ?? {}), model: this.model() } },
+        {
+          ...(input ?? {}),
+          state: {
+            ...((input as { state?: Record<string, unknown> })?.state ?? {}),
+            model: this.model(),
+            reasoning_effort: this.effort(),
+          },
+        },
         opts,
       )) as typeof a.submit;
     return a;
@@ -98,6 +118,11 @@ export class DemoShell {
     this.persistence.write('model', next);
   }
 
+  protected onEffortChange(next: string): void {
+    this.effort.set(next);
+    this.persistence.write('effort', next);
+  }
+
   protected onDebugChange(next: boolean): void {
     this.debugOpen.set(next);
     this.persistence.write('debug', next);
diff --git a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/palette-persistence.service.spec.ts b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/palette-persistence.service.spec.ts
index 4fb5ea684..940925ee0 100644
--- a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/palette-persistence.service.spec.ts
+++ b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/palette-persistence.service.spec.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ describe('PalettePersistence', () => {
   it('returns null when nothing is stored', () => {
     const svc = TestBed.runInInjectionContext(() => new PalettePersistence());
     expect(svc.read('model')).toBeNull();
+    expect(svc.read('effort')).toBeNull();
     expect(svc.read('debug')).toBeNull();
     expect(svc.read('threadId')).toBeNull();
     expect(svc.read('collapsed')).toBeNull();
@@ -23,6 +24,12 @@ describe('PalettePersistence', () => {
     expect(svc.read('model')).toBe('gpt-5-mini');
   });
 
+  it('round-trips effort', () => {
+    const svc = TestBed.runInInjectionContext(() => new PalettePersistence());
+    svc.write('effort', 'high');
+    expect(svc.read('effort')).toBe('high');
+  });
+
   it('round-trips a boolean value', () => {
     const svc = TestBed.runInInjectionContext(() => new PalettePersistence());
     svc.write('debug', true);
diff --git a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/palette-persistence.service.ts b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/palette-persistence.service.ts
index b3e69c398..3aea291aa 100644
--- a/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/palette-persistence.service.ts
+++ b/examples/chat/angular/src/app/shell/palette-persistence.service.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ const KEY = 'ngaf-chat-demo:palette';
 
 interface PaletteState {
   model?: string | null;
+  effort?: string | null;
   debug?: boolean | null;
   threadId?: string | null;
   collapsed?: boolean | null;
diff --git a/examples/chat/python/src/graph.py b/examples/chat/python/src/graph.py
index 7abda520b..784d0b8e8 100644
--- a/examples/chat/python/src/graph.py
+++ b/examples/chat/python/src/graph.py
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 State the client may send via the LangGraph ``submit``'s ``state`` field:
 
   - ``model`` — OpenAI model name. Default: ``gpt-5-mini``.
+  - ``reasoning_effort`` — 'minimal' | 'low' | 'medium' | 'high'.
+                           Default: 'minimal' so first-token latency
+                           stays low. Demos surface this as a palette
+                           dropdown so users can dial in visible reasoning.
 
 The graph is intentionally minimal: ``__start__ → generate → __end__``.
 This is the surface the demo's regenerate path exercises and the
@@ -35,16 +39,17 @@ def _is_reasoning_model(name: str) -> bool:
 class State(TypedDict):
     messages: Annotated[list, add_messages]
     model: Optional[str]
+    reasoning_effort: Optional[str]
 
 
 async def generate(state: State) -> dict:
     model_name = state.get("model") or "gpt-5-mini"
     kwargs = {"model": model_name, "streaming": True}
     if _is_reasoning_model(model_name):
-        # Force minimal effort so first-token latency stays low and
-        # streaming is visible out of the box. Reasoning-effort tuning
-        # is deferred to the reasoning-phase demo.
-        kwargs["reasoning"] = {"effort": "minimal"}
+        # Honor the client's effort selection when present; default to
+        # 'minimal' so first-token latency stays low for unconfigured callers.
+        effort = state.get("reasoning_effort") or "minimal"
+        kwargs["reasoning"] = {"effort": effort}
     llm = ChatOpenAI(**kwargs)
     messages = [SystemMessage(content=SYSTEM_PROMPT)] + state["messages"]
     response = await llm.ainvoke(messages)
diff --git a/examples/chat/python/tests/test_graph_smoke.py b/examples/chat/python/tests/test_graph_smoke.py
index 4b346500d..128ed48ad 100644
--- a/examples/chat/python/tests/test_graph_smoke.py
+++ b/examples/chat/python/tests/test_graph_smoke.py
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@ def test_graph_imports():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.smoke
-def test_state_shape_includes_messages_and_model():
+def test_state_shape_includes_required_channels():
     from src.graph import State
     annotations = State.__annotations__
     assert "messages" in annotations, "State must have a `messages` channel"
     assert "model" in annotations, "State must have a `model` channel"
+    assert "reasoning_effort" in annotations, \
+        "State must have a `reasoning_effort` channel (Phase 2A)"
diff --git a/examples/chat/smoke/CHECKLIST.md b/examples/chat/smoke/CHECKLIST.md
index 404602333..05cda9ba9 100644
--- a/examples/chat/smoke/CHECKLIST.md
+++ b/examples/chat/smoke/CHECKLIST.md
@@ -187,6 +187,24 @@ renders correctly both during streaming and after completion.
 
 ## Reasoning blocks
 
+- [ ] Palette "Effort" dropdown lists 4 options
+      (minimal (fast) / low / medium / high (visible reasoning))
+- [ ] Default value is `minimal` on first load
+- [ ] Effort selection persists across reload
+- [ ] With model = gpt-5-mini and effort = high, send the puzzle prompt
+      ("Solve a multi-step puzzle (try Effort = high)" welcome suggestion):
+  - [ ] `<chat-reasoning>` pill appears with "Thinking…" + pulsing dot during streaming
+  - [ ] Reasoning body auto-expands during streaming (markdown rendered)
+  - [ ] After completion, pill collapses to "Thought for {duration}"
+  - [ ] Click pill — body expands; click again — collapses
+- [ ] With effort = minimal, same prompt — pill appears briefly or not at all
+      (first-token latency low)
+- [ ] Switch effort mid-conversation, send again — new message reflects new effort
+- [ ] Cross-mode: send in /embed with effort=high, navigate to /popup,
+      open popup — reasoning pill on the prior message still renders
+- [ ] Server state shows `values.reasoning_effort` matches palette selection
+      (`curl localhost:2024/threads/<id>/state`)
+
 ## Tool calls
 
 ## Interrupts / human-in-the-loop