Thinking and Planning modes

SnapGPT offers Standard, Think, and Plan modes to control the level of AI reasoning and the type of task you want to perform.

SnapGPT provides three modes that balance response time and output quality based on your task. You can use any of the following modes based on your requirements:

  • Standard: The default mode. Works for all SnapGPT skills with quick responses.
  • Think: Applies deeper AI reasoning. Available as a toggle button below the chat input box.
  • Plan: Enables a conversational planning loop for pipeline generation and refinement. Available as a toggle button below the chat input box.

Think and Plan mode selector in the SnapGPT panel

Note: Think and Plan can be enabled before you send your first message in a chat session. After you send a message, the selected mode locks for the rest of the session. To switch to a different mode, click New Chat.

Prerequisites

To use the Think mode or Plan mode, you must select at least one project asset as context using the Project Context selector in the SnapGPT panel, and you must have access to the project and assets you want to select.

If you enable Think or Plan mode without first selecting a project asset, SnapGPT prompts you to select assets as project context before proceeding.

Standard mode has no project selection requirement and works independently of the Project Context selector.

Modes at a glance

Mode Purpose Latency Example prompts
Standard (default) Quick responses for all SnapGPT skills. Use when speed matters more than depth of reasoning. Low
  • Describe what this pipeline does.
  • How do I schedule a pipeline to run every day at 9 AM UTC?
  • Generate an expression to extract the domain from an email address.
Think Deeper AI reasoning for skills other than pipeline generation and refinement, such as pipeline analysis, Q&A, descriptions, expression generation, and SQL generation. Higher
  • Analyze this pipeline for potential issues and suggest improvements.
  • Explain what each Snap in this pipeline does and why.
  • Generate a complex SQL query to aggregate sales data by region and month.
Plan Conversational planning loop for pipeline generation and refinement. SnapGPT proposes a plan, you review and iterate, then it builds the pipeline. Use to create a new pipeline or refine an existing one. Higher
  • Generate a pipeline to extract customer data from Salesforce and load it into Snowflake.
  • Refine this pipeline to add error handling to each Snap.
  • Build a pipeline to read CSV files from S3, validate data quality, and write the results to PostgreSQL.
Important: Plan mode supports one active session per user at a time. If you start a pipeline generation or refinement task in another browser tab while a Plan mode session is already running, SnapGPT displays a warning and requires a two-step confirmation before ending the existing session.

Select project assets using the Project Context selector

The Project Context selector scopes SnapGPT to specific pipelines and assets in your project. It is required for Think and Plan modes, and determines which assets appear when you use the @ mention feature in the chat input box.

  1. In the SnapGPT panel, locate the Scope below the chat input box.
    Project Context selector in the SnapGPT panel

  2. Click the selector and navigate to your asset: Project Space > Project > Asset.
  3. Select the assets relevant to your task. You can select up to 10 assets from the same project. Selected assets appear as tags in the selector.
  4. Enable Think or Plan using the toggle buttons below the chat input box.
  5. Enter your prompt and click the submit button or press Return.
Important:
  • You must have the required access permissions to view and select assets from a project.
  • Project Spaces cannot be selected as context. Navigate to the project or asset level.
  • Hidden directories are not shown in the Project Context selector.
  • All selected assets must belong to the same project.

Reference an asset in your prompt (@-mention)

After selecting project assets with the Project Context selector, you can reference specific assets directly in your prompt by typing the @ symbol. SnapGPT attaches the referenced asset's content to your prompt as additional context, which is particularly useful when generating or refining pipelines in Plan mode.


Asset @-mention in the SnapGPT chat input box

  1. In the chat input box, type @ followed by the start of the asset name.
  2. A dropdown appears showing matching assets from your selected project scope.
  3. Select the asset from the dropdown to add it as a reference in your prompt.
  4. Complete your prompt and submit it.
Note: Only assets within your selected project scope appear in the @ search results.

Example

Refine @customerPipeline to write paid customers to one file and trial customers to another.

Best practices

  • Use Plan mode for pipeline work: Plan mode is designed for pipeline generation and refinement. For all other tasks, use Think or Standard mode.
  • Use Think mode for deeper analysis: Think mode applies more AI reasoning to tasks such as pipeline analysis, Q&A, and expression generation. Expect a longer response time than Standard mode.
  • Select relevant assets: Selecting the right project assets as context leads to more accurate outputs. Limit your selection to assets directly relevant to your task.
  • Provide detailed prompts in Think and Plan modes: More detailed prompts produce better results. See Prompt tips for guidance.
  • Start a new chat to change modes: Think and Plan modes lock after the first message is sent. Click New Chat to switch to a different mode.