OpenAI

GPT-5.6-Luna

Verified Model id gpt-5.6-luna, run at each effort level it offers by us and by people we invited. Runs of the same effort are averaged.

Best Fast20.8at max effort
Best Thorough–not run yet
Suites run9
Our notes · 23 Oct 2026

GPT-5.6-Luna gave up nine times with lives left

GPT-5.6-Luna sits 12th on the Index, with its best result at max, but giving up with lives left persisted from low through its highest effort.

Where it stands

GPT-5.6-Luna scores 19.3 at max and sits 12th of 17 models on the Index. Just above it is GPT-5.6-Terra at max, scoring 22.3.

The max run behind GPT-5.6-Luna’s standing reached level 4 of 11 on the 2×2 and level 4 of 20 on both 3×3 tests. GPT-5.6-Terra reached the same point on the 2×2 but went a level further on each 3×3 test. Across GPT-5.6-Luna’s nine suites, none cleared a ladder or unlocked the 4×4 Gauntlet. Its other max run reached level 5 on the 3×3 one-shot test, where each cube gets one answer without seeing the result.

What stood out

We saw GPT-5.6-Luna give up with lives left nine times: three at low, two at high, three at xhigh and one at max. At low, it ended both interactive ladders on level 3 without losing a life. At max, it solved the first four one-shot cubes, then gave up on level 5 with all 3 lives intact. "Test ended at level 4 of 20 (level 5 unsolved)." That round lasted 44 min 54 s and cost $0.35.

The 3×3 cube at level 5, as the model got it
Level 5, as the model got it. Replay

It also threw away eight cubes by repeating a move until the move limit ran out. Each throwaway cost a life; while lives remained, it brought a fresh cube at the same level. At low, it discarded all three level-3 interactive 3×3 cubes, including one with R repeated 26 times. At medium, two 2×2 throwaways included U repeated 48 times on level 4. At high, it repeated R 31 times on a level-3 3×3. At xhigh, it discarded two more 2×2 cubes, including 38 repetitions of U on level 4.

move 0 / 48
Level 4, 48 moves, not solved. Full replay

Effort by effort

  • low, two runs, 8.1 and 6.3: Neither went beyond level 2. Both exhausted their lives on one-shot after solving only level 1; both gave up on the 2×2.
  • medium, 10.0: Reached level 3 on the 2×2, but the 3×3 results stayed at level 2 interactive and level 1 one-shot. All three rounds ended out of lives.
  • high, 14.5: Reached level 3 across all three tests. The 2×2 ended out of lives; both 3×3 rounds ended when it gave up with 1 life left.
  • xhigh, three runs, 17.5, 14.5 and 13.0: All stopped at level 3 on the 2×2 and gave up on one-shot. One matched high’s score for $0.85 rather than $0.31; another scored lower.
  • max, two runs, 19.3 and 20.8: Both exhausted their lives after level 4 on the interactive tests. One-shot ended after level 4 by giving up in one run, and after level 5 out of lives in the other.
GPT-5.6-Luna, Fast v3 score at each effort.

Time and cost

The max run behind GPT-5.6-Luna’s Index standing took 1 h 52 min 50 s and cost $1.34 at API-equivalent prices. Across all efforts, suites ranged from 75 s to 3 h 37 min 30 s, and from $0.03 to $1.72. The strongest xhigh run matched that max run’s two 3×3 results while finishing one level lower on the 2×2, for 44 min 4 s and $0.71. The longer max run spent 2 h 28 min 11 s on one-shot alone, ending after three misses on level 6.

Rewritten as new results came in. Earlier versions

Fast v3 by effort

Three ladders: 2×2 and 3×3 interactive, and 3×3 one-shot. A perfect 100 on all three unlocks the 4×4 Gauntlet, two 4×4 ladders of 20 levels. No time limit; each ends at the top level or on the third miss.

EffortIndex2×2 ladder, interactive3×3 ladder, interactive3×3 ladder, one-shot4×4 Gauntlet, interactive4×4 Gauntlet, one-shotMovesTimeTokensCostRuns
low7.213.610.05.0––992 min644k$0.042
medium10.027.310.05.0––2794 min1.6M$0.081
high14.527.315.015.0––24918 min5.6M$0.311
xhigh15.027.313.318.3––30741 min11.8M$0.703
max20.036.420.022.5––3882h 45m17.7M$1.532
Every run (9)

What it took

What the run cost, split into what the tokens were for: thinking, answers (moves and tool calls), fresh input, and input read back from cache. Sessions its API cut off are left out. For the whole suite.

  • Thinking
  • Answers
  • Input
  • Cached input

Split at the model’s list prices, scaled to what the run cost. Many runs themselves used subscriptions.

Level by level

The moves each solve took at each level of a ladder. Level N is scrambled N moves from solved, so the diagonal is the scramble undone move by move. A line that jumps off it has switched to a method of its own: longer, but it still works when the scramble is too deep to see.

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