Claude Code Tutorial Part 4: Prompt and Plan with Claude Code

Part 4 of 8 of Building a Website with Claude Code. See all parts.

Planning the build

Writing a good first prompt

A bad first prompt:

Build me a website.

A good first prompt:

I want to build a website for my Manchester-based dog walking business. The brief is attached as BRIEF.md in this folder. Read it carefully. Don't write any code yet. Ask me clarifying questions, then propose a stack, a folder structure, and a phased build plan. Save the plan as PLAN.md so we can refer to it.

Notice:

• It tells Claude where the context is.
• It tells Claude what not to do (no code yet).
• It asks for questions before answers.
• It asks for a tangible artefact (PLAN.md).

Plan Mode

Before any significant change, press Shift+Tab until you're in Plan Mode (or type /plan). Claude will explore, read files, search the web, and write a plan, but won't touch any files until you approve.

Read the plan. Be picky. Ask:

• Is the scope what I asked for, or has it ballooned?
• Are the choices appropriate? (Don't pick a complex framework if simple HTML would do.)
• What's missing?
• What's risky?

When you approve, Claude exits plan mode and starts working. If the plan looks wrong, say so.

Reviewing the plan and pushing back

A normal exchange:

That plan has too many phases. I just want a working homepage today. Reduce to one phase: scaffold a Laravel app, add one homepage with three sections, get it running locally. Skip the database, the admin, the deployment for now.

Claude will adjust. Don't accept a plan that's bigger than you want.

Tip: Save approved plans to a file (PLAN.md). Future Claude sessions can read it.

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