2 min lesson
Plan as prose, then a 3-files card
Complete "Plan as prose, then a 3-files card". Check the final state against the lesson before you move on.
Check your understanding
Complete this walkthrough: Plan Mode — plan the recent-searches change, then hold the boundary when the agent asks.
Outcome: Finish with the result shown in the final walkthrough step.
Plan Mode — plan the recent-searches change, then hold the boundary when the agent asks
Plan Mode in Agent
4 steps · ~2 min
Plan Mode → Send → Answer the scope question → Watch the build
Read this walkthrough as text
Plan Mode — plan the recent-searches change, then hold the boundary when the agent asks
Plan Mode in Agent
SayAdd a recent-searches list under the search box — a component, a hook, and the wiring. That crosses several files, so plan it first.
DoPick Plan in the composer's mode dropdown so the agent researches the repo and plans before touching any code.
DoSend it and let the agent plan.
SeeIt thinks briefly, then stops to ask the scope question your prompt already answered: should it also refactor searchFilter.ts to rank results by recency while it's in there? That's the scope creep — as a question this time, not a surprise diff.
SayNo — keep to components/search as scoped.
DoAnswer on the Questions card with the boundary you set. There is no approval gate after this: your answer IS the gate.
DoWatch the build land.
SeePlan as prose, then a 3-files card — the component, the hook, the wiring, all inside components/search. searchFilter.ts was never touched, because your answer held the line your prompt drew. (Wave the reach in instead and you live the other route: the refactor ships too, you restore from the prompt's ↺ checkpoint, and you re-send with the boundary — same lesson, paid for in a rollback.)
Simulated Cursor 3.12 (macOS, light) — beta educational reconstruction, not the real product.
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Optional practice
Practice: Plan as prose, then a 3-files card
QYou've applied it. What actually proves the work is done, not just a plausible answer?