When you make a request to the Messages API, Claude’s response includes a stop_reason field that indicates why the model stopped generating its response. Understanding these values is crucial for building robust applications that handle different response types appropriately.

For details about stop_reason in the API response, see the Messages API reference.

​
What is stop_reason?

The stop_reason field is part of every successful Messages API response. Unlike errors, which indicate failures in processing your request, stop_reason tells you why Claude successfully completed its response generation.

Example response
{
  "id": "msg_01234",
  "type": "message",
  "role": "assistant",
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Here's the answer to your question..."
    }
  ],
  "stop_reason": "end_turn",
  "stop_sequence": null,
  "usage": {
    "input_tokens": 100,
    "output_tokens": 50
  }
}

​
Stop reason values

​
end_turn

The most common stop reason. Indicates Claude finished its response naturally.

if response.stop_reason == "end_turn":
    # Process the complete response
    print(response.content[0].text)

​
max_tokens

Claude stopped because it reached the max_tokens limit specified in your request.

# Request with limited tokens
response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    max_tokens=10,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Explain quantum physics"}]
)

if response.stop_reason == "max_tokens":
    # Response was truncated
    print("Response was cut off at token limit")
    # Consider making another request to continue

​
stop_sequence

Claude encountered one of your custom stop sequences.

response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    max_tokens=1024,
    stop_sequences=["END", "STOP"],
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Generate text until you say END"}]
)

if response.stop_reason == "stop_sequence":
    print(f"Stopped at sequence: {response.stop_sequence}")

​
tool_use

Claude is calling a tool and expects you to execute it.

response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    max_tokens=1024,
    tools=[weather_tool],
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "What's the weather?"}]
)

if response.stop_reason == "tool_use":
    # Extract and execute the tool
    for content in response.content:
        if content.type == "tool_use":
            result = execute_tool(content.name, content.input)
            # Return result to Claude for final response

​
pause_turn

Used with server tools like web search when Claude needs to pause a long-running operation.

response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    max_tokens=1024,
    tools=[{"type": "web_search_20250305", "name": "web_search"}],
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Search for latest AI news"}]
)

if response.stop_reason == "pause_turn":
    # Continue the conversation
    messages = [
        {"role": "user", "content": original_query},
        {"role": "assistant", "content": response.content}
    ]
    continuation = client.messages.create(
        model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
        messages=messages,
        tools=[{"type": "web_search_20250305", "name": "web_search"}]
    )

​
refusal

Claude refused to generate a response due to safety concerns.

response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "[Unsafe request]"}]
)

if response.stop_reason == "refusal":
    # Claude declined to respond
    print("Claude was unable to process this request")
    # Consider rephrasing or modifying the request

​
Best practices for handling stop reasons

​
1. Always check stop_reason

Make it a habit to check the stop_reason in your response handling logic:

def handle_response(response):
    if response.stop_reason == "tool_use":
        return handle_tool_use(response)
    elif response.stop_reason == "max_tokens":
        return handle_truncation(response)
    elif response.stop_reason == "pause_turn":
        return handle_pause(response)
    elif response.stop_reason == "refusal":
        return handle_refusal(response)
    else:
        # Handle end_turn and other cases
        return response.content[0].text

​
2. Handle max_tokens gracefully

When a response is truncated due to token limits:

def handle_truncated_response(response):
    if response.stop_reason == "max_tokens":
        # Option 1: Warn the user
        return f"{response.content[0].text}\n\n[Response truncated due to length]"
        
        # Option 2: Continue generation
        messages = [
            {"role": "user", "content": original_prompt},
            {"role": "assistant", "content": response.content[0].text}
        ]
        continuation = client.messages.create(
            model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
            max_tokens=1024,
            messages=messages + [{"role": "user", "content": "Please continue"}]
        )
        return response.content[0].text + continuation.content[0].text

​
3. Implement retry logic for pause_turn

For server tools that may pause:

def handle_paused_conversation(initial_response, max_retries=3):
    response = initial_response
    messages = [{"role": "user", "content": original_query}]
    
    for attempt in range(max_retries):
        if response.stop_reason != "pause_turn":
            break
            
        messages.append({"role": "assistant", "content": response.content})
        response = client.messages.create(
            model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
            messages=messages,
            tools=original_tools
        )
    
    return response

​
Stop reasons vs. errors

It’s important to distinguish between stop_reason values and actual errors:

​
Stop reasons (successful responses)

  • Part of the response body
  • Indicate why generation stopped normally
  • Response contains valid content

​
Errors (failed requests)

  • HTTP status codes 4xx or 5xx
  • Indicate request processing failures
  • Response contains error details
try:
    response = client.messages.create(...)
    
    # Handle successful response with stop_reason
    if response.stop_reason == "max_tokens":
        print("Response was truncated")
    
except anthropic.APIError as e:
    # Handle actual errors
    if e.status_code == 429:
        print("Rate limit exceeded")
    elif e.status_code == 500:
        print("Server error")

​
Streaming considerations

When using streaming, stop_reason is:

  • null in the initial message_start event
  • Provided in the message_delta event
  • Non-null in all other events
with client.messages.stream(...) as stream:
    for event in stream:
        if event.type == "message_delta":
            stop_reason = event.delta.stop_reason
            if stop_reason:
                print(f"Stream ended with: {stop_reason}")

​
Common patterns

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Handling tool use workflows

def complete_tool_workflow(client, user_query, tools):
    messages = [{"role": "user", "content": user_query}]
    
    while True:
        response = client.messages.create(
            model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
            messages=messages,
            tools=tools
        )
        
        if response.stop_reason == "tool_use":
            # Execute tools and continue
            tool_results = execute_tools(response.content)
            messages.append({"role": "assistant", "content": response.content})
            messages.append({"role": "user", "content": tool_results})
        else:
            # Final response
            return response

​
Ensuring complete responses

def get_complete_response(client, prompt, max_attempts=3):
    messages = [{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]
    full_response = ""
    
    for _ in range(max_attempts):
        response = client.messages.create(
            model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
            messages=messages,
            max_tokens=4096
        )
        
        full_response += response.content[0].text
        
        if response.stop_reason != "max_tokens":
            break
            
        # Continue from where it left off
        messages = [
            {"role": "user", "content": prompt},
            {"role": "assistant", "content": full_response},
            {"role": "user", "content": "Please continue from where you left off."}
        ]
    
    return full_response

By properly handling stop_reason values, you can build more robust applications that gracefully handle different response scenarios and provide better user experiences.