PLAN MODE: read_file tool calls return empty results — content only visible in next user message turn

Cline Surface

VSCode Extension

Cline Version

4.0.8

Beta version

• I am using a beta version of Cline

What happened?

In PLAN MODE, when read_file (or other file tool calls like list_files, search_files) are issued, the results appear empty to the agent in the same turn. The file contents only become visible when the user sends their next message — at which point all results arrive grouped together.

This caused the agent to incorrectly conclude that files did not exist or were empty, leading to incorrect behavior (e.g., telling the user files couldn't be read, when in fact they were readable and all permissions were granted).

Expected behavior: Each read_file call should return its result immediately and be visible to the agent before proceeding, even in PLAN MODE — just as it works in ACT MODE. This behavior worked correctly in previous versions of Cline.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open a new chat session in PLAN MODE
2. Ask Cline to read one or more files (e.g., provide a task that requires reading plan files)
3. Cline issues read_file tool calls
4. Observe: the agent receives no visible content in the current turn and may report that files are empty or missing
5. Send any reply to Cline
6. Observe: all file contents from step 3 now appear grouped in the new turn's context

Provider/Model

litellm / vertex_ai/claude-sonnet-4-6

IDE / CLI Diagnostics

No response

System Information

Visual Studio Code: 1.127.0, Node.js: v24.15.0, Architecture: arm64