(LSJ) Cursor new Plan Mode
/What is Plan Mode in Cursor.ai
Plan Mode does deep research into your codebase, reading files and asking clarifying questions to create a detailed plan before writing any code. You can review and refine the plan before handing it to Cursor to execute.
”We’ve found that this allows agents to run for significantly longer.”
Plan Mode is a specific feature within Cursor, an AI-first code editor, designed to tackle complex coding tasks by implementing a structured planning phase before any code is written.
Here's a detailed breakdown of what Plan Mode does:
* Deep Codebase Research:
* The Agent (Cursor's AI) autonomously dives deep into your project's codebase.
* It scans files, checks dependencies, analyzes documentation, and gathers all relevant context needed to understand the scope of the requested task. This allows it to form a comprehensive understanding faster and more accurately than a human could for large changes.
* Clarifying Questions:
* Before jumping into implementation, the Agent will ask targeted, clarifying questions to fill in any gaps in the initial request.
* This iterative Q&A process ensures the AI fully understands the requirements and intent, which significantly reduces the chances of misinterpretation or needing extensive rework later.
* Detailed Plan Generation:
* Once the Agent has sufficient context and clarification, it generates a comprehensive implementation plan.
* This plan is often presented in a structured format, like a Markdown file, that includes:
* A breakdown of the task into manageable, sequential steps (a structured to-do list).
* Specific file paths that will be affected.
* Code references and snippets to contextualize the changes.
* Dependencies between tasks.
* Review and Refinement:
* The generated plan is reviewable and editable by you.
* It typically opens as an ephemeral virtual file (or can be saved to your workspace) where you can directly tweak, refine, or rewrite any part of the plan—including adding, removing, or modifying to-do items.
* This step is crucial because it gives you control and allows you to inject domain-specific knowledge or architectural constraints that the AI might have missed.
* Execution (The "Build" Phase):
* Once you are satisfied with the detailed plan, you give the command (often via a "Build" button) to hand it over to the Agent (sometimes referred to as the Executor).
* The Agent then follows the approved plan step-by-step, making the necessary multi-file edits, running commands, and fixing errors, resulting in much more reliable and predictable code generation.
In essence, Plan Mode shifts the development workflow from "code first, debug later" to "plan first, code later," which is especially effective for large, multi-file, or complex features and refactoring tasks.
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