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Use plan mode for a slightly larger task1 / 2

2 min lesson

Practice Plan Mode

Practice Plan Mode on one real case. Check the result before moving on.

Step 1 of 2

Give Plan Mode one change that spans several files and answer its scope questions before accepting the plan. Check the files, tests, non-goals and verification steps, click Build, then compare the finished diff with the approved plan.

Plan Mode holds the boundary

0:59 · narrated
Read this demo as text
  1. Okay, look at this prompt. It's not vague. It says what to change, and where it's allowed to touch: the file components/search. And it wants a plan before anything gets built. That's why Plan is on in the mode menu. Multi-file work starts right here.
  2. Hit send. Now watch this. It doesn't dive into edits. It researches first... then it stops at the boundary and asks about a refactor it noticed. Yes. You want that question. Not a surprise rewrite.
  3. And that scope question? Answer it from your own prompt. No. Stay in the file components/search.
  4. There it is. The build lands inside the line you drew. Three files, all under the file components/search. And the file searchFilter.ts? Untouched. That is what holding the boundary looks like.
Plan Mode holds the boundary when the agent asks to widen scope.

Practice next: Now send the task in Plan Mode, answer the scope question and review the plan before you click Build.

Simulated Cursor 3.12 (macOS, light) — beta educational reconstruction, not the real product.