Build, plan & review
Written By Stanislas
Last updated 7 days ago
Overview
How Swiftask Code works on your project: choosing a mode, planning bigger work, controlling approvals, and reviewing changes.
Prerequisites
- Swiftask Code installed and signed in
- A basic understanding of the chat panel (see Chat & context)
Step-by-step guide
1. Choose the right mode
Pick a mode in the chat input based on what you want to happen.
2. Understand the three modes
Build (default) — for implementing features, fixing bugs, refactoring, running tests. Swiftask Code can search your project, edit files, and run commands.
Ask — for learning the codebase, architecture questions, review without edits. Swiftask Code reads and searches only.
Plan — for larger work where you want a written plan before any code changes. Swiftask Code researches your project and writes a structured plan. It won't edit source files until you choose Build.
3. Plan before you build (for non-trivial work)
- Switch to Plan mode
- Describe what you want — scope, constraints, anything important
- Swiftask Code produces a plan you can read in chat
- Open it from the Plans library (checklist icon) to read or edit
- When you're satisfied, click Build to start implementation in Build mode
You can stay in Plan mode and ask for updates to the same plan before building.
4. Control what runs automatically
In Swiftask Settings → Permissions, choose how much Swiftask Code can do without asking:
Trusted commands are shell commands you're comfortable auto-approving — for example yarn test, npm run typecheck, or git status. Edit the list in Settings.
File edits always ask for confirmation in Ask before sensitive actions mode.
5. Review file changes
In Build mode, when Swiftask Code changes files, you review before moving on.
In the chat — a Files changed section lists what was modified. You can:
- Keep all — accept every change
- Undo all — revert everything from that turn
- Open a diff per file
- Keep or undo one file at a time
In the editor — on a changed file, the title bar may show Keep agent edits and Undo agent edits.
6. Track progress on multi-step tasks
On multi-step tasks, Swiftask Code may show a checklist in the chat so you can see what's done and what's left — especially useful during Plan → Build work.
Practical use cases
Copy and adapt these prompts — pick the mode first, then paste into chat.
Build mode:
Review Files changed before Keep all.
Plan mode:
Read the plan in the Plans library, adjust if needed, then click Build.
More read-only examples (explore codebase, code review) are in Chat & context.
Tips & best practices
Tip: Describe the outcome ("add session collections with list UI") not every file to touch — Swiftask Code will discover those during planning.
Ask first if unsure: List the main places that depend on [module]. — then switch to Plan or Build.
Auto-format: optional — Settings → Permissions → Auto-format on finish runs your formatter on edited files after each turn.
Approval examples:
Additional resources
- Chat & context — sessions, @-mentions, Ask mode examples
- Customize — rules and permission defaults
- Help & FAQ — tips, approvals, and edit issues