Lesson 4 of 6 · 6 min read
Read and approve a plan
Learn what Claude's plan contains, how to question it, and when to approve it so the build can start.
What you’ll learn
- Where the Check phase hands over to the Plan phase.
- What a plan shows: repositories, tickets, stages and time.
- How to disagree with a plan and get a new one.
- What approving actually starts.
From Check to Plan
After set-up, the Check phase runs by itself, without Claude: the app checks the setup and the branches on GitLab. Problems are listed with what to fix. If you want the checks that need judgement too, click Ask Claude to check everything. When it's right, click Continue to planning.
Make the plan
On the Plan page, click Make the plan. Claude runs the pre-flight checks and writes, per repository and per ticket, what will change. The plan is organised in stages, called tiers: work that others depend on comes first. It also shows the branches it will use and the time logged on every commit.
Example: for team-invites, the plan might put the shared library change in Tier 1, the accounts API endpoint that uses it in Tier 2, and the admin screen in Tier 3. Each tier lists the tickets it covers — APP-101 in the library and the API, APP-103 in the admin app.
How to read it
Read the plan as you would read a colleague's proposal:
- Is every ticket there? A ticket you left out on purpose appears under Skipped tickets.
- Are the repositories right? A ticket planned in a repository it shouldn't touch is the most common mistake to catch here.
- Is the order sensible? Shared code should come before the code that uses it.
- Does the scope match the ticket? If Claude plans more (or less) than the ticket asks, say so.
Tip: nothing is branched until you approve. Reading the plan carefully is the cheapest moment to change direction.
When you disagree
Open the Claude panel with Ask Claude and say what's wrong in plain words, for example: "APP-103 is only a label change in the admin app; don't touch the API for it." Then click Re-plan. Claude writes a new plan that takes your remark into account.
If the problem is in the setup itself — a ticket in the wrong repository — Claude proposes a setup change, and you save it with Save and check. Changing the setup after a plan makes the run state out of date, so the page asks you to plan again.
Approve
When the plan is right, click Approve and start Tier 1. Only now does Claude create branches and start writing code, beginning with the first stage. You confirm each later stage yourself at the end of the previous one, and every push still waits for your Allow.
Check yourself
1. Does the Check phase use Claude?
Not by default. The app checks the setup and branches itself; Ask Claude to check everything adds Claude's checks.
2. You think a ticket is planned in the wrong repository. What do you do?
Tell Claude in the panel and Re-plan, or save the setup change it proposes, then plan again.
3. What starts when you click Approve and start Tier 1?
Claude creates the branches and builds the first stage. Pushes still wait for your approval.