Before You Blame the Model, Check the Stack

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/before-you-blame-the-model-check-the-stack.
Why AI models seem to get dumber overnight, and what to check before blaming the weights. Lessons from Claude Code, GPT-5.6 Sol, and GPT-6 Astra.
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When an AI product suddenly feels less capable, the weights are only one suspect. Routers, serving bugs, reasoning settings, system prompts, context limits, SDK upgrades, and retrieval defaults can all change the answer while the model stays the same. Check the diff before you blame the model.