Plan Mode
Goal — Use plan mode to settle an approach before building, end to end.
By the end — A feature you shipped through the full draft-review-accept-build loop.
Map first — Does this task earn orchestration, or is a plain prompt enough?
1Understand why planning first helps
For anything beyond a small change, deciding the approach before writing code prevents wasted work and surprises. You review the thinking while it is still cheap to change.
Explain when planning before building is worth it, and when it is overkill.2Enter plan mode
Plan mode tells Claude to research and propose a plan without changing anything yet.
In plan mode, plan how to add a simple contact page to this site.3Review the plan
Claude returns a plan — the files it would touch, the steps, the approach. Read it as the decision-maker.
This is your moment to steer. Adjust anything that does not match your intent before a single line is written.
4Accept and build
When the plan is right, approve it. Claude then builds exactly what you agreed to.
Walk me through what you built against the plan.The plan and the result should match.
5Feel the difference
Plan mode is the full version of the light planning you tried in Phase 3. For real features, this draft-review-accept-build loop is how you keep control of larger work.
Recap — You ran a feature through plan mode end to end — drafting an approach, reviewing it, accepting it, and building exactly what you agreed to.