[I work on Claude Code] I broadly agree with the author’s point: plan mode was useful, and is no longer useful.
In Claude Code, all plan mode does is add a little reminder to every user message along the lines of “you’re in plan mode, please don’t code yet”. It’s something I came up with late on a Sunday night many months ago, when I got tired of asking Claude to plan with me first before coding in each new session. Something people might not realize is plan mode has always been a prompt — it has never changed the toolset because doing so would break the prompt cache, and so would be expensive for users.
This worked well for a while, until a few months ago, using early versions of Fable, I realized that I wasn’t using plan mode anymore because the model just got it, and because for the increasingly complex work I asked the model to do, planning had become interactive and iterative. With Opus 5.5, I feel Opus has gotten to that point too.
For codebase understanding, I sometimes ask Claude to generate an artifact that explains some aspect of its changes. For complex diffs to core parts of the system, I will often ask it to make diagrams or even interactive demos so I can better understand the change and alternatives considered. I don’t do this very often, but it’s a useful way to explain code when you need it. I ask Claude to attach these artifacts to its PRs also, so others can understand and future Claudes have the context.
> This worked well for a while, until a few months ago, using early versions of Fable, I realized that I wasn’t using plan mode anymore because the model just got it, and because for the increasingly complex work I asked the model to do, planning had become interactive and iterative. With Opus 5.5, I feel Opus has gotten to that point too.
For me it’s actually the opposite, and Claude Code’s plan mode isn’t nearly sufficient. Personally I ask Claude to write down a markdown file with its plan, then review the plan using plannotator, and then go back and forth (most of the time it’s actually the comments that are the problem, not the code).
Then start a fresh session, seed it with the plan, tell Claude to find ambiguities / friction points / oversights, resolve those, and then implement it.
Review once again with plannotator, go back and forth, and then send PR.
Maybe not the “vibe coding” that was once imagined, but this does ensure I am fully aware of the code and architecture, the quality, and this also prevents long term degradation.
I have roughly the same workflow, also with plannotator - which I like a lot - and haven't used or felt the need to use _plan mode_ for at least 3-4 months.
Then telling Claude to work on a document, the instruction is kept to its core.
Now when bcherny explicitly mentioned that it merely adds a single line - it explains why I don't need it.
What may be concerning about "super plan" mode from the creators (or a skill, for that matter) - is that tuning the amount of effort, and how much deep to dig - may become too hard, as it will interfere with several embedded paragraphs explaining what to do, how to do, where to do, etc'.
What I do look for is even better plannotator ability to track changes, combining historical comments (like Google docs), and git blame of several "generations" before current reviewed doc.
While possible to commit, I'd still loose the comments themselves, and the commit will be at least per changeset, and not connected ro a specific changed section.
Roughly speaking, I'd be happy if plannotator would persist something similar to github PR reviews combined with Google docs comments & suggestions.
bcherny · · focus · HN ↗
In Claude Code, all plan mode does is add a little reminder to every user message along the lines of “you’re in plan mode, please don’t code yet”. It’s something I came up with late on a Sunday night many months ago, when I got tired of asking Claude to plan with me first before coding in each new session. Something people might not realize is plan mode has always been a prompt — it has never changed the toolset because doing so would break the prompt cache, and so would be expensive for users.
This worked well for a while, until a few months ago, using early versions of Fable, I realized that I wasn’t using plan mode anymore because the model just got it, and because for the increasingly complex work I asked the model to do, planning had become interactive and iterative. With Opus 5.5, I feel Opus has gotten to that point too.
For codebase understanding, I sometimes ask Claude to generate an artifact that explains some aspect of its changes. For complex diffs to core parts of the system, I will often ask it to make diagrams or even interactive demos so I can better understand the change and alternatives considered. I don’t do this very often, but it’s a useful way to explain code when you need it. I ask Claude to attach these artifacts to its PRs also, so others can understand and future Claudes have the context.
stingraycharles · · focus · HN ↗
For me it’s actually the opposite, and Claude Code’s plan mode isn’t nearly sufficient. Personally I ask Claude to write down a markdown file with its plan, then review the plan using plannotator, and then go back and forth (most of the time it’s actually the comments that are the problem, not the code).
Then start a fresh session, seed it with the plan, tell Claude to find ambiguities / friction points / oversights, resolve those, and then implement it.
Review once again with plannotator, go back and forth, and then send PR.
Maybe not the “vibe coding” that was once imagined, but this does ensure I am fully aware of the code and architecture, the quality, and this also prevents long term degradation.
soleveloper · · focus · HN ↗
Then telling Claude to work on a document, the instruction is kept to its core.
Now when bcherny explicitly mentioned that it merely adds a single line - it explains why I don't need it.
What may be concerning about "super plan" mode from the creators (or a skill, for that matter) - is that tuning the amount of effort, and how much deep to dig - may become too hard, as it will interfere with several embedded paragraphs explaining what to do, how to do, where to do, etc'.
What I do look for is even better plannotator ability to track changes, combining historical comments (like Google docs), and git blame of several "generations" before current reviewed doc.
itintheory · · focus · HN ↗
soleveloper · · focus · HN ↗
Roughly speaking, I'd be happy if plannotator would persist something similar to github PR reviews combined with Google docs comments & suggestions.