The Explore → Plan → Code → Commit workflow in Claude Code

0:03 If you take one thing away from Claude code, let it be this workflow: explore, plan, code, and commit. Without this, most people jump straight to pasting in Claude to write code, which means more course correcting later on. The fastest way to handle step one and two is with plan mode. With plan mode, Claude can't edit files. It just reads files to gather research on how to tackle this implementation. To enter plan mode, hit shift and tab until you see the plan mode under the text input.

0:36 I need to add WebP conversion to our image upload pipeline. Figure out where in the pipeline it should happen, whether we need new dependencies, and how to approach it. And Claude will read relevant files, do some web searches, and give you a plan of action. Make sure you review it and determine if it meets your criteria. Otherwise, I can ask it to add on or revise some areas. Perfect. And this right here is the best place to course correct because it's before any code is written. You can also use explore without being in plan mode by just asking Claude to explore your code base.

1:11 Now, once the plan looks good, you can select approve to accept the plan and let Claude toggle all of the list items it provided. You can determine if you want Claude to auto accept the file edits or ask every single time. Claude will do its best to troubleshoot your code base before considering the plan finished. But at times, you'll need to course correct. This is the benefit of working with plan mode because after the plan is finished, we also have the context of how it got to the results to help it guide its next decision.

1:39 In order for Claude to be confident in its results, it has to be clear on what it deems correct. When writing your plan, make this explicit. Adding tools that will help Claude complete its goals will remove a lot of back and forth. For example, if you're building web UIs, make sure you have the Claude and Chrome extension so that Claude code can control a tab and test out the UI before deeming it finished. In your project, include a test suite that Claude can continuously validate on.

2:08 Claude can even write tests for you. Before passing this off to Claude, make sure that the tests are a source of truth for you and your team to avoid any false positives. Quick tip, if you find Claude keeps running into the same issues, ask Claude to save the solution to his Claude MD file. Now, once you have tested for yourself and are happy with the results, it's time to push your code. A tip before you commit, run a sub agent code reviewer to look at your code.

2:34 Then you get Claude to generate a commit message for you in your style. Rinse and repeat. If you want to be effective with Claude code, follow the explore, plan, code, and commit workflow. Exploration will give the relevant context Claude needs for your project. Plan will create a plan of action that Claude will use to determine if they are successful. Code is the back and forth that you and Claude do before settling on the final outcomes of the plan.

3:02 Commit helps you review and push your code so you can start on your next feature.