When to Use Plan Mode
Use Plan when you want to resolve requirements and inspect a proposed approach before the assistant edits the design. It is useful for several related changes, unfamiliar components, or a design with important constraints.
Choose Plan explicitly in the composer. Use Ask for read-only discussion or Agent for a bounded edit without a planning checkpoint.
Start a Plan
- Open the intended project and document.
- Select Plan and a supported model.
- Describe the function, input/output conditions, chosen parts, and physical constraints.
- State which documents may change and which tasks are excluded.
- Add relevant PDFs or images, or mention reusable Artifacts.
In this example, 0805 means imperial 0805 (metric 2012), approximately 2.0 mm × 1.25 mm—not metric 0805.
Plan a passive RC input filter using a 1 kΩ resistor and 100 nF
capacitor, both 0805. The external source is 0–1 V with negligible
output resistance; the external load is 1 MΩ.
Use two-pin input and output headers with clearly labelled ground.
Review the schematic and footprint choices before execution.
Do not add an onboard supply, MCU, or amplifier.
Do not place or route the PCB in this task.
If you do not know an operating condition, say so. A missing voltage, load, connector purpose, or package choice should not become a silent assumption.
The Plan Mode Lifecycle
1. Research Phase
The assistant reviews the task and available context. It may look up datasheets, component options, or references. Read the findings for your exact part and package; an unavailable lookup does not prove a part is absent.
Research is not a design change, and a source link is not proof that a proposed circuit works.
2. Clarification Questions
Answer the question cards shown in chat. Where a batch uses Submit Answers, select the intended options and submit them.
Check that the choices express the actual requirements. If no option fits, explain the missing condition rather than choosing a convenient but incorrect answer.
3. Plan Document
Review the proposed topology, parts, connections, steps, and checks. A plan may include a block diagram and component list; inspect their content, not just their presentation.
Before approval, confirm:
- Input, output, supply, and load conditions are consistent.
- Exact part/package choices and pin mappings are supported.
- Existing components and drawings that must remain are identified.
- Placement, routing, simulation, and fabrication are included only when intended.
- Unresolved assumptions and evidence gaps are visible.
4. Approval Workflow
Use the matching controls in compatible builds:
- Approve: begin execution of the reviewed plan.
- Adjust Plan: describe changes to the proposed work, then choose Submit.
- More Research: request a specific additional investigation, then choose Submit.
- Cancel: end the pending plan instead of approving it.
Cancelling before execution does not authorize design edits. Cancelling or stopping after execution has begun does not undo completed work.
5. Execution with Todo Tracking
After approval, follow the activity rows and checklist. The assistant can still pause for a component review, an unresolved question, or an unavailable action.
A completed checklist item or final reply is not engineering approval. Inspect the saved drawing and board, review ERC/DRC findings, and read actual simulation evidence where relevant.
If Planning or Execution Stops
Use the error or recovery control attached to the original task. Resume is for an interrupted existing task when offered; it is not a way to restart a terminal failure.
If an approved edit may already have run, check the chat and current design before sending the same plan again. Stop does not promise no changes or no charge. See Chat for rejected and uncertain delivery.
Access and Availability
Plan requires account access and available usage; see Billing. Execution also requires a supported host and the relevant project permissions. New model and approval controls depend on compatible builds and services; see Availability.
For a guided example, follow Your First PCB.