The fastest way to waste an agent's time is to let it sprint in the wrong direction. Plan mode adds a deliberate pause: before writing code, the agent describes what it's going to do — which files it will create or change, what the structure looks like, and what tradeoffs it's making — and waits for you to agree.
Read the plan, then commit
A good plan is short enough to skim and specific enough to trust. You see the shape of the work before it happens, so course corrections cost a sentence instead of a rebuild. Disagree with the data model? Say so now, while changing it is free.
Guardrails on risky moves
Plan mode pairs with a broader principle: anything destructive or hard to undo is flagged for your approval rather than pushed through quietly. The agent surfaces the risky step, explains it, and waits. You stay in control of the moments that actually matter.
- See the intended changes before any file is touched.
- Redirect with a single comment instead of a full redo.
- Risky or irreversible actions pause for an explicit yes.
Faster, because it's slower at the right moment
Spending thirty seconds reading a plan routinely saves the minutes — and the frustration — of unwinding work that went the wrong way. The pause isn't friction; it's the cheapest place to catch a misunderstanding.