ChanTan Studio DocsHow to Get a Plan Before ChanTan Builds Anything
Press "Plan" and ChanTan proposes what it will do before touching your project: read it, edit it, approve it or shelve it. Nothing is built until you agree.
For a big request, it's worth seeing what ChanTan intends to do before it does it. That's what the "Plan" button is for.
Its own tooltip says it best: "Plan first — get a plan to approve before anything is built."
1. Press the "Plan" button
It sits next to the message box in your project (and next to "Generate" on the dashboard).
The whole box turns violet — that's how you know plan mode is on. The send button becomes a violet clipboard: "Send — get a plan (nothing will be built)".
2. Describe what you want, as usual
Write your request normally. Plan mode is best for the big ones: "turn my site into a full online shop with checkout", "add customer accounts and an orders page".
3. Send it
Press Enter or the violet send button. ChanTan thinks, then puts a plan card in the chat instead of changing anything.
4. Read the plan
The card shows the goal, numbered steps, and what stays untouched. It says plainly: "Ready for your review · nothing has been changed yet".
5. Choose what happens next
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| "Approve & build" | Builds exactly that plan |
| "Edit plan" | Change it before approving |
| "Replan" | Ask for a different approach |
| "Not now" | Shelves it — it stays in the chat as "Plan set aside" and you can reopen it later |
✅ Done! If you approved, the plan card turns into a normal build and your app starts changing on the right. If you pressed "Not now", nothing at all has changed in your project.
What plan mode costs
- Nothing is built and nothing is charged for the build until you approve.
- Producing the plan itself is AI work, so it uses a small amount of credits like any other reply — the "…" receipt on the plan shows exactly how much.
- If you approved a plan and then pressed Stop, the plan card becomes clickable again so you can approve the same plan a second time without paying for a new plan.
Where your plans are kept
Every plan you receive is saved for you. Open "Manage" at the top of your project → "Chat history, logins & files" → "Plans".
You never have to scroll back through old chat messages to find one.
Things to know
- Plan mode switches itself off after every send. If you want a plan for your next message too, press "Plan" again.
- It only appears on builders that support it.
- Waiting queued messages carry a "PLAN" or "BUILD" badge, so you can always tell which is which.
- ChanTan sometimes proposes a plan on its own, even when you didn't press the button. Same card, same choices.
If something goes wrong
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Another run is still working — try again when it finishes." | Wait for the current build to finish, then approve again. This is deliberate, so the same plan can never be built twice |
| The plan isn't what you meant | Press "Edit plan" or "Replan" — that's cheaper and faster than building the wrong thing |
| The plan card is gone from view | It's still in the chat history, and under "Manage" → "Chat history, logins & files" → "Plans" |
Honest limits
- A plan is a proposal, not a contract. It describes the intended work; the finished build can differ in small details.
- Plan mode doesn't make a build cheaper by itself — it makes it more likely to be the build you actually wanted, which is where the real saving comes from.
- For small changes ("make this button green"), plan mode is usually more effort than it's worth. Just type it.