Plan Mode & Opus
Think before building — the most important habit in this program.
Plan Mode
Shift+Tab in Claude Code
- Claude reads, analyzes, proposes an approach
- No code written until you approve the plan
- Review, ask questions, adjust, then execute
- Use for complex tasks, risky changes, unfamiliar code
- Skip for quick fixes and simple tasks
Opus Plan Mode
Best of both models
- Opus plans — deep reasoning for the approach
- Sonnet executes — fast, cost-effective implementation
- You get Opus-quality architecture decisions
- At Sonnet-level speed and token cost
- Automatically managed — just enable it
Plan mode is the built-in example of human-in-the-loop: Claude proposes, you approve, then Claude executes.