Claude Code Plan Mode

By default, Claude Code works as it goes — reading, then proposing edits one at a time. For a bigger or riskier change, you often want to see the whole approach first, before a single file is touched.

That's plan mode. In plan mode, Claude reads files and runs read-only commands to explore your codebase, then writes a plan of what it intends to do — but it does not edit your source. You review the plan and decide whether to proceed.

Plan mode is one of Claude Code's permission modes (the others include default and acceptEdits), which control how much Claude can do without asking.

There are three ways in:

• Press Shift+Tab to cycle the permission mode: default → acceptEdits → plan. The current mode shows in the status bar.
• Prefix a single prompt with /plan to plan just that one request.
• Start the whole session in plan mode from your terminal:

claude --permission-mode plan

In plan mode, just describe the change you want:

Add a dark-mode toggle to the settings page.

Claude will explore — reading components, checking how styles are defined — and come back with a step-by-step plan instead of edits. Nothing in your working tree changes yet.

When the plan is ready, Claude presents it and asks how to proceed. You can:

• Approve and start in auto mode — Claude executes without pausing on each step.
• Approve and accept edits — Claude makes the edits; you review them after (e.g. with git diff).
• Approve and review each edit — back to default mode; you approve changes one at a time.
• Keep planning — send feedback and Claude revises the plan.

Approving exits plan mode and switches the session to whichever permission mode you picked, so Claude starts editing.