Grill, then plan

Build-along · ~10 min at your own keyboard

Most bad plans come from a goal nobody questioned. So before plan mode, get grilled. In a normal session, with plan mode off so the questions don't get rushed into a plan, ask Claude to interview you about the task. It asks in numbered rounds, a few questions at a time, each with its recommended answer, so you can reply 'yes' or correct it. When the questions run out, have it write what you agreed into a short spec file. Then start a fresh session, so the plan is built from the spec and not from a long, crowded conversation. Plan mode is read-only: Claude explores, then writes a plan you approve before anything changes. Blueprints are cheaper to edit than buildings.

The long version: Plan mode ↗

Do this

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Checkpoints

▸You should now see numbered questions, each with a recommended answer.
▸You should now see a spec.md you have read and corrected.
▸You should now see a plan indicator, no files changing, and a numbered plan built from your spec.
▸You should now see your edit in the plan before you approve it.

The three ways this goes wrong

Claude starts planning or building in the middle of the grilling. — Say: 'Not yet. Keep asking until nothing important is open, then write the spec.'
Claude starts editing before you approved anything. — You are not in plan mode. Press Shift+Tab until the plan indicator shows, then restate the task.
The plan is vague ('organize the files'). — Reply: 'make each step name the files it touches.' A plan you cannot check is not a plan.

Where these ideas come from: Grilling, Spec, The grill-me skill (AI Hero dictionary; Matt Pocock's skills (MIT)). Paraphrased here.

Share what happened

Paste one grilling round (questions with recommended answers and your replies), your spec.md, the plan's step list, the one change you made to it, and whether execution matched.

Strip API keys, passwords, and tokens before you paste. Swap them for [KEY].

🔒 Don't paste confidential, personal-health, or payment info.