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Plan Mode

Plan mode separates research from execution. Claude analyzes and plans without making changes until you approve. This is essential for complex tasks where you want Claude to think before acting.

Activate it by pressing Shift+Tab twice, or use the /plan command (v2.1.0+). Exit with Shift+Tab again. When active, Claude won't edit files, run commands, or modify anything until you give the green light.

Quick activation: Use Shift+Tab in plan mode to select "auto-accept edits" option (v2.1.2+).

Since its introduction, Plan Mode has become a cornerstone of safe Claude Code workflows, especially when working with Opus on complex multi-file changes.

Prior to Plan Mode​

I would frequently start or end prompts with:

Do not code, just make suggestions

And generally speaking this worked. However, when Claude did provide suggestions it was unfortunately inconsistent in format and verbosity.

Other folks on r/ClaudeAI have mentioned similar inconsistent results when requesting inaction from Claude. This led to an unpredictable UX and feedback loop.

With Plan Mode​

Plan Mode not only provides security but it 'forces' Claude to deliver consistently formatted responses in a reasonable verbosity.

When I asked for suggestions on improving shader time complexity, Claude elegantly provided multiple numbered options with clear benefits outlined for each approach (e.g. speed delta, amount of changes required). No more guessing whether Claude will edit files or just suggest. The output is structured, predictable, and you get to approve before execution.

I have also observed plan mode is incredibly fast! This in combination with the compactness of the plan's produced has made using Opus much more efficient in terms of speed and token usage.

Opus Plan Mode - Enhanced Interactive Planning​

The latest enhancement to Plan Mode is Opus Plan Mode with Opus 4.6, bringing significant improvements including 1M context for larger codebases.

How it works:

  1. You describe the task - Provide requirements and context
  2. Claude asks clarifying questions - About ambiguous requirements, architectural preferences, implementation choices
  3. Claude creates plan.md - Structured plan with task breakdown, dependencies, execution order
  4. You review and edit - Modify the plan as needed before execution
  5. Claude executes - Completes tasks systematically based on approved plan (using Sonnet 5)

Key Benefits with Opus 4.6:

  • 1M Context Window - Analyze entire large codebases during planning
  • Adaptive Thinking - Model decides when extended reasoning helps
  • Clarifying Questions Upfront - Resolves ambiguity before planning begins
  • Editable Plans - Review and refine execution strategy in plan.md files
  • Better Alignment - Ensure shared understanding through interactive workflow

Access Opus Plan Mode by selecting option 4 in the /model command: "Use Opus in plan mode, Sonnet 5 otherwise"

With Opus 4.6's 1M context, you can now plan across massive codebases that previously exceeded context limits!

Available Tools & Restricted Tools​

In plan mode, Claude has access to read-only and research tools:

Available tools:

  • Read - Files and content viewing.
  • LS - Directory listings.
  • Glob - File pattern searches.
  • Grep - Content searches.
  • Task - Research agents.
  • TodoRead/TodoWrite - Task management.
  • WebFetch - Web content analysis.
  • WebSearch - Web searches.
  • NotebookRead - Jupyter notebooks.

Restricted tools:

  • Edit/MultiEdit - File edits.
  • Write - File creation.
  • Bash - Command execution.
  • NotebookEdit - Notebook edits.
  • MCP tools that modify state.

Claude can research and plan without touching anything until you approve.

See Also: Auto-Accept Permissions|Dangerous Skip Permissions|Configuration

Last updated on
Author:InventorBlack|Maintainer of OpenCues