Plan mode

Status: Implemented · Code: Scripts/permissions.js (_reviewPlan, _approvePlan, writeFeedback, sendFeedback), Scripts/main.js (commandPlan)

Claude researches and proposes without changing anything, then presents a plan for approval.

Entering

Plan with Claude… (⌘⇧P) switches a running session to plan mode with the set_permission_mode control request, so existing context carries into the planning, then prompts. The permission mode can also be set to plan for a whole session.

The handoff

ExitPlanMode arrives as a can_use_tool request with requires_user_interaction: true, carrying:

plan — the plan as Markdown
planFilePath — where Claude Code saved it (~/.claude/plans/<slug>.md)

The plan file is opened when it exists (it is the real artifact), otherwise the plan text is shown in a scratch tab.

Announcement is a NotificationRequest, not an action panel: notifications do not block the window, so the plan stays scrollable and editable while the decision is open. Actions: Approve, Auto-accept edits, Write Feedback…. _reviewPlanFallback uses a panel if notifications are unavailable.

Approving

{"behavior":"allow",
 "updatedPermissions":[{"type":"setMode","mode":"acceptEdits"|"default","destination":"session"}]}

The two approve options map onto Claude Code's own "auto-accept edits" and "manually approve edits". The CLI answers with "User has approved your plan. You can now start coding."

If the plan document was edited, updatedInput.plan carries the user's version — and the CLI writes it to planFilePath, making it the plan of record. Verified: an edited plan was what Claude then followed.

Three feedback channels

All combine into one deny message:

Edit the plan document. Unsaved editor content wins over disk (_currentPlanText prefers an open editor over readFile).
Highlight a passage in the plan, then send feedback — the selection is quoted back so "this part is wrong" has a referent (_planSelection).
Write Feedback… opens a scratch Markdown tab with a comment header. Write freely, then Send Feedback in the sidebar. The header is stripped up to the first -->.

Nova gives extensions no multi-line input field, so the editor is the text box. The one-line showInputPanel remains only as a fallback when a scratch tab cannot be opened.

Denying keeps the session in plan mode; Claude revises and re-presents.

Gotchas

Dismissing the notification leaves the plan pending in the sidebar with its choices. Plans are expensive; never auto-deny on dismissal.
_showPlan is also reachable from the Open Plan sidebar row.

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