diff --git a/navi/core/agent.py b/navi/core/agent.py
index 25af328..12090d8 100644
--- a/navi/core/agent.py
+++ b/navi/core/agent.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import asyncio
 import base64
 import io
+import re
 import time
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -74,6 +75,62 @@
 _TOOL_DONE = object()
 
 
+_CASUAL_WORDS = frozenset({
+    # Russian greetings/social
+    "привет", "здравствуй", "здравствуйте", "хай", "хелло", "хеллоу",
+    "как", "дела", "делишки", "ты", "вы", "поживаешь", "поживаете",
+    "жизнь", "сам", "сама",
+    "спасибо", "спс", "пока", "bye", "goodbye",
+    "доброе", "утро", "добрый", "день", "вечер", "спокойной", "ночи",
+    "ок", "окей", "ладно", "давай",
+    # English greetings/social
+    "hi", "hello", "hey", "hola", "bonjour",
+    "how", "are", "you", "it", "going", "things", "what", "up", "s",
+    "thanks", "thank", "thx",
+    "good", "morning", "afternoon", "evening", "night", "see", "cya",
+    "ok", "okay",
+    # Common fillers that keep a social phrase social
+    "a", "an", "the", "and", "too", "very", "much", "today", "now",
+    "there", "here", "again", "well", "oh", "ah", "um",
+    "в", "и", "а", "но", "же", "тоже", "очень", "сегодня", "сейчас",
+    "ну", "вот", "тут", "ещё", "раз", "ка",
+    "is", "am", "are", "do", "does", "did", "be", "been", "being",
+    "man", "dude", "bro", "mate", "friend", "dear",
+})
+
+
+def _is_casual_message(text: str) -> bool:
+    """Fast heuristic: obvious social/greeting chat that doesn't need planning.
+
+    Conservative by design. Returns True only for short, tool-free social
+    utterances (e.g. 'привет', 'как дела', 'спасибо'). Anything that looks
+    like a command, URL, path, or multi-step request is treated as non-casual.
+    """
+    if not text:
+        return True
+    # Tool/action markers and URLs disqualify the message immediately.
+    if any(marker in text for marker in ("@", "!", "http://", "https://", "file://")):
+        return False
+    # Path-like or command-like fragments.
+    if any(fragment in text for fragment in ("/home", "/tmp", "/etc", "./", "../", "~/", "\\", ".py ", ".txt", ".md", ".json")):
+        return False
+    # A bare leading slash is a command/path indicator.
+    if text.strip().startswith("/"):
+        return False
+    # Long messages are very unlikely to be pure social greetings.
+    if len(text) > 100:
+        return False
+    stripped = text.strip()
+    # Very short messages are treated as casual by default.
+    if len(stripped) <= 10:
+        return True
+    words = [w for w in re.findall(r"\b\w+\b", stripped.lower()) if len(w) > 1]
+    if not words:
+        return True
+    casual_count = sum(1 for w in words if w in _CASUAL_WORDS)
+    return casual_count / len(words) >= 0.5
+
+
 async def _todo_progress_message(session_id: str, *, first_iteration: bool = False) -> "Message | None":
     """Build a compact system reminder with current todo state and update discipline."""
     from navi.tools.todo import get_progress_message
@@ -261,9 +318,12 @@
         # on subsequent messages uses the profile's planning_enabled flag.
         # force_plan suppresses the DIRECT shortcut: first message is always forced,
         # and planning_mandatory extends that to every subsequent message.
+        # Casual greetings are exempt from planning even on the first message.
         _is_first_message = sum(1 for m in session.messages if m.role == "user") == 1
-        _force_plan = _is_first_message or profile.planning_mandatory
-        if _is_first_message or profile.planning_enabled:
+        _is_casual = _is_casual_message(context_content) and not profile.planning_mandatory
+        _force_plan = (_is_first_message and not _is_casual) or profile.planning_mandatory
+        if (_is_first_message or profile.planning_enabled) and not _is_casual:
+            log.debug("agent.planning_enter", session_id=session_id, first_message=_is_first_message, planning_enabled=profile.planning_enabled, force_plan=_force_plan)
             async for _ev in self._planning.run(session.context, profile, llm, mem, tool_schemas, messages=session.messages, force_plan=_force_plan):
                 if isinstance(_ev, AIHelperTokensUsed):
                     turn_ctx.subagent_tokens += _ev.completion_tokens
diff --git a/navi/core/compressor.py b/navi/core/compressor.py
index b519f91..bcffeaa 100644
--- a/navi/core/compressor.py
+++ b/navi/core/compressor.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 from navi.llm.base import LLMBackend, Message
 from navi.config import settings
-from navi.events import ContextCompressed
+from .events import ContextCompressed
 
 _SUMMARIZE_SYSTEM = (
     "You are summarizing a conversation history to free up context space. "
diff --git a/navi/core/planning.py b/navi/core/planning.py
index 5cc6a48..784d518 100644
--- a/navi/core/planning.py
+++ b/navi/core/planning.py
@@ -102,8 +102,19 @@
                     + (
                         ""
                         if force_plan else
-                        "If it is a simple question, casual conversation, or answerable in one step "
-                        "without tools — respond with exactly: DIRECT\n\n"
+                        "CRITICAL DIRECT shortcut — use it whenever possible:\n"
+                        "- If the user's message is a greeting (hello, hi, thanks, good morning, "
+                        "'how are you', 'what\\'s up', 'привет', 'как дела', 'спасибо') or any "
+                        "casual/social chat — output exactly: DIRECT\n"
+                        "- If the user asks a simple question you can answer from your existing "
+                        "knowledge without any tools (general facts, definitions, simple math) — "
+                        "output exactly: DIRECT\n"
+                        "- If the user gives a one-step instruction that needs no tool (e.g., 'stop', "
+                        "'continue', 'ok') — output exactly: DIRECT\n"
+                        "- Only build a full plan when tools, files, web, research, or multi-step "
+                        "execution are actually needed.\n\n"
+                        "Output must be literally the single word DIRECT (uppercase), nothing else. "
+                        "No TASK, no GOAL, no STEPS, no analysis for trivial messages.\n\n"
                     )
                     + available_tools_block
                     + "Knowledge store rules (critical):\n"
diff --git a/tests/unit/core/test_agent.py b/tests/unit/core/test_agent.py
index efd60f3..ce3a1c2 100644
--- a/tests/unit/core/test_agent.py
+++ b/tests/unit/core/test_agent.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 import pytest
 import pytest_asyncio
 
-from navi.core.agent import Agent
+from navi.core.agent import Agent, _is_casual_message
 from navi.core.events import (
     StreamEnd,
     StreamStopped,
@@ -318,3 +318,44 @@
         result, ok = await agent.run_ephemeral("task", profile_id="test")
         assert ok is False
         assert "thinking" in result.lower() or "stall" in result.lower()
+
+
+# ─── _is_casual_message heuristic tests ──────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+class TestIsCasualMessage:
+    def test_greetings_are_casual(self):
+        assert _is_casual_message("привет")
+        assert _is_casual_message("hi")
+        assert _is_casual_message("Hello")
+        assert _is_casual_message("здравствуйте")
+
+    def test_social_phrases_are_casual(self):
+        assert _is_casual_message("как дела?")
+        assert _is_casual_message("how are you")
+        assert _is_casual_message("спасибо")
+        assert _is_casual_message("thanks")
+        assert _is_casual_message("пока")
+
+    def test_very_short_messages_are_casual(self):
+        assert _is_casual_message("ok")
+        assert _is_casual_message("да")
+        assert _is_casual_message("yo")
+
+    def test_tool_or_command_markers_are_not_casual(self):
+        assert not _is_casual_message("/help")
+        assert not _is_casual_message("!restart")
+        assert not _is_casual_message("ping @user")
+
+    def test_urls_and_paths_are_not_casual(self):
+        assert not _is_casual_message("https://example.com")
+        assert not _is_casual_message("read /home/user/file.py")
+        assert not _is_casual_message("~/notes.md")
+
+    def test_long_messages_are_not_casual(self):
+        assert not _is_casual_message("привет, расскажи подробно как настроить сервер и что для этого нужно сделать")
+
+    def test_actual_task_requests_are_not_casual(self):
+        assert not _is_casual_message("напиши скрипт для бэкапа")
+        assert not _is_casual_message("проверь почему не работает ssh")
+        assert not _is_casual_message("what is the weather in Berlin tomorrow")
diff --git a/tests/unit/core/test_planning.py b/tests/unit/core/test_planning.py
index 3af5e83..a3ab60b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/core/test_planning.py
+++ b/tests/unit/core/test_planning.py
@@ -111,6 +111,23 @@
         assert "knowledge persistence checkpoint" in phase3_prompt
         assert "Do not plan unavailable MCP tool calls" in phase3_prompt
 
+    async def test_planning_prompt_includes_direct_shortcut(self):
+        profile = make_profile(
+            "developer",
+            planning_phase2_enabled=False,
+        )
+        llm = RecordingLLM(["DIRECT"])
+        engine = PlanningEngine(FakeContextBuilder())
+        context = [Message(role="user", content="hello")]
+
+        async for _event in engine.run(context, profile, llm, mem=None, tool_schemas=[]):
+            pass
+
+        phase1_prompt = llm.calls[0][0].content
+        assert "CRITICAL DIRECT shortcut" in phase1_prompt
+        assert "greeting" in phase1_prompt
+        assert "DIRECT (uppercase)" in phase1_prompt
+
     async def test_planning_prompt_omits_mcp_when_profile_has_no_mcp_servers(self):
         profile = make_profile(
             "developer",