Modes and effort
Use Plan mode, set task boundaries and review the approach before code changes.
What you will learn
Use Copilot App’s Plan and Interactive modes, choose an effort level and review the plan before implementation.
Match autonomy to the task
Stay in Cart: quantity bug, the session you used to investigate. No new session or worktree is needed. Change modes using the mode control beside the composer; the conversation and working directory stay the same.
| Mode | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Plan | Ask Copilot to investigate and propose an approach, then review it before implementation. Use it now to plan the quantity fix. |
| Interactive | Work with Copilot step by step, giving feedback and reviewing actions. Use it for the next chapter’s tests and fix. |
| Autopilot | Let Copilot carry out a clearly scoped task with fewer pauses. Try it later, after agreeing on the feature, permissions and completion criteria. |
Mode and permissions are separate. Autopilot does not mean you have authorized pushes, merges, application restarts or dependency changes.
Choose effort deliberately
Keep Fusion Standard, or the coding model you selected in setup. Higher effort can help with a difficult investigation, but may take longer and use more resources. It is not needed just to plan this small fix. Keep the model/effort stable unless the task needs a change.
Plan the quantity fix
The investigation explained the bug. Now agree on what a correct fix must do before changing code.
Acceptance criteria
- Adding 1 Notebook twice produces one line, quantity 2, total €20.
- Adding 2 more units to an existing quantity 3 produces quantity 5.
- Adding a new product still works. Quantities remain 1–99, including the accumulated quantity; rejected input leaves state unchanged.
- Prices and totals come from the server. Do not patch only the UI.
Keep the scope small: no checkout, stock management, accounts, new dependencies or query optimization yet. The later performance ticket is a separate task.
Switch to Plan in this same session, then send:
Plan the smallest fix for the repeated-add bug:
- Adding one €10 Notebook twice must produce quantity 2 and total €20.
- Adding 2 units to an existing quantity 3 must produce quantity 5.
- Adding a new product must still work. Quantities must remain 1–99,
including the accumulated quantity; rejected input must leave state unchanged.
- Preserve server-calculated prices/totals and all other cart items.
Keep the existing stack. No checkout, stock management, accounts,
new dependencies or query optimization.
Plan a failing regression test before the production fix.
Do not edit files yet; wait for my review.
Review the plan, then prepare to write tests
When Copilot creates the plan, it should open a plan canvas on the right. Read the plan in that canvas alongside the conversation.
Check that the plan establishes a failing regression test first, then fixes quantity accumulation and verifies the result. If it includes a database redesign, pricing changes or the later N+1 ticket, ask Copilot to revise it.
Once the plan is clear, do not start the whole implementation yet. Leave planning without launching implementation and return to Interactive in this same session. If the App presents a plan-approval screen, choose the option that returns to the session without implementing the plan.
Continue to Use a skill to fix the bug. Production code stays unchanged until the generated tests show the bug; then implement, review and verify the fix in that same chapter.
What you have learned
- Use Plan mode to agree on a small fix and correct its scope before implementation.
- Use Interactive to guide the work, and decide when a clearly scoped Autopilot task is appropriate.
- Keep a suitable model and effort level rather than increasing effort automatically.
- Review the plan before moving to tests and implementation in the same session.