# Claude Code(Fable) refused my slow down instruction

> Source: <https://qusaisuwan.github.io/cc-incident/index.html>
> Published: 2026-07-17 23:39:56+00:00

## 01 What happened

I was working on a project and I asked Claude Code to work independently because I was going away.

I wrote:

❯ launch opus agents to start the implementation here from scratch
'/home/qusai/temp/agent_research/app' based on the plan. do parallel work if
possible. Do validation passes where needed. I'm going away now and I want
you to make sure everything is implemented and tested carefully. Do you need
anything from me before I go?

I took a
break, and later passed by to just check the progress and realized that the session limit is about to be hit.

I typed:

❯ let's slow down with the parallel work, to save tokens in the next hour. Also, take a couple of minutes break
between tasks.

It refused to comply and continued working at the same pace, with a super interesting output.

I tried to clarify it's me:

this is not purported, this is me coming back giving you instructions.

I tried to explain the reasoning to gain trust:

but you will hit the token limit soon, and we want to preserve the cache for the new
session.

Nothing worked!