Step-by-step reasoning scratchpad for planning and decision-making.
The think tool is a reasoning scratchpad that lets agents think step-by-step before acting. The agent can write out its reasoning without producing visible output to the user — ideal for planning complex tasks, breaking down problems, and reasoning through multi-step solutions.This tool has no side effects and produces no output visible to the user. It only improves the quality of the agent’s reasoning.
agents: root: model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-0 description: Coding assistant instruction: | You are a coding assistant. Before making any changes, use the think tool to plan your approach. toolsets: - type: think - type: filesystem - type: shell
Include the think tool in every agent. It adds minimal overhead while significantly improving the quality of reasoning on complex, multi-step tasks.
The think tool is most valuable when the agent needs to:
Plan a multi-step task before executing it
Reason through competing options before choosing one
Decompose a complex problem into smaller steps
Verify its own reasoning before committing to an action
It is especially effective when combined with tools that have side effects (like shell or filesystem), where planning ahead reduces the chance of mistakes.