feat: integrate Plan Mode and extension-native policies into Conductor by mahimashanware · Pull Request #133 · gemini-cli-extensions/conductor

mahimashanware · 2026-02-23T19:13:49Z

This PR integrates Gemini CLI's secure Plan Mode into the Conductor extension. It encapsulates the planning and specification phases of project setup and track creation within Plan Mode, enforcing stricter file access policies while significantly improving interactive user prompts.

Key Changes:

Plan Mode Integration:

Updated the setup and newTrack prompts to utilize the enter_plan_mode and exit_plan_mode tools, securing the generation of initial project artifacts.
Added the plan.directory configuration to gemini-extension.json to officially designate the conductor/ directory for planning.
Security & Native Policies:
Introduced policies/conductor.toml to define extension-native tool rules. It explicitly allows write_file, replace, and specific run_shell_command operations during Plan Mode.
Added critical directives warning the agent to use only relative paths (e.g., conductor/product.md) and forbidding shell redirection (>, >>) to adhere to Plan Mode security constraints.
Improved User Interaction (ask_user):
- Refactored interactive flows in setup.toml and newTrack.toml to deeply integrate the ask_user tool.
- Replaced manual text parsing with native multiple-choice options and batched questions (e.g., for track confirmations and product requirements drafting).
  Agent Robustness:
- Instructed the agent to attempt intelligent self-correction upon tool failures (like policy violations) before halting execution.
- Enforced using run_shell_command instead of list_directory when listing external style-guide templates to bypass workspace boundary restrictions.
Fixes Integrate Gemini CLI plan mode into conductor. #121.

Change-Id: Id007e0dd38bdab2520ee0c4de782adb84637e2df

Change-Id: I3d917e54070609dbb20cf13b649951524a8d30db

Change-Id: I00a7c8e61ffc561c24ab6757810b5e1476fff3d5

Change-Id: I0ed92b8ef08f0413b9449a4cc35c0fc28dbf75af

Change-Id: I6d69d99a4cadb84854c3a11484d82d9c2088f565

…ch is blocked by plan mode Change-Id: I4cb3daedc2f338b5007e1e3ad07f0ee19f7797bd

…ting Change-Id: I441f41b3f0c3e317bf56e837782a61f3112fafdf

Change-Id: Ic892691becfa25cdc502f6715323df6a90ba0bc5

Change-Id: I49aee4c78a28d048b9e008725de0dce6a03220ca

hminooei

Left some comments.
Thanks

hminooei · 2026-03-03T22:01:49Z

commands/conductor/newTrack.toml

        - [Metadata](./metadata.json)
        ```
-6.  **Update Tracks Registry:**
+6.  **Exit Plan Mode:** Call the `exit_plan_mode` tool with the path: `<Tracks Directory>/<track_id>/index.md`.


for my learning: what is the path used for?

for us, nothing but the exit plan mode tool requires a path for the user to approve before exiting.

hminooei · 2026-03-03T22:07:32Z

commands/conductor/setup.toml

-CRITICAL: You must validate the success of every tool call. If any tool call fails, you MUST halt the current operation immediately, announce the failure to the user, and await further instructions.
+CRITICAL: You must validate the success of every tool call. If a tool call fails (e.g., due to a policy restriction or path error), you should attempt to intelligently self-correct by reviewing the error message or checking the local `.gemini/policies/conductor.toml` file. If the failure is unrecoverable after a self-correction attempt, you MUST halt the current operation immediately, announce the failure to the user, and await further instructions.

 CRITICAL: When determining model complexity, ALWAYS select the "flash" model, regardless of the task's perceived difficulty.


urelated to this PR: what is this line 8 for?

In the early days of Conductor, free-tier users were consuming too many tokens due to overuse of the pro model. Since there was no feature to dynamically select the model for certain instructions, this was an attempt to tell the agent to select the Flash agent more often.

Let's brainstorm the best way to tackle this issue.

i needed to beef up to instructions to get it to stop spiraling if plan mode wasn't available - instead of stopping, conductor should try to navigate around it

Given that it's about model quota concerns, I think we should now remove line 8 (in a separate PR though).

hminooei · 2026-03-03T22:08:23Z

commands/conductor/setup.toml


 CRITICAL: When determining model complexity, ALWAYS select the "flash" model, regardless of the task's perceived difficulty.

+PLAN MODE PROTOCOL: This setup process runs entirely within Plan Mode. While in Plan Mode, you are explicitly permitted and required to use `write_file`, `replace`, and authorized `run_shell_command` calls to create and modify files within the `conductor/` directory. **CRITICAL: You MUST use relative paths starting with `conductor/` (e.g., `conductor/product.md`) for all file operations. Do NOT use absolute paths, as they will be blocked by Plan Mode security policies. REDIRECTION (e.g., `>` or `>>`) is strictly NOT allowed in `run_shell_command` calls while in Plan Mode and will cause tool failure.** Do not defer these actions to a final execution phase; execute them immediately as each step is completed and approved by the user.


"Do not defer these actions to a" : what 'actions' are we referring to? Can we clarify

the plan mode instructions on gemini cli seem to encourage postponing non-readonly tool calls until after plan mode is executed. i added this to make sure the agent executes the tool call right away

Shall we tell this to the model too? e.g. ".... Do not defer these actions to a final execution phase..." -> "... Do not defer needed tool calls in this phase to a final execution phase ..."

policies/conductor.toml

commands/conductor/setup.toml

moisgobg · 2026-03-03T22:38:29Z

commands/conductor/setup.toml


 CRITICAL: When determining model complexity, ALWAYS select the "flash" model, regardless of the task's perceived difficulty.

+PLAN MODE PROTOCOL: This setup process runs entirely within Plan Mode. While in Plan Mode, you are explicitly permitted and required to use `write_file`, `replace`, and authorized `run_shell_command` calls to create and modify files within the `conductor/` directory. **CRITICAL: You MUST use relative paths starting with `conductor/` (e.g., `conductor/product.md`) for all file operations. Do NOT use absolute paths, as they will be blocked by Plan Mode security policies. REDIRECTION (e.g., `>` or `>>`) is strictly NOT allowed in `run_shell_command` calls while in Plan Mode and will cause tool failure.** Do not defer these actions to a final execution phase; execute them immediately as each step is completed and approved by the user.


Let's evaluate how impactful our instructions are, so we can use fewer tokens and make our commands easier to read and maintain.

In the second paragraph before the CRITICAL section, since policies are the source of truth for allowing tools, how important is it to reiterate to the agent which tools are permitted and required?

This is a note to open the discussion on evaluating, avoiding, and removing noisy instructions.

Other cases:
Model selection instructions

moisgobg · 2026-03-03T22:58:39Z

commands/conductor/setup.toml

 1.  **Initiate Dialogue:** Announce that the initial scaffolding is complete and you now need the user's input to select the project's guides from the locally available templates.
 2.  **Select Code Style Guides:**
-    -   List the available style guides by running `ls ~/.gemini/extensions/conductor/templates/code_styleguides/`.
+    -   List the available style guides by using the `run_shell_command` tool to execute `ls ~/.gemini/extensions/conductor/templates/code_styleguides/`. **CRITICAL: You MUST use `run_shell_command` for this step. Do NOT use the `list_directory` tool, as the templates directory resides outside of your allowed workspace and the call will fail.**


Let's discuss if we want to keep using explicit tool names in our prompts. This also applies to other cases like ask_user tool for questions.

Should we write more flexible prompts that allow the assistant to choose the best tool for the job, or should we tell it exactly which tool to use?

Notes
@hminooei also suggested we could improve the tool name invocation in custom commands, maybe through injection functionality (see examples)

moisgobg · 2026-03-03T23:03:16Z

commands/conductor/newTrack.toml


 CRITICAL: You must validate the success of every tool call. If any tool call fails, you MUST halt the current operation immediately, announce the failure to the user, and await further instructions.

+PLAN MODE PROTOCOL: Parts of this process run within Plan Mode. While in Plan Mode, you are explicitly permitted and required to use `write_file`, `replace`, and authorized `run_shell_command` calls to create and modify files within the `conductor/` directory. **CRITICAL: You MUST use relative paths starting with `conductor/` (e.g., `conductor/product.md`) for all file operations. Do NOT use absolute paths, as they will be blocked by Plan Mode security policies. REDIRECTION (e.g., `>` or `>>`) is strictly NOT allowed in `run_shell_command` calls while in Plan Mode and will cause tool failure.**


Nit: see review comment here.

Change-Id: Ieb69c7c6291042ee6cd2670cd65ab080bd7e53a3

feat(plan): basic plan mode tool integration

923ef57

mahimashanware marked this pull request as draft February 23, 2026 19:13

Mahima Shanware added 5 commits February 24, 2026 00:02

feat(setup): use ask_user tool for interactive prompts

e71e8e0

Change-Id: Id007e0dd38bdab2520ee0c4de782adb84637e2df

feat(policy): move and configure conductor policies

e0fbc72

Change-Id: I3d917e54070609dbb20cf13b649951524a8d30db

feat(setup): mandate relative paths for file operations in plan mode

a717aa0

Change-Id: I00a7c8e61ffc561c24ab6757810b5e1476fff3d5

feat(setup): enforce run_shell_command for listing external templates

1224569

Change-Id: I0ed92b8ef08f0413b9449a4cc35c0fc28dbf75af

feat(setup): allow intelligent self-correction on tool failures

898daa7

Change-Id: I6d69d99a4cadb84854c3a11484d82d9c2088f565

mahimashanware force-pushed the task/integrate-plan-mode branch from ada6b8c to 898daa7 Compare February 24, 2026 03:49

mahimashanware changed the base branch from main to feat/plan-mode February 24, 2026 03:51

Mahima Shanware added 3 commits February 24, 2026 17:27

fix(plan): configure agent to avoid redirection in shell commands whi…

7b27eca

…ch is blocked by plan mode Change-Id: I4cb3daedc2f338b5007e1e3ad07f0ee19f7797bd

feat(setup): add user confirmation loop for product requirements draf…

6907cae

…ting Change-Id: I441f41b3f0c3e317bf56e837782a61f3112fafdf

fix(plan): use extension-native policies folder

db6d52d

Change-Id: Ic892691becfa25cdc502f6715323df6a90ba0bc5

mahimashanware changed the title ~~WIP Task/integrate plan mode~~ feat: integrate Plan Mode and extension-native policies into Conductor Mar 3, 2026

feat(plan): add conductor as planning directory

5cf078c

Change-Id: I49aee4c78a28d048b9e008725de0dce6a03220ca

mahimashanware force-pushed the task/integrate-plan-mode branch from 1cd3821 to 5cf078c Compare March 3, 2026 19:40

mahimashanware marked this pull request as ready for review March 3, 2026 19:46

mahimashanware requested review from hminooei and moisgobg March 3, 2026 19:47

jerop linked an issue Mar 3, 2026 that may be closed by this pull request

Add planning policies and settings in Conductor extension google-gemini/gemini-cli#20060

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hminooei approved these changes Mar 3, 2026

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address comments

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Change-Id: Ieb69c7c6291042ee6cd2670cd65ab080bd7e53a3

hminooei approved these changes Mar 4, 2026

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hminooei merged commit 4a4d9b2 into feat/plan-mode Mar 4, 2026
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moisgobg deleted the task/integrate-plan-mode branch March 4, 2026 18:15

jerop mentioned this pull request Mar 4, 2026

Add planning policies and settings in Conductor extension google-gemini/gemini-cli#20060

Closed


		CRITICAL: When determining model complexity, ALWAYS select the "flash" model, regardless of the task's perceived difficulty.

		PLAN MODE PROTOCOL: This setup process runs entirely within Plan Mode. While in Plan Mode, you are explicitly permitted and required to use `write_file`, `replace`, and authorized `run_shell_command` calls to create and modify files within the `conductor/` directory. CRITICAL: You MUST use relative paths starting with `conductor/` (e.g., `conductor/product.md`) for all file operations. Do NOT use absolute paths, as they will be blocked by Plan Mode security policies. REDIRECTION (e.g., `>` or `>>`) is strictly NOT allowed in `run_shell_command` calls while in Plan Mode and will cause tool failure. Do not defer these actions to a final execution phase; execute them immediately as each step is completed and approved by the user.


		CRITICAL: You must validate the success of every tool call. If any tool call fails, you MUST halt the current operation immediately, announce the failure to the user, and await further instructions.

		PLAN MODE PROTOCOL: Parts of this process run within Plan Mode. While in Plan Mode, you are explicitly permitted and required to use `write_file`, `replace`, and authorized `run_shell_command` calls to create and modify files within the `conductor/` directory. CRITICAL: You MUST use relative paths starting with `conductor/` (e.g., `conductor/product.md`) for all file operations. Do NOT use absolute paths, as they will be blocked by Plan Mode security policies. REDIRECTION (e.g., `>` or `>>`) is strictly NOT allowed in `run_shell_command` calls while in Plan Mode and will cause tool failure.

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