AI EngineerGuide

temperature, top_p and top_k return an error on Claude Sonnet 5.5

Rejected Applies to claude-sonnet-5-5 on the Anthropic Messages API.

Anthropic's docs describe this error but don't quote the exact message, so we don't either.

How to fix it

Remove temperature, top_p and top_k, and steer the model with prompting instead.

Before
{
  "max_tokens": 1024,
  "messages": [
    {
      "content": "Summarize this ticket.",
      "role": "user"
    }
  ],
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929",
  "temperature": 0
}
After (Claude Sonnet 5.5)
{
  "max_tokens": 1024,
  "messages": [
    {
      "content": "Summarize this ticket.",
      "role": "user"
    }
  ],
  "model": "claude-sonnet-5-5"
}

Official source

Sampling parameters return an error. Remove temperature, top_p, and top_k.

https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/sonnet-5-5/migration-guide#sonnet-46-breaking-changes (last checked 2026-11-02)

Other changes for the same models

All migration errors

FAQ

How do I fix this when moving to claude-sonnet-5-5?

Remove temperature, top_p and top_k, and steer the model with prompting instead.

Where is this documented?

In Anthropic’s official docs: https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/sonnet-5-5/migration-guide#sonnet-46-breaking-changes, last checked 2026-11-02.