Steer Complex Tasks with Mid-Response Course Correction
Use the upfront thinking plan to correct models mid-stream.
Monitor the 'Thinking' plan in GPT-5.4 to steer the model before it generates a final incorrect output.
The Scenario
You are working on a complex professional task involving spreadsheets or deep web research and want to ensure the model doesn't go off track before it completes a long reasoning cycle.
Before & after
Previously, users had to wait for a full response to finish before realizing they needed to prompt again for corrections, often wasting 5–10 minutes on multiple iterations.
Users can now review an upfront plan and adjust the model's trajectory while it is still working, ensuring the final result is correct in 2–5 minutes.
The Prompt
I have a complex task: [DESCRIBE_TASK]. Please use GPT-5.4 Thinking to provide an upfront plan of how you intend to solve this. Once you start, I will monitor the plan and provide course corrections if I see any steps that don't align with my requirements.
The GPT-5.4 Thinking model introduced a feature where it provides an upfront plan. This allows for mid-response course correction, which is particularly useful for complex reasoning or multi-step agentic workflows.
Source
Model Release Notes | OpenAI Help Center"GPT‑5.4 Thinking can now provide an upfront plan of its thinking, so you can adjust course mid-response while it’s working."