Plan Mode

Plan Mode is a read-only environment for architecting robust solutions before implementation. With Plan Mode, you can:

• Research: Explore the project in a read-only state to prevent accidental changes.
• Design: Understand problems, evaluate trade-offs, and choose a solution.
• Plan: Align on an execution strategy before any code is modified.

Plan Mode is enabled by default. You can manage this setting using the /settings command.

How to enter Plan Mode

Plan Mode integrates seamlessly into your workflow, letting you switch between planning and execution as needed.

You can either configure Gemini CLI to start in Plan Mode by default or enter Plan Mode manually during a session.

Launch in Plan Mode

To start Gemini CLI directly in Plan Mode by default:

1. Use the /settings command.
2. Set Default Approval Mode to Plan.

To launch Gemini CLI in Plan Mode once:

1. Use gemini --approval-mode=plan when launching Gemini CLI.

Enter Plan Mode manually

To start Plan Mode while using Gemini CLI:

• Keyboard shortcut: Press Shift+Tab to cycle through approval modes (Default -> Auto-Edit -> Plan). Plan Mode is automatically removed from the rotation when Gemini CLI is actively processing or showing confirmation dialogs.

• Command: Type /plan [goal] in the input box. The [goal] is optional; for example, /plan implement authentication will switch to Plan Mode and immediately submit the prompt to the model.

• Natural Language: Ask Gemini CLI to "start a plan for...". Gemini CLI calls the enter_plan_mode tool to switch modes. This tool is not available when Gemini CLI is in YOLO mode.

How to use Plan Mode

Plan Mode lets you collaborate with Gemini CLI to design a solution before Gemini CLI takes action.

1. Provide a goal: Start by describing what you want to achieve. Gemini CLI will then enter Plan Mode (if it's not already) to research the task.

2. Discuss and agree on strategy: As Gemini CLI analyzes your codebase, it will discuss its findings and proposed strategy with you to ensure alignment. It may ask you questions or present different implementation options using ask_user. Gemini CLI will stop and wait for your confirmation before drafting the formal plan. You should reach an informal agreement on the approach before proceeding.

3. Review the plan: Once you've agreed on the strategy, Gemini CLI creates a detailed implementation plan as a Markdown file in your plans directory.

   • View: You can open and read this file to understand the proposed changes.
   • Edit: Press Ctrl+X to open the plan directly in your configured external editor.

4. Approve or iterate: Gemini CLI will present the finalized plan for your formal approval.

   • Approve: If you're satisfied with the plan, approve it to start the implementation immediately: Yes, automatically accept edits or Yes, manually accept edits.
   • Iterate: If the plan needs adjustments, provide feedback in the input box or edit the plan file directly. Gemini CLI will refine the strategy and update the plan.
   • Cancel: You can cancel your plan with Esc.

For more complex or specialized planning tasks, you can customize the planning workflow with skills.

Collaborative plan editing

You can collaborate with Gemini CLI by making direct changes or leaving comments in the implementation plan. This is often faster and more precise than describing complex changes in natural language.

1. Open the plan: Press Ctrl+X when Gemini CLI presents a plan for review.
2. Edit or comment: The plan opens in your configured external editor (for example, VS Code or Vim). You can:
   • Modify steps: Directly reorder, delete, or rewrite implementation steps.
   • Leave comments: Add inline questions or feedback (for example, "Wait, shouldn't we use the existing Logger class here?").
3. Save and close: Save your changes and close the editor.
4. Review and refine: Gemini CLI automatically detects the changes, reviews your comments, and adjusts the implementation strategy. It then presents the refined plan for your final approval.

How to exit Plan Mode

You can exit Plan Mode at any time, whether you have finalized a plan or want to switch back to another mode.

• Approve a plan: When Gemini CLI presents a finalized plan, approving it automatically exits Plan Mode and starts the implementation.
• Keyboard shortcut: Press Shift+Tab to cycle to the desired mode.
• Natural language: Ask Gemini CLI to "exit plan mode" or "stop planning."

Tool Restrictions

Plan Mode enforces strict safety policies to prevent accidental changes.

These are the only allowed tools:

• FileSystem (Read): read_file, list_directory, glob
• Search: grep_search, google_web_search, web_fetch (requires explicit confirmation), get_internal_docs
• Research Subagents: codebase_investigator, cli_help
• Interaction: ask_user
• MCP tools (Read): Read-only MCP tools (for example, github_read_issue, postgres_read_schema) and core MCP resource tools (list_mcp_resources, read_mcp_resource) are allowed.
• Planning (Write): write_file and replace only allowed for .md files in the ~/.gemini/tmp/<project>/<session-id>/plans/ directory or your custom plans directory.
• Memory: save_memory
• Skills: activate_skill (allows loading specialized instructions and resources in a read-only manner)

Customization and best practices

Plan Mode is secure by default, but you can adapt it to fit your specific workflows. You can customize how Gemini CLI plans by using skills, adjusting safety policies, changing where plans are stored, or adding hooks.

Custom planning with skills

You can use Agent Skills to customize how Gemini CLI approaches planning for specific types of tasks. When a skill is activated during Plan Mode, its specialized instructions and procedural workflows will guide the research, design, and planning phases.

For example:

• A "Database Migration" skill could ensure the plan includes data safety checks and rollback strategies.
• A "Security Audit" skill could prompt Gemini CLI to look for specific vulnerabilities during codebase exploration.
• A "Frontend Design" skill could guide Gemini CLI to use specific UI components and accessibility standards in its proposal.

To use a skill in Plan Mode, you can explicitly ask Gemini CLI to "use the <skill-name> skill to plan..." or Gemini CLI may autonomously activate it based on the task description.

Custom policies

Plan Mode's default tool restrictions are managed by the policy engine and defined in the built-in plan.toml file. The built-in policy (Tier 1) enforces the read-only state, but you can customize these rules by creating your own policies in your ~/.gemini/policies/ directory (Tier 2).

Global vs. mode-specific rules

As described in the policy engine documentation, any rule that does not explicitly specify modes is considered "always active" and will apply to Plan Mode as well.

To maintain the integrity of Plan Mode as a safe research environment, persistent tool approvals are context-aware. Approvals granted in modes like Default or Auto-Edit do not apply to Plan Mode, ensuring that tools trusted for implementation don't automatically execute while you're researching. However, approvals granted while in Plan Mode are treated as intentional choices for global trust and apply to all modes.

If you want to manually restrict a rule to other modes but not to Plan Mode, you must explicitly specify the target modes. For example, to allow npm test in default and Auto-Edit modes but not in Plan Mode:

[[rule]]
toolName = "run_shell_command"
commandPrefix = "npm test"
decision = "allow"
priority = 100
# By omitting "plan", this rule will not be active in Plan Mode.
modes = ["default", "autoEdit"]

Example: Automatically approve read-only MCP tools

By default, read-only MCP tools require user confirmation in Plan Mode. You can use toolAnnotations and the mcpName wildcard to customize this behavior for your specific environment.

~/.gemini/policies/mcp-read-only.toml

[[rule]]
toolName = "*"
mcpName = "*"
toolAnnotations = { readOnlyHint = true }
decision = "allow"
priority = 100
modes = ["plan"]

For more information on how the policy engine works, see the policy engine docs.

Example: Allow git commands in Plan Mode

This rule lets you check the repository status and see changes while in Plan Mode.

~/.gemini/policies/git-research.toml

[[rule]]
toolName = "run_shell_command"
commandPrefix = ["git status", "git diff"]
decision = "allow"
priority = 100
modes = ["plan"]

Example: Enable custom subagents in Plan Mode

Built-in research subagents like codebase_investigator and cli_help are enabled by default in Plan Mode. You can enable additional custom subagents by adding a rule to your policy.

~/.gemini/policies/research-subagents.toml

[[rule]]
toolName = "my_custom_subagent"
decision = "allow"
priority = 100
modes = ["plan"]

Tell Gemini CLI it can use these tools in your prompt, for example: "You can check ongoing changes in git."

Custom plan directory and policies

By default, planning artifacts are stored in a managed temporary directory outside your project: ~/.gemini/tmp/<project>/<session-id>/plans/.

You can configure a custom directory for plans in your settings.json. For example, to store plans in a .gemini/plans directory within your project:

{
  "general": {
    "plan": {
      "directory": ".gemini/plans"
    }
  }
}

To maintain the safety of Plan Mode, user-configured paths for the plans directory are restricted to the project root. This ensures that custom planning locations defined within a project's workspace cannot be used to escape and overwrite sensitive files elsewhere. Any user-configured directory must reside within the project boundary.

Using a custom directory requires updating your policy engine configurations to allow write_file and replace in that specific location. For example, to allow writing to the .gemini/plans directory within your project, create a policy file at ~/.gemini/policies/plan-custom-directory.toml:

[[rule]]
toolName = ["write_file", "replace"]
decision = "allow"
priority = 100
modes = ["plan"]
# Adjust the pattern to match your custom directory.
# This example matches any .md file in a .gemini/plans directory within the project.
argsPattern = "\"file_path\":\"[^\"]+[\\\\/]+\\.gemini[\\\\/]+plans[\\\\/]+[\\w-]+\\.md\""

Using hooks with Plan Mode

You can use the hook system to automate parts of the planning workflow or enforce additional checks when Gemini CLI transitions into or out of Plan Mode.

Hooks such as BeforeTool or AfterTool can be configured to intercept the enter_plan_mode and exit_plan_mode tool calls.

[!WARNING] When hooks are triggered by tool executions, they do not run when you manually toggle Plan Mode using the /plan command or the Shift+Tab keyboard shortcut. If you need hooks to execute on mode changes, ensure the transition is initiated by the agent (for example, by asking "start a plan for...").

Example: Archive approved plans to GCS (AfterTool)

If your organizational policy requires a record of all execution plans, you can use an AfterTool hook to securely copy the plan artifact to Google Cloud Storage whenever Gemini CLI exits Plan Mode to start the implementation.

.gemini/hooks/archive-plan.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Extract the plan filename from the tool input JSON
plan_filename=$(jq -r '.tool_input.plan_filename // empty')

# Construct the absolute path using the GEMINI_PLANS_DIR environment variable
plan_path="$GEMINI_PLANS_DIR/$plan_filename"

if [ -f "$plan_path" ]; then
  # Generate a unique filename using a timestamp
  filename="$(date +%s)_$(basename "$plan_path")"

  # Upload the plan to GCS in the background so it doesn't block the CLI
  gsutil cp "$plan_path" "gs://my-audit-bucket/gemini-plans/$filename" > /dev/null 2>&1 &
fi

# AfterTool hooks should generally allow the flow to continue
echo '{"decision": "allow"}'

To register this AfterTool hook, add it to your settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "AfterTool": [
      {
        "matcher": "exit_plan_mode",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "name": "archive-plan",
            "type": "command",
            "command": "~/.gemini/hooks/archive-plan.sh"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Commands

• /plan copy: Copy the currently approved plan to your clipboard.

Planning workflows

Plan Mode provides building blocks for structured research and design. These are implemented as extensions using core planning tools like enter_plan_mode, exit_plan_mode, and ask_user.

Built-in planning workflow

The built-in planner uses an adaptive workflow to analyze your project, consult you on trade-offs via ask_user, and draft a plan for your approval.

Custom planning workflows

You can install or create specialized planners to suit your workflow.

Conductor

Conductor is designed for spec-driven development. It organizes work into "tracks" and stores persistent artifacts in your project's conductor/ directory:

• Automate transitions: Switches to read-only mode via enter_plan_mode.
• Streamline decisions: Uses ask_user for architectural choices.
• Maintain project context: Stores artifacts in the project directory using custom plan directory and policies.
• Handoff execution: Transitions to implementation via exit_plan_mode.

Build your own

Since Plan Mode is built on modular building blocks, you can develop your own custom planning workflow as an extensions. By leveraging core tools and custom policies, you can define how Gemini CLI researches and stores plans for your specific domain.

To build a custom planning workflow, you can use:

• Tool usage: Use core tools like enter_plan_mode, ask_user, and exit_plan_mode to manage the research and design process.
• Customization: Set your own storage locations and policy rules using custom plan directories and custom policies.

[!TIP] Use Conductor as a reference when building your own custom planning workflow.

By using Plan Mode as its execution environment, your custom methodology can enforce read-only safety during the design phase while benefiting from high-reasoning model routing.

Automatic Model Routing

When using an auto model, Gemini CLI automatically optimizes model routing based on the current phase of your task:

1. Planning Phase: While in Plan Mode, the CLI routes requests to a high-reasoning Pro model to ensure robust architectural decisions and high-quality plans.
2. Implementation Phase: Once a plan is approved and you exit Plan Mode, the CLI detects the existence of the approved plan and automatically switches to a high-speed Flash model. This provides a faster, more responsive experience during the implementation of the plan.

If the high-reasoning model is unavailable or you don't have access to it, Gemini CLI automatically and silently falls back to a faster model to ensure your workflow isn't interrupted.

This behavior is enabled by default to provide the best balance of quality and performance. You can disable this automatic switching in your settings:

{
  "general": {
    "plan": {
      "modelRouting": false
    }
  }
}

Cleanup

By default, Gemini CLI automatically cleans up old session data, including all associated plan files and task trackers.

• Default behavior: Sessions (and their plans) are retained for 30 days.
• Configuration: You can customize this behavior via the /settings command (search for Session Retention) or in your settings.json file. See session retention for more details.

Manual deletion also removes all associated artifacts:

• Command Line: Use gemini --delete-session <index|id>.
• Session Browser: Press /resume, navigate to a session, and press x.

If you use a custom plans directory, those files are not automatically deleted and must be managed manually.

Non-interactive execution

When running Gemini CLI in non-interactive environments (such as headless scripts or CI/CD pipelines), Plan Mode optimizes for automated workflows:

• Automatic transitions: The policy engine automatically approves the enter_plan_mode and exit_plan_mode tools without prompting for user confirmation.
• Automated implementation: When exiting Plan Mode to execute the plan, Gemini CLI automatically switches to YOLO mode instead of the standard Default mode. This allows the CLI to execute the implementation steps automatically without hanging on interactive tool approvals.

Example:

gemini --approval-mode plan -p "Analyze telemetry and suggest improvements"