Skip to content

Plan mode refuses to provide file edit instructions, leading to a deadlock. The agent thinks it is instructed to edit files, which is not the case. System instructions should help the AI understand this. #4391

Closed
Closed
Plan mode refuses to provide file edit instructions, leading to a deadlock. The agent thinks it is instructed to edit files, which is not the case. System instructions should help the AI understand this.#4391
Assignees
rekram1-node
Labels
bugSomething isn't working

Description

@raymelon
raymelon
opened on Nov 16, 2025

Description

Plan mode refuses simple things like providing the user file edit instructions.

Once it happens, there is no way out of it. The agent is stubborn enough since it mistakenly thinks providing edit instructions is the same as editing the files. Switching to Build mode defeats the purpose as well, because it guarantees the agent doing the edits.

The instruction is to give file edit instructions, not edit the files. I just think the agent fails to distinguish that because of hard Plan and Build agent rules.

As for the workaround, unless the user reverts (undo or timeline) and hope that the agent cooperates the second time around, there is no way out of the situation within the bounds of the session.

Imo the system instructions should help the AI make a clear distinction between writing edit instructions vs doing the edits itself.

The Plan agent will not edit files anyway (because it's on Plan mode), so it should not prevent itself from instructing the user on how to execute specific file edits, in case the user wants to do edits themselves.

At the end of the day, if the agent refuses to provide file edit instructions, it's basically a dead end. That makes session unusable, unless inconvenient actions are attempted like reverting.

However, reverting alone that does not guarantee success. Relying on second, third, fourth attempt is not foolproof since the user is now at the mercy of the LLM responding slightly differently — with the hopes of the agent finally providing instructions, just like in the screenshot below:

Image

OpenCode version

1.0.67

Steps to reproduce

No response

Screenshot and/or share link

No response

Operating System

No response

Terminal

No response

Activity

  1. raymelon
    added
    bugSomething isn't working
    on Nov 16, 2025
  2. github-actions
    added
    opentuiThis relates to changes in v1.0, now that opencode uses opentui
    on Nov 16, 2025
  3. raymelon
    changed the title [-]Plan mode refuses to provide file edit instructions, leading to deadlock. The agent thinks it is instructed to edit files, which is not the case. System instructions should help the AI understand this..[/-] [+]Plan mode refuses to provide file edit instructions, leading to a deadlock. The agent thinks it is instructed to edit files, which is not the case. System instructions should help the AI understand this.[/+] on Nov 16, 2025

  4. github-actions commented on Nov 16, 2025

    @github-actions
    github-actionsBot
    on Nov 16, 2025 – with GitHub Actions
    Contributor

    This issue might be a duplicate of existing issues. Please check:

    Feel free to ignore if none of these address your specific case.

  5. raymelon commented on Nov 16, 2025

    @raymelon
    raymelon
    on Nov 16, 2025
    Author

    This issue might be a duplicate of existing issues. Please check:

    Feel free to ignore if none of these address your specific case.

    Yup, I reported it before. Right now I'm using Grok Code Fast 1, not Code Supernova.

  6. atkr commented on Nov 16, 2025

    @atkr
    atkr
    on Nov 16, 2025

    FWIW, I've encountered this same issue before. And I haven't realized it is not happening to me anymore as when I use the plan mode I also almost always use a custom command.

    This is one I use after an initial prompt or 2 about what I'm trying to do: (file is ./command/plan-detailed)

    ---
description: create a detailed implementation plan based on the discussed requirements
subtask: false
---

Create a detailed plan covering all required implementation details.
This plan will later be used by an LLM / specialized AI model (like you) for implementation.

$ARGUMENTS

    I've also created a custom primary agent / mode called "deep-plan" (😆), which has instructions to come up with the ideal solution by breaking down the problem in research tasks that can be delegated to subagents, the subagents are instructed to perform extensive research and use tools/mcp to obtain information from different sources, etc.

    I definitely suggest experimenting with this, it makes grok-code-fast-1 significantly more useful.

  7. raymelon commented on Nov 17, 2025

    @raymelon
    raymelon
    on Nov 17, 2025
    Author

    FWIW, I've encountered this same issue before. And I haven't realized it is not happening to me anymore as when I use the plan mode I also almost always use a custom command.

    This is one I use after an initial prompt or 2 about what I'm trying to do: (file is ./command/plan-detailed)

    ---
description: create a detailed implementation plan based on the discussed requirements
subtask: false
---

Create a detailed plan covering all required implementation details.
This plan will later be used by an LLM / specialized AI model (like you) for implementation.

$ARGUMENTS

    I've also created a custom primary agent / mode called "deep-plan" (😆), which has instructions to come up with the ideal solution by breaking down the problem in research tasks that can be delegated to subagents, the subagents are instructed to perform extensive research and use tools/mcp to obtain information from different sources, etc.

    I definitely suggest experimenting with this, it makes grok-code-fast-1 significantly more useful.

    Cool, love it. Yes I agree it never happened in subagents, and I think it's more on me using subagents in build mode most of the time.

    I will try your prompt. Thanks @atkr !

  8. rekram1-node
    removed
    opentuiThis relates to changes in v1.0, now that opencode uses opentui
    on Nov 18, 2025
  9. rekram1-node
    self-assigned this
    on Nov 18, 2025
  10. thdxr
    closed this as completedon Mar 25, 2026
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

Labels

bugSomething isn't working

Type

No type

Projects

No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions