Claude Code, your bearings

1.08

The modes, and the two you use

It has four modes, and the mode is how much it asks you before it acts.

It shows at the bottom of the prompt box, and clicking it or pressing Shift and Tab together moves you to the next one.

The mode

What it does

Ask before edits

It asks before every change. Safest and slowest, and if you are approving the same thing over and over, move up a gear.

Edit automatically

It edits files without asking, and still asks before it installs anything, sends anything, or goes on the internet.

Plan mode

It reads, thinks and hands you a plan, and touches nothing until you approve it. Its reasoning is on the screen, which is where you catch the wrong assumption before it becomes work.

Auto

It gets on with it, and a separate safety check reviews each move before it happens and blocks the dangerous ones. This is where the work happens.

Ask before edits

asks about everything

Edit automatically

edits without asking, still asks to send or install

Plan mode

reads and plans, touches nothing

Where your edge is

Auto

gets on with it, safety check running

Where the work happens

Our recommendation is that you use two of them.

Sit in auto for the general day-to-day tasks.

When you have something bigger, sit in plan mode until it has given you a plan you are happy with, then set it off in auto to complete it.

Be aware of when it pops up with something to ask, read it, and accept only what you feel comfortable with.