The six modes
The mode you are in is the safety boundary. two modes can change your model. four cannot.
The six modes
| Mode | Changes your model | Unlocked by | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ask | No | every plan | Questions about the open document, plus live web search. Changes nothing. |
| Plan | No | any paid plan | Writes a numbered build plan and runs none of it. |
| Agent | Yes | any paid plan | Makes the change as native feature operations, and exports files when asked. |
| Drawings | Yes | Enterprise | Draws and edits sheets on your own standard, and rebuilds a 2D print as a part. |
| Debug | No | any paid plan | Rebuilds the document and finds the failed feature, sketch or reference. |
| Imagine | No | every plan | Proposes rendered concepts. Picking one hands it to Agent to build, which needs a paid plan. |
Where the picker is
The mode sits on a pill in the composer, under the prompt box. Clicking it opens the menu of all six modes. There is no keyboard shortcut, and there is no mode setting in Settings.
The default on first run is Ask. After that the panel remembers the last mode you used, per machine, and reopens in it.
A mode your plan does not carry stays in the menu and is disabled. Sending in one does not reach the service at all: the transcript answers "Plan mode isn’t available on your current plan." with a link to upgrade.
What unlocks each mode
Two flags on your account decide the whole menu. One covers Plan, Agent and Debug. The other covers Drawings on its own.
- Ask is the only mode on Free, so five of the six are locked there.
- Plan, Agent and Debug come with any paid plan: Student at $20 a month, Professional at $120, or Enterprise.
- Drawings is separate again. It is on for Enterprise, and off everywhere else in production today. If you are on a paid plan and Drawings is grayed out, that is why.
- A paid plan whose subscription is not active is treated as Free, so every mode but Ask locks until billing is current.
Plans and limits covers which plan carries which, and billing covers restarting a lapsed subscription.
Two things that override the mode you picked
A request that would change the model, sent from a read-only mode. It is refused rather than attempted: "That would change your model. Switch to Agent mode to build or edit it." Nothing in your document is touched.
A drawing as the active SOLIDWORKS document. Every prompt is then routed through Drawings Mode whatever the picker says, because the drawing is what you are pointing at. From Agent or Drawings the turn can edit the sheet. From Ask, Plan, Debug or Imagine it is review only. Without Drawings access the turn is refused: "Drawing review and editing require Drawings access."
How a turn moves between modes
Three modes hand work to Agent rather than making you retype it. Each switches the composer to Agent and starts a new turn.
- Ask renders a Run in Agent button under an answer that offered to do specific work. It re-sends your original words, not the answer.
- Plan puts the plan in a card with Build this and Deny. Build this sends the plan for execution along with the request that produced it.
- Imagine shows concept cards. Picking one sends that concept to Agent to build, with its render attached.
Nothing hands off automatically.
Levels are not modes
A mode decides what a turn is allowed to do. A level decides how much reasoning it gets. They are independent controls, and both live on the composer: the mode pill, and next to it a pill reading "Level: Medium".
You pick a level, never a model. There is no model control in Settings or on the dashboard, and the picker names no model. The dashboard usage view names the model that answered each request, after the fact.
- There is no automatic routing. A turn runs at the level shown on the pill.
- On Free the picker is hidden, because Low is the only level available.
- If your plan drops below the level you had saved, the plan default is used and nothing warns you.
- A higher level draws down more credits per turn. Plans and limits covers the allowances.
Which levels your plan reaches
| Plan | Levels | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Low | Low |
| Student | Low, Medium and High | Medium |
| Standard | Low, Medium and High | Medium |
| Professional | Low, Medium, High, Ultra and Max | Medium |
| Enterprise | Low, Medium, High, Ultra and Max | Ultra |
Why this is a mode rather than a setting
A read-only mode is not given the tools that change a document. It cannot modify your file even if you tell it to, and no permission setting relaxes that.
So Ask, Plan, Debug and Imagine can be pointed at a released part, at a file someone else has checked out, or at an assembly you are not cleared to edit.