Skip to content
BMO

Staged Workflow

Staged workflow separates planning from execution. The agent first produces a plan artifact and waits. No file writes are permitted until the plan is approved.

Staged workflow plan review in BMO
Plan phase with a stored artifact, approval-gated tools, and the current Plan panel title before execute unlocks.

The agent stores the plan with set_plan_artifact. There is no submit_plan tool. In the TUI, the plan appears in the upper Plan panel (Plan — /approve to run) and the status bar (Plan pending — /approve to run).

[options.staged_workflow]
enabled = true
require_approval_before_execute = true

How it works

Section titled “How it works”
stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Plan: request (Plan or Execute intent)
    Plan --> Plan: set_plan_artifact
    Plan --> Execute: /approve or approve_plan
    Plan --> Plan: /plan to revise
    Execute --> [*]: mutation tools unlocked
  1. Agent receives your request and enters plan phase
  2. Agent produces a structured plan (no writes allowed)
  3. You review the plan in the TUI
  4. Type /approve to advance to execute phase — agent carries out the plan
  5. Or type /plan to send the agent back to revise

With require_approval_before_execute: false, the agent moves to execute automatically once a plan exists (useful for headless/autopilot runs).

Turn intent vs staged phases

Section titled “Turn intent vs staged phases”

Before each TUI submit, BMO classifies the turn as Discuss, Plan, or Execute. Discuss turns stay read-only and skip staged plan-prompt injection for that run. Plan and Execute turns honor the staged gate when it is enabled.

flowchart TD
    submit["Operator submit"] --> classify{"Turn intent?"}
    classify -->|"Discuss"| discuss["Chat / read-only — no plan injection"]
    classify -->|"Plan or Execute"| staged["Staged workflow active"]
    staged --> planPhase["Plan phase — set_plan_artifact"]
    planPhase --> review["Review in TUI"]
    review --> approve["/approve or approve_plan"]
    review --> revise["/plan to revise"]
    approve --> execute["Execute phase"]

Agent and operator surfaces

Section titled “Agent and operator surfaces”
SurfaceInspectAdvance to execute
TUIPlan panel, status bar, /staged-workflow/approve
Agent toolsget_workflow_phase, get_staged_workflow_statusapprove_plan
CLIbmo config show-staged-workflow—
HTTP / MCPGET /v1/sessions/{id}/staged-workflow/statussession policy via coordinator; bound HTTP callers reuse the trusted session

See Tools Reference for the full staged-workflow tool family.

Options

Section titled “Options”
OptionDefaultDescription
enabledfalseEnable staged workflow
require_approval_before_executetrueBlock execution until /approve is typed

Slash commands

Section titled “Slash commands”
CommandDescription
/approveApprove the current plan and advance to execute
/planReturn to plan phase to revise
/staged-workflowRead-only staged-workflow posture for the session

When to use

Section titled “When to use”

Use staged workflow when you want to review what the agent intends to do before it touches any files. Good for:

  • Large refactors
  • Multi-file feature additions
  • Any task where reviewing intent upfront saves debugging later

Architect / editor mode

Section titled “Architect / editor mode”

For different models for plan vs execute (similar to other tools’ “architect mode”), enable Phase model routing alongside staged workflow: [options.phase_model] sets planning_model and execution_model. Copy-paste preset: Architect / editor preset.

Section titled “Related”