Plan mode

Plan mode shows Claude's complete intended sequence of actions before any execution begins. It is the mandatory safety review for high-impact operations.

When plan mode is required

Operation	Why plan mode
Refactor spanning 10+ files	Verify scope and approach before any file changes
Database schema migration	Irreversible in production, high blast radius
Authentication system changes	Security-critical, hard to reverse
CI/CD pipeline changes	Affects all deployments
Dependency major version upgrade	May break many callsites
Deleting files or directories	Irreversible

How to use plan mode

# Enter plan mode
/plan

# Or with a specific task
/plan migrate all authentication from session-based to JWT

# Claude produces:
# 1. Analysis of what needs to change
# 2. Ordered list of files to modify
# 3. Summary of each change
# 4. Risk assessment
#
# You review → approve / modify / cancel
# Only after approval does Claude begin executing

What a good plan review checks

When Claude presents a plan, verify:

1. Scope is correct — does it cover all affected files?
2. Order is safe — are dependencies handled in the right sequence?
3. Reversibility — are there any irreversible steps? Is there a rollback plan?
4. Test coverage — does the plan include test updates?
5. No surprises — are there any files in the plan that shouldn't be touched?

Plan mode vs. acceptEdits

Plan mode:     Shows plan → human approves → executes
               Best for: high-impact, irreversible operations

acceptEdits:   Auto-approves all file operations
               Best for: CI/CD pipelines, automated batch tasks
               Never for: production-impacting changes without review

Official documentation

• Claude Code overview — plan mode