Plan mode is the feature that made me smile the most while filming Video 2 of the Claude Code for Trainerize Coaches series.
Here’s why. Most coaches who try AI do it backwards. They type “build me a coaching program” into a chat box, get something generic back, and then spend the next hour fixing it. Or worse, they let it start creating things in their apps before anyone has thought the whole offer through.
Plan mode flips that. Claude interviews you first, writes the plan second, and builds nothing until you say yes.
What plan mode actually is
In plan mode, Claude thinks before it acts. It reads, it asks you questions and it writes a plan, but it doesn’t change anything in your files or your apps until you approve that plan.
The flow is simple:
- You describe the goal. A new product, a new onboarding flow, a new automation.
- Claude interviews you. A few questions at a time about what you deliver, how you charge and which tools you use.
- Claude writes the plan. What gets built, in which app and in what order.
- You approve it, or ask for changes. Claude only starts building once you say yes.
Think about what a new coaching offer touches. A welcome email. An intake form. A waiver and agreement. Macros. A program in Trainerize. Payments. Reminders. That’s a lot of moving parts across a lot of apps. It’s better to take ten minutes to plan than to undo a product that’s already live in four apps because you jumped straight in.
How to turn it on
In the Claude desktop app, open the Code tab, then open the mode menu next to the message box and choose Plan mode. You can also type /plan. If you’re working in the terminal, press Shift + Tab until you see plan mode on.
One more setting I’d change: raise the effort. For something I’m going to use over and over again, like a product, I bump effort to high. I’d rather overshoot than undershoot on something that’s going to touch my clients and my revenue.
Watch it work: the offer I planned on camera
In the video I didn’t fake this. I pasted my planning prompt into a fresh chat in plan mode and let Claude run the interview. Here’s how it went.
Who’s it for? My executive athletes. High performers who want to get stronger and leaner.
How is it delivered? Online only.
What does the client get? Claude gave me a multi-select, and I picked a custom training program, weekly check-ins, one 60-minute one-on-one video call a month with me, and nutrition and habits. Then I added detail in my own words: macro targets, no meal plan, and individualized habits based on their intake form.
How long does it last? A full 52 weeks, with a new program phase every six weeks. Six-week phases don’t divide evenly into 52 weeks, and I told Claude that’s fine. If they pay for 52 weeks, it’s 52 weeks of transformation. A shorter final phase doesn’t matter.
What happens when it ends? It asked if I wanted auto-renew or re-sign. I chose re-sign. And I want to control that conversation myself, so I asked for an admin reminder to me when a client has four weeks left. Not an email to them. A ClickUp task and an email to me, and I’ll reach out personally.
What if they skip their monthly call? Use it or lose it.
Macros? I wanted a human in the loop. Claude proposes the macro targets based on my formula, and I approve them before anything reaches the client.
Body fat? If they don’t know theirs, the intake form shows a reference image so they can estimate, and we encourage an InBody or DEXA scan in their first month. I asked for a scan reminder email for anyone who hasn’t done it.
Payment? Every four weeks, with a discounted pay-in-full option, sold through a private payment link in a sales consultation.
Onboarding? The intake form, waiver and agreement go out right after payment. The welcome email carries the intake form. The first official Trainerize message goes out when I deliver their program.
Then came the fun part. Naming it. I told Claude I wanted to pull on the idea of undoing burnout, helping high performers finish the race of life without burning out. We landed on a faith-based theme from Hebrews 12:1: run with endurance the race set before you.
Reviewing the plan before anything gets built
When the interview was done, Claude laid out the plan: a one-page summary I could read in about a minute, a build checklist grouped by app and in order, and any open questions flagged clearly.
Here’s what I love. I can highlight any part of the plan and leave a comment, like “I don’t like this part,” and Claude revises the plan around my comment. When I’m happy with it, I accept it. Or I reject it. Nothing gets created in any app until I approve.
Planning is not research
Research goes out on the web to find answers. Plan mode is interactive work on your own business systems. If a plan needs research along the way, Claude will go dig for it.
And if you already have great systems in your business, plan mode is still your friend. Use it to plan how to hand Claude the reins on what you already do. While you’re at it, ask it for suggestions to streamline things and give your clients a better experience.
Plan it, build it, keep it
This is the part most people miss. The first time you do something big, that whole chat becomes a record of how it’s done: your answers, every decision, the order things got built.
If you’ll do it again, turn that chat into a skill before you close it. Next time, you type something like /new-product and Claude walks the same steps with you, asking only for what changed.
The first time, you teach Claude how you do it. Every time after, it’s one command.
Nothing in your business should be willy-nilly. It’s not “what can we do,” it’s “what system can we set up to do this over and over again?” Claude gets that right away. And if you’re reading this, so do you.
Do this today
Pick one thing you’ve been putting off. A new offer, a new onboarding flow, a renewal process.
- Open the Code tab in the Claude desktop app and switch to Plan mode.
- Raise the effort to high.
- Paste the plan-a-new-product prompt from the free Coach Packet. Fill in the tools you use and delete the ones you don’t.
- Answer the questions out loud. Use dictation if it helps. Claude will say the numbers back so you can confirm them.
- Read the one-page summary. Comment on anything that feels off. Approve only when it sounds like you.
- After it’s built, paste the “turn this chat into a skill” prompt so you never have to start from zero again.
Ten minutes of planning. A system you keep forever.
Get the prompts and watch the full walkthrough
Both prompts I used, the plan-a-new-product prompt and the turn-this-chat-into-a-skill prompt, are in the free guide at thefmm.click/guide. You get the Coach Packet, the PDF with every cheat sheet from the video, and the Skills Kit, ready-made Claude Code skills and hooks you can hand straight to Claude.
Want to see the whole interview happen live? Watch the full video: Claude Code for Trainerize Coaches, the complete walkthrough
New here? Start with Trainerize AI: what it does and what it still can’t do, then come back to this one.
AI that amplifies you. Always authentic, never generic.
