Claude Code is powerful but hard to control.

You can't really see where it's going to steer it.

So much of what it's "thinking" is not shown to you as a user.

Like an intern^[sd], it can sometimes get stuck in a corner… and then go to absurd lengths trying to claw itself out of that corner.

If you haven't heard from the intern in three days they're likely off the tracks.

A trick for Claude Code to make sure it doesn't get stuck: "Give me two plans for how to accomplish this, and I'll pick one."

That makes sure it doesn't just YOLO into a solution, but gives you an option to veto.

It also allows you to make sure it's actually picking a good option, and considering alternatives.