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Before a coding agent changes a file, make it explain what it thinks you asked for. Require a short restatement of the goal, the files and behavior it expects to touch, its assumptions and risks, and a read-only implementation plan. Correct that plan before granting edit access, then keep a Git checkpoint and review the resulting diff. This workflow narrows scope without pretending that any prompt can guarantee safe or correct code.
Why ask “why” before allowing an edit?
An agent with access to a repository can interpret an apparently small request in several ways. “Fix the login bug” might involve a route, a database query, a test fixture, configuration, or a generated file. If the agent starts editing immediately, the first visible mistake may be a broad diff rather than a single bad line.
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A pre-edit explanation creates a human checkpoint while the proposed change is still cheap to redirect. Ask the agent to state the requested outcome, identify the files it expects to inspect or modify, describe the behavior that should change, list assumptions, call out risks, and propose read-only steps. Treat the answer as a communication aid, not as evidence that the agent is correct. You still decide whether the interpretation matches the ticket and the repository.
There is a separate usability problem that often gets mixed into this safety question. A reader may say, It keeps asking permission for the same commands
, a question addressed in the Claude Code user FAQ. Repeated prompts can be reduced with session or persistent rules, but fewer prompts do not tell you whether the agent should edit a particular file. Convenience controls and scope controls solve different problems.
The intent-and-plan checkpoint
Use a consistent request at the start of work. The following wording is deliberately explicit:
Restate the goal. Which files do you expect to change, what behavior should change, what assumptions are you making, and what could go wrong? Do not edit yet; give me a read-only plan.Keep the response short enough to review, but require all five elements. If the task is large, ask for a plan per subsystem rather than accepting a single sentence that hides many changes.
1. Restated goal
The restatement should describe an observable outcome, not merely repeat the ticket. “Return a 404 for an unknown user instead of a 500, while preserving the existing response for known users” is reviewable; “improve user lookup” is not. Correct terminology, edge cases, or acceptance criteria before implementation.
2. Expected files and boundaries
Look for a concrete list of files or directories. An agent may need to read more files than it edits, so distinguish those categories. A plan that suddenly includes deployment manifests, unrelated formatting changes, generated assets, or a dependency upgrade deserves a follow-up question. Ask why each additional file is necessary and whether the change can be kept smaller.
3. Intended behavior
Require the agent to connect each proposed edit to behavior: an API status code, a validation rule, a UI state, a migration effect, or a test expectation. This exposes plans that change implementation details without addressing the user-visible requirement.
4. Assumptions and risks
Ask what the agent is assuming about versions, data shape, environment variables, backward compatibility, permissions, and existing tests. Risks might include a destructive migration, a widened API contract, a race condition, a secret being logged, or a change that works only in the local environment. An assumption is not automatically wrong; it is a prompt for you to confirm or reject.
5. Read-only plan
The plan should list inspection and verification steps before any write operation: locate the relevant symbol, read neighboring tests, trace callers, identify configuration, then propose the smallest edit and checks. “Do not edit yet” matters because a plan written after modifications is a description of history, not a gate on intent.
Approval is not containment
Permission prompts and technical isolation are related but not interchangeable. Visual Studio Code states: Approvals determine whether an action runs automatically or requires your confirmation.
Its documentation separately explains that sandboxing restricts the file-system and network resources terminal commands can access even after approval. Read the full approvals and permissions documentation for the controls exposed by your installation.
| Control | What it answers | What it does not answer |
|---|---|---|
| Approval or permission rule | May this command or action run automatically, or must a person confirm it? | Whether the proposed scope is appropriate or the result is correct. |
| Sandbox or workspace boundary | Which files, directories, processes, or network resources the action can reach? | Whether an allowed change implements the requested behavior. |
| Intent-and-plan checkpoint | Does the agent’s interpretation match the request before edits begin? | Whether the agent will avoid every defect or malicious instruction. |
| Git checkpoint and diff review | Can you identify, test, and revert the concrete changes? | Whether an unreviewed change is safe merely because it is small. |
Configure both layers. A read-only plan is valuable even in a tightly sandboxed workspace, and a sandbox is valuable when a plan looks reasonable but an individual command could still reach an unintended resource.
A complete pre-edit workflow
- Define the acceptance outcome. Write the behavior that must change and what must remain unchanged. Include the relevant platform, branch, runtime, or customer impact when those details matter.
- Request the checkpoint. Use the restatement-and-plan prompt and prohibit edits until you approve the interpretation. If the agent cannot name likely files, ask it to inspect the repository read-only first.
- Challenge scope and assumptions. Ask follow-ups when the plan omits a necessary behavior, proposes unrelated files, assumes a dependency or schema version, or skips tests. Narrow the plan before implementation rather than relying on a later cleanup.
- Inspect active controls. Check which approval mode, allow rules, sandbox, network policy, and workspace are active. Product behavior varies by version, plan, organization policy, and rollout; labels such as “plan mode” do not mean the same thing everywhere.
- Create a Git checkpoint. On a branch or otherwise recoverable workspace, record the starting state. A typical local checkpoint is:
git status
git add -A
git commit -m 'Checkpoint before agent edits'Do not commit unrelated work merely to satisfy a ritual; separate or stash it first so the checkpoint has a clear meaning. The Codex CLI guide recommends Git checkpoints before and after a task and describes inspecting commands and diffs; see its current documentation for the controls in that CLI.
- Approve a bounded implementation. Allow only the commands and files needed for the accepted plan. Stop if the agent changes its scope without explaining why. A new dependency, migration, generated file, or network call is a reason to pause and re-plan.
- Review the diff and verification. Inspect the summary and complete patch, not just the agent’s narrative:
git diff --stat
git diff --check
git diffRun the relevant unit, integration, type, lint, security, and migration checks for the project. Read the tests themselves: a passing test can encode the wrong requirement, and a green suite may not cover a new path. When the change is acceptable, create the after-checkpoint so reverting or comparing the work remains straightforward.
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Current documentation illustrates meaningful differences among coding-agent products. Compare five questions: Is there a genuinely read-only planning stage? Which edits and commands require confirmation? Are permissions session-only or persistent? What file-system and network limits apply? How clearly can a human inspect the commands and resulting changes?
| Tool and source | Read-only planning | Approval behavior | Sandbox or access detail | Review surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Codex CLI | Documentation describes configurable permissions and command-driven workflows; exact plan availability depends on the installed setup. | Configurable permissions and confirmations; defaults can vary. | Use the workspace and permission settings shown by the CLI; the cited guide does not establish one universal default. | Documentation recommends Git checkpoints and inspecting commands and diffs. |
| Claude Code | Its FAQ describes plan mode as read-only and approval-gated. | Approvals last for the current session by default; documented allow rules can persist for selected actions. | The cited FAQ does not establish one universal sandbox configuration. | The plan and approval prompts provide a review gate before implementation. |
| Visual Studio Code agents | The cited approvals page does not claim a universal read-only planning stage. | Approvals determine whether an action runs automatically or requires confirmation. | Sandboxing separately restricts file-system and network resources, including after approval. | Use the editor’s approval UI, terminal output, and diff tools. |
| GitHub Copilot agents | The responsible-use guidance cited here does not establish a universal read-only plan mode. | Specific behavior depends on the product surface and organization settings; not stated as one default in the cited guidance. | Not stated as one universal boundary in the cited guidance. | GitHub warns that AI review can miss problems, especially in large or complex changes, so human review remains necessary. |
These are behavior comparisons, not rankings. Recheck the documentation and your organization’s settings after upgrades, because permission defaults and available modes can change.
When the agent keeps asking for permission
First determine whether the prompt is for a harmless repeated read or for a materially different action. A persistent allow rule may be reasonable for a narrowly defined, non-destructive command in a trusted workspace; it is much harder to justify for arbitrary shell execution, file deletion, network access, or commands that can rewrite many files.
Claude Code’s FAQ says approvals last for the current session by default and documents ways to persist allow rules. Persistent permissions reduce interruption but expand the set of actions that can run without a fresh decision. Limit rules by command, directory, and purpose where the product allows it, and remove them when the task ends. Never treat an approval shortcut as a substitute for the intent checkpoint or diff review.
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What available evidence can—and cannot—show
A 2026 exploratory study screened 36,710 repositories and found 85 repository-preserved agent plan files across 10 repositories. The authors, affiliated with the University of Bamberg, Heidelberg University, Singapore Management University, and King’s College London, characterize that corpus as highly concentrated. It demonstrates that teams sometimes preserve plans; it does not show that asking an agent to explain itself prevents defects or improves every project. See the study for scope and methods.
A separate 2025 study examined 567 Claude Code-assisted pull requests across 157 open-source projects. It reports that 83.8% were eventually accepted and merged, and that 45.1% of merged pull requests were integrated without further modification. Those figures describe that sample and workflow, not a guaranteed acceptance rate, quality level, or effect of a pre-edit question in another tool or codebase. The study report provides the stated limits.
Team policy you can adopt
Make the checkpoint proportional to blast radius. Require the full restatement and read-only plan for production code, authentication, authorization, billing, data migrations, infrastructure, secrets, dependency changes, and any task that touches multiple services. For a one-line documentation correction, a shorter confirmation may be enough, provided the diff is still reviewed.
- Store the approved plan with the issue, pull request, or session transcript when the change is consequential.
- Record the intended files and tests, not just “agent approved.”
- Require a second human review for security-sensitive or irreversible changes.
- Keep sandbox and network access at the minimum needed for the task.
- Reject unexplained scope expansion; pause, update the plan, and obtain approval again.
This policy makes the human decision explicit without claiming that a particular wording guarantees safety.
Failure modes and recovery
The plan is vague
Ask for symbols, paths, expected inputs and outputs, and concrete verification commands. If the agent still cannot make the task specific, provide repository context or split the request into smaller units.
Best Value
The plan touches too much
Ask which files are essential and what can be deferred. Revert to the last checkpoint, narrow the allowed directories, and restart with the reduced scope.
The agent discovers a new requirement mid-task
Stop editing and request an updated restatement, affected-file list, assumptions, and plan. Treat a migration, dependency upgrade, or network call as a new approval boundary.
The diff is technically clean but behavior is wrong
Compare it with the acceptance outcome, add a failing test that captures the intended behavior, and ask the agent to revise from the checkpoint. Passing lint or type checks does not establish product correctness.
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Do not immediately broaden access. Identify the exact resource required, decide whether it is necessary, and grant the smallest additional permission—or change the plan to avoid it.
The change is too large to review
Stop, restore the checkpoint if needed, and divide the work into independently testable slices. Large or complex changes are specifically harder for automated review to catch reliably, so a smaller diff is a control in its own right.
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