AI agent refactor plan
Use an AI agent to plan refactors by preserving behavior, sequencing changes and proving the result with tests.
Quick answer
An AI refactor plan should name the current behavior, the target structure, the migration steps and the checks that prove no behavior changed.
Workflow
Map call sites, add characterization tests if needed, move code in small steps and run focused checks after each meaningful change.
Risk check
The risky path is mixing refactor, feature work and visual polish in the same agent task.
FAQ
Should agents refactor large files at once?
No. They should split the refactor into reviewable steps and preserve behavior with focused checks.
Plan a refactor
Related guides
Claude Code Plan Mode: A Practical Guide
Claude Code Plan Mode lets you review and steer a task plan before any file is touched. Full guide: shortcut (Shift+Tab), activation, when to use it, and how to execute the plan.
Most people use Claude Code like a chat: describe the task, watch it execute. That works for small changes. For anything touching more than two files, there's a better path. If you are looking for the shortcut, press Shift+Tab to toggle Plan Mode. To turn it off, press Shift+Tab again or use /plan only for the prompt that needs planning. The dedicated Plan Mode troubleshooting guide covers the common terminal and version issues. Plan Mode. What Plan Mode does When you activate Plan Mode, Claude reads your codebase and produces a step by step execution plan but makes no changes. You see exactly what it intends to do before a single file is written. This gives you a checkpoint: approve the plan, redirect it, or catch a wrong assumption before it cascades into 15 wrong edits. How to activate Plan Mode the shortcut Two ways: Keyboard shortcut : press Shift+Tab…
Read the guideClaude Code Agents: When to Use Them
Claude Code Agents (subagents) let you spawn isolated work threads from the main session. Full guide: what they are, when to use them, how to write a custom one, and the patterns that actually ship.
Claude Code is great when you're driving one thread of work. When you need to run three threads in parallel, or want a fresh pair of eyes on a decision, or need to scope out a large refactor without polluting your main session that's what Agents are for. This is what Claude Code Agents actually are, when to use them, and how to write your own. What Claude Code Agents actually are An Agent (sometimes called a subagent) is an isolated work thread you spawn from the main Claude Code session via the Agent tool. It has its own context fresh, with no visibility into your conversation. You hand it a self contained prompt; it does the work; it returns a single message at the end. Three things make this different from just asking Claude another question: 1. Isolated context. The agent doesn't see what you've been doing. It can't…
Read the guideMy Claude Code workflow: context, planning, skills and review
The workflow I use with Claude Code, what I keep in project context, when I plan or delegate, and where I still review the result myself.
Claude Code is my main coding environment and part of my full development setup. This article describes the workflow I use: give the tool project context, plan changes that span several files, reuse stable procedures, then review the diff. It is a personal workflow, not a controlled speed benchmark. This is what changed. The shift: from editor to conversation The useful part is being able to point to an existing pattern: "implement the blog post page following the same pattern as the freebie page" . Claude can inspect the project and propose a change that follows its types, error handling and imports. I still check whether it actually did. That only works if Claude knows your codebase conventions. Which brings me to point one. 1. CLAUDE.md is non negotiable Every project gets a CLAUDE.md at the root. It's a plain markdown file Claude reads at the start of every session.…
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