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Plan Mode prevents unintentional file modifications, letting you think through solutions and build confidence before committing to action. The core principle is understand before you change, giving you a research-first approach that prevents costly mistakes and creates better architectural decisions.

Chat Mode

Learn and discuss without changing code.Mental Model: Talking to a knowledgeable colleague Best For: Explaining concepts, comparing approaches, code review discussions.

Plan Mode

Safely explore and plan with read-only tools.Mental Model: Architect surveying before renovation Best For: Understanding a codebase, bug investigation, planning implementations.

Agent Mode

Make actual changes with full tool access.Mental Model: Contractor executing approved blueprints Best For: Implementing features, fixing bugs, running tests and commands.

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What Are the Use Cases for Plan Mode

Plan Mode excels in four key scenarios where understanding before acting prevents expensive mistakes:

Codebase Exploration

Navigate unfamiliar systems and trace data flows without modification risk.See exploration prompts →

Implementation Planning

Map dependencies and sequence complex changes before execution.
See planning prompts →

Issue Investigation

Debug systematically by tracing execution paths and analyzing root causes.See debugging prompts →

Architecture Analysis

Assess system health, identify bottlenecks, and plan improvements.See analysis prompts →

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What Are the Best Practices for Plan Mode?

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How to Plan Faster

  1. Scope your requests: Focus analysis on the user authentication module only, ignore the admin features
  2. Use targeted context: Analyze @Files and its direct imports for security issues

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How to Create Higher Quality Plans

  1. Provide business context: This feature needs to handle Black Friday traffic (10x normal load). Plan accordingly.
  2. Share technical constraints: We're on AWS with strict security requirements. Plan a file upload system that meets SOC2 compliance.
  3. Ask for risk analysis: What could go wrong with this database migration? Plan rollback procedures.
  4. Request multiple perspectives: Show me 3 different approaches to implementing caching in this API, with pros and cons for each.

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How to Enable Plan Mode

You can switch to Plan in the mode selector below the chat input box.