Claude Code Removes the Ultraplan Research Preview
Claude CodeClaude Code 2.1.222 removed the ultraplan feature, a research preview that sent planning sessions to the cloud for deeper analysis before implementation. Anthropic points users toward local plan mode or Claude Code on the web as replacements for cloud-based planning. The removal ends a feature some developers had built into their regular workflow, without an in-product migration path beyond switching tools.
Sources & Mentions
2 external resources covering this update
Ultraplan Is Gone
Version 2.1.222 removed ultraplan, a research-preview feature that let developers send a planning session to Anthropic's cloud infrastructure for a more thorough pass before Claude Code started implementing changes locally. As a research preview, ultraplan had always carried the caveat that it could change or be discontinued based on feedback, and Anthropic has now discontinued it outright.
What Replaces It
Anthropic's guidance for anyone who relied on ultraplan is to use plan mode for local planning, where Claude researches the codebase and presents a plan for approval before touching any files, or to run full sessions in Claude Code on the web when cloud-side execution is genuinely needed. Neither is a drop-in replacement for ultraplan's specific cloud-planning-then-local-implementation flow, so developers who had built it into their process will need to adjust that workflow.
Why It Matters
Research previews are explicitly experimental, but ultraplan had a visible following among developers using Claude Code for large or ambiguous tasks, since offloading the planning step to the cloud could produce deeper plans than a local session would attempt on its own. Its removal, landing the same week as several security hardening fixes, is a reminder that features shipped as previews in Claude Code can disappear without a direct replacement once Anthropic decides the underlying workflow is better served by existing tools like plan mode or Claude Code on the web.