Claude Code plan mode is a setting where Claude researches the task and proposes an approach before it changes anything. Instead of jumping straight into edits, Claude reads the relevant files, works out how it would tackle the job, and shows you the plan. You review it, approve it, and only then does Claude start making changes. If the plan is off, you catch it while it's still just words on the screen and nothing has been touched.

What Claude Code plan mode does

Think of it as the difference between a contractor who starts knocking down walls the moment they arrive and one who walks the site, sketches the job, and hands you the plan before lifting a hammer. In plan mode Claude is effectively read-only: it explores the code and drafts an approach, but it does not edit files, run changes, or commit anything. The output is a proposal -- the steps it intends to take and the files it expects to touch -- for you to look over.

plan mode
1Research the taskReads the relevant files to understand what's thereRead-only
2Draft the approachLays out the steps and the files it expects to changeRead-only
3Wait for your approvalNothing gets edited until you say goPaused
4Then buildOnly after you approve does it start making changesEdits on

Plan mode is look-first. The edits stay off until you approve.

How to turn it on

The simplest way is the /plan command. Type it at the start of your message and Claude switches into plan mode. You can also hand it the task at the same time by adding a description, for example /plan fix the auth bug, which puts Claude in plan mode and starts it working on that task right away.

/plan reorganize the reporting folder and rename the monthly files

Enter plan mode and start planning that task immediately. Click to copy.

There is also a keyboard shortcut. Pressing Shift+Tab cycles through Claude Code's permission modes, and plan mode is one of them, so you can flip into it without typing a command. For bigger jobs that you want handled off to the side, Claude Code also offers a dedicated Plan subagent type whose whole purpose is producing a plan.

When to use it

Plan mode earns its keep on anything large or risky. If a change touches many files, affects something you can't easily undo, or you simply aren't sure Claude will take the approach you'd want, plan mode lets you see the shape of the work up front.

Good fitBig or risky changeMany files, hard-to-undo work, or a job you want to sanity-check before it runs.
Skip itSmall, obvious changeA quick fix or a one-line edit doesn't need a plan. Just ask for it directly.

A real example

Say you want Claude to restructure a messy folder of monthly reports: rename every file to a consistent format, group them by year, and update the links that point to them. That's the kind of task where a wrong assumption spreads fast. One misread naming rule and you've renamed a hundred files the wrong way.

So you start in plan mode:

claude
› /plan tidy the reports folder and fix the links # Claude reads the folder and drafts a plan Plan: rename 112 files to YYYY-MM format, group into year subfolders, update 40 links. Critical files: index.md, links.csv # You review, then approve Approved. Making changes...

Now you can see the whole approach before a single file moves: how many files, the naming format it chose, and the two files that everything else depends on. If the format is wrong, you correct it now, while it costs you one sentence instead of an afternoon of cleanup. When the plan looks right, you approve it, and Claude gets to work.

The point: plan mode moves the review to the front. You catch a wrong approach when it's still a proposal, not after Claude has already changed your files.

Plan mode vs. just asking

Without plan mode, Claude tends to research and act in one motion: it looks at what it needs, then starts editing. That's fine for small, clear jobs. Plan mode adds a deliberate pause between the thinking and the doing, and it hands you the wheel at that pause. You stay in control of the direction while Claude still does the heavy lifting of reading the code and figuring out the steps.