Method2026-06-30#agents
Write the safe agent plan before the agent acts
The agent plan should be boring. Boring is good. It names allowed read surfaces, protected actions, stop conditions, target ids, expected changes, and verification after the run.
A plan without boundaries is not autonomy; it is ambiguity. A plan without proof is not execution; it is a story about execution.
Readers can practice this safely with dry runs. They design the agent's allowed moves, then inspect whether the proposed tool call stays inside the plan.
Aha moment
An agent is easier to trust when its allowed moves, stop rules, and proof requirements are visible before execution.
Try this
Write a dry-run agent plan with allowed reads, forbidden actions, stop conditions, target ids, and verification evidence.
Watch for
- Agent plans that skip target ids
- Stop conditions described only after a failure
- Execution summaries with no artifact proving what happened