Plans & Todo Lists

For complex tasks, Frontman creates a structured plan — a visible todo list that tracks each step of the work. This gives you real-time insight into what the agent is doing, what’s done, and what’s next.

When plans are created

The agent creates a plan when a task has three or more distinct steps. Simple, single-step tasks (like fixing a typo or answering a question) don’t need one.

Examples of tasks that trigger a plan:

• Refactoring a component and updating its tests
• Building a new page with multiple sections
• Fixing a bug that spans several files

How plans appear

Plans are rendered directly in the chat UI as a checklist. Each item shows:

• Content — what the step is (e.g., “Fix authentication bug”)
• Active form — what’s shown while it’s running (e.g., “Fixing authentication bug”)
• Status — pending, in_progress, or completed
• Priority — high, medium (default), or low

Only one item is in_progress at a time. As the agent finishes each step, it marks it completed and moves to the next.

How the agent manages plans

1. Upfront planning — The agent analyzes your request and creates the full list of steps before starting work.
2. Progressive updates — As it works, it rewrites the list to update statuses. Each call replaces the entire list (completed items are preserved in the new list).
3. Discovery — If the agent discovers new subtasks while working (e.g., an unexpected test failure), it adds them to the plan.

Tips for working with plans

• Check progress — Glance at the plan to see how far along the agent is without reading every message.
• Interrupt early — If you see a step that looks wrong, you can stop the agent before it gets further.
• Reference steps — You can mention specific plan items when giving follow-up instructions (e.g., “skip the test step” or “do the migration step differently”).

Technical details

Plans use the todo_write tool. See Tool Capabilities for the full parameter reference.