Plan Mode for Research Before Edits

Done means Cursor produces a plan grounded in actual files, constraints and checks.

Use planning when a change needs research, files, checks and risk called out before edits begin.

Use Plan Mode when a change is complex enough that immediate edits would be risky. Keep the boundary narrow.

Start small. Name the job, attach the context that proves the point and decide what evidence would make the output trustworthy.

Read the loop before touching the controls. The first beat frames the work, the second uses Cursor, the third checks the result and the fourth leaves a handoff someone else can inspect.

Treat this as a short practice loop, not a product tour. The task should be small enough that you can inspect the result without trusting the summary.

1. 1Ask Cursor to research the whole indexed codebase first, follow the paradigms already in the repo, and cite the files it used.
2. 2Require scope, non-goals, risks and verification commands in the plan.
3. 3Expect Plan Mode to pause and ask when the brief contradicts the code - like a PRDProduct Requirements Document. The spec describing what to build and why. that says authenticated users while the app has no auth at all.
4. 4Edit the plan until it is small enough to review, then approve implementation only after it names its evidence.

The exercise is complete only when the proof matches the requested outcome. If the proof is weak, reduce the scope or fix the context instead of adding more instructions.

Verification decides the next move.

Use the first failure signal as the next prompt. Broad retries usually make the run noisier; a narrow retry gives Cursor a concrete repair target.