TopolearnPlanning first prevents the costliest mistake: a large, confident change that solves the wrong problem.
In Plan Mode the agent does not start editing. It researches the codebase, asks you clarifying questions, and writes an implementation plan, then waits for your approval.
How to use it:
- In the agent input press Shift+Tab to cycle to Plan Mode, or pick it from the mode dropdown. Cursor may suggest it when your request looks complex.
- Describe the goal and constraints, then answer its questions.
- Review the plan. Edit it by chatting ("use the existing queue, don't add Redis") or by editing the plan's markdown file directly.
- When it's right, click to build; Agent implements the plan.
Plans are saved in your home folder by default. Save to workspace moves the plan into the project, where you can commit it, share it with teammates or reference it later.
When to plan: the change spans several files, you are unsure of the approach, or you don't know this part of the code. When not to: a one-line fix or rename, where planning is overhead.
If the result doesn't match what you wanted, Cursor's advice is to revert, make the plan more specific, and build again. That is usually faster and cleaner than correcting a half-wrong implementation with many follow-ups, because each correction adds clutter the agent has to work around.
A good plan names the files to change, the order of steps, what is out of scope, and how the result will be verified (which tests, which manual check). Ask for that last part explicitly if it's missing.
Example
Shift+Tab in the agent input -> Plan Mode
> Add rate limiting to the public API (100 requests/min per API key).
> Reuse the existing Redis client; no new dependencies.
> The plan must list files to change and how we'll test it.
(agent asks: per-route or global? what response on limit? ...)
(agent writes plan.md -> you edit it -> "Save to workspace")
-> BuildRemember
- Shift+Tab toggles Plan Mode: research, questions, plan, then build
- Edit the plan in chat or as markdown; Save to workspace to keep it
- If the build misses, revert, sharpen the plan, rebuild
Watch out for
- Approving a plan without a verification step, so nobody knows when the work is actually done.