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claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Plan-mode: writes to plan file leave no user-facing pointer — file may not be open in view

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In plan mode, Claude writes/updates the plan file via tool calls that are not rendered inline in the assistant's user-facing text. If the plan file isn't already open in the IDE tab, the user has no explicit cue that the plan was updated or where to look. Updates are effectively invisible.

Root Cause

In plan mode, Claude writes/updates the plan file via tool calls that are not rendered inline in the assistant's user-facing text. If the plan file isn't already open in the IDE tab, the user has no explicit cue that the plan was updated or where to look. Updates are effectively invisible.

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Summary

In plan mode, Claude writes/updates the plan file via tool calls that are not rendered inline in the assistant's user-facing text. If the plan file isn't already open in the IDE tab, the user has no explicit cue that the plan was updated or where to look. Updates are effectively invisible.

Repro

  1. Start a session in plan mode (VSCode extension).
  2. Ask Claude to do a research task that causes it to Write or Edit the plan file.
  3. Close or never-open the plan file tab.
  4. Observe: Claude's reply summarizes the work but does not surface an explicit path/clickable link to the plan file, nor a "open this to review" instruction.

Expected

Every turn that writes or edits the plan file should close with an explicit clickable link (markdown link to the plan file path) and a short instruction like "Open the plan file to review the changes." This should happen on incremental edits too, not just the first write.

Why it matters

  • Plan mode's value depends on the user actually reading the plan before approving. Silent updates defeat the purpose.
  • The current behavior relies on the user predicting which file was touched and opening it manually.
  • The IDE extension already supports clickable markdown file links, so the fix is a prompt/guidance change, not an extension change.

Suggested fix

Update the plan-mode system prompt so that after any Write/Edit on the plan file, the user-facing message must include an explicit markdown link to the plan file plus an open-to-review instruction.

Environment

  • Claude Code VSCode extension
  • Plan mode active

extent analysis

TL;DR

Update the plan-mode system prompt to include an explicit markdown link to the plan file and an open-to-review instruction after any write or edit operation.

Guidance

  • Review the current system prompt template used in plan mode to identify where the update is needed.
  • Modify the prompt to dynamically generate a markdown link to the plan file path after any write or edit operation.
  • Ensure the updated prompt includes a clear instruction, such as "Open the plan file to review the changes," to guide the user.
  • Test the updated prompt in various scenarios, including incremental edits, to verify it works as expected.

Example

[Open plan file to review changes](path/to/plan/file.md)

This example illustrates how a markdown link to the plan file could be included in the system prompt.

Notes

The fix relies on the IDE extension's support for clickable markdown file links, so no changes to the extension are required. The update should be applied to the plan-mode system prompt to ensure consistent behavior.

Recommendation

Apply the suggested fix to update the plan-mode system prompt, as it directly addresses the issue of silent updates and provides a clear cue for users to review changes.

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