Claude Haiku 5.5 is now available in Microsoft Foundry

The latest release, Claude Haiku 5.5, is now ready for use in Microsoft Foundry. This model is not only the quickest in the Claude 5.5 series but also the most efficient, particularly suited for handling high-volume, budget-conscious tasks — from live customer support to specific subtasks in larger agent systems. Best of all, it’s about 75% cheaper than the previous version, Claude Haiku 4.5, for most applications. 

As teams expand their AI applications, the speed and cost efficiency of tasks become vital. Haiku 5.5 provides developers with a solution designed for this purpose, enabling responsive user experiences while allowing more complex models to focus on intricate reasoning tasks by delegating routine activities efficiently. 

A Fast Subagent for Focused Work 

Claude Haiku 5.5 stands out as Anthropic’s most powerful Haiku model to date, showcasing notable enhancements over Haiku 4.5 in areas like coding, tool utilisation, and agent capabilities. It excels in executing well-defined tasks swiftly and effectively within a larger workflow. 

For coding tasks, Claude Opus 5.5 can plan the overall workflow and assign specific subtasks to Haiku 5.5. Tasks may involve routing queries, summarising information, applying targeted changes across several files, or validating proposed sequences. This division of responsibility allows for running multiple subagents simultaneously while reserving more complex reasoning for the toughest challenges. 

Responsive Experiences and Everyday Automation 

Haiku 5.5 is specifically designed to facilitate quick interactions where users anticipate immediate responses. This includes applications like voice agents, live assistance, and in-app helpers. It efficiently addresses straightforward customer inquiries and performs swift knowledge-base lookups during these interactions. 

Behind the scenes, Haiku 5.5 streamlines essential tasks that drive business operations, such as extracting key information from small to medium documents, categorising incoming data, creating summaries, and flagging items that require detailed examination. Its rapid processing makes it an ideal choice for handling these tasks at scale. 

For automation in browsers and desktops, Haiku 5.5 can function as a subagent for repetitive tasks, such as data entry, form completion, and transferring information between applications. With support for high-resolution images, it’s also capable of working with screenshots, charts, and documents. 

Enhanced Control Over Cost and Intelligence 

What sets Haiku 5.5 apart is its introduction of effort controls, enabling teams to fine-tune the balance between cost and intelligence for various tasks. Developers can adjust the model’s effort levels to align with workflow requirements, ensuring that quality and economic efficiency are maintained in their applications. 

Get Started in Microsoft Foundry 

Dive into Claude Haiku 5.5 within Microsoft Foundry and assess its performance on the specific tasks your team regularly undertakes. For those developing agent systems, it provides a fast and efficient alternative for repetitive work that requires scalability. Give it a try today by visiting the Claude Haiku 5.5 Model Catalog on Microsoft Foundry.