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Tools are the actions Claude Code takes autonomously during a session. When you ask Claude Code to complete a task, it selects and calls the appropriate tools—reading files, running commands, searching code, fetching documentation—without requiring you to invoke each step manually.

Tool categories

File tools

Read, write, and edit files on your local filesystem.

Shell tools

Execute shell commands and scripts in your environment.

Search tools

Find files by name and search file contents with regex.

Agent & task tools

Spawn sub-agents, manage background tasks, and coordinate multi-agent workflows.

Web tools

Search the web and fetch content from URLs.

Complete tool list

File tools

ToolDescription
FileReadToolRead files with optional line range; also handles images, PDFs, and Jupyter notebooks
FileEditToolMake exact string replacements in existing files
FileWriteToolCreate a new file or fully overwrite an existing one

Shell tools

ToolDescription
BashToolExecute shell commands with optional timeout and working directory
PowerShellToolExecute PowerShell commands (Windows only)

Search tools

ToolDescription
GrepToolripgrep-powered content search with regex support
GlobToolFile pattern matching by name

Agent & task tools

ToolDescription
AgentToolSpawn a sub-agent to handle a complex task autonomously
TaskCreateToolCreate a background task with a name and prompt
TaskListToolList all running and completed tasks
TaskGetToolGet output from a specific task
TaskUpdateToolUpdate a running task’s instructions
TaskStopToolStop a running task
TaskOutputToolStream task output
TeamCreateToolCreate a named team of agents with specific roles
TeamDeleteToolDisband an agent team
SendMessageToolSend a message to another agent’s mailbox

Web tools

ToolDescription
WebSearchToolSearch the web for information
WebFetchToolFetch and convert content from a URL

MCP tools

ToolDescription
MCPToolProxy calls to tools provided by MCP servers
ListMcpResourcesToolList resources exposed by an MCP server
ReadMcpResourceToolRead the content of an MCP resource
McpAuthToolAuthenticate with an MCP server

Utility tools

ToolDescription
TodoWriteToolCreate and manage TODO lists for task tracking
SleepToolPause execution for a specified duration
ScheduleCronToolSchedule recurring cron jobs
SkillToolInvoke skills and workflows
NotebookEditToolEdit cells in Jupyter notebooks
LSPToolQuery Language Server Protocol diagnostics and symbols
BriefToolGenerate a structured brief for a task
ConfigToolRead Claude Code configuration values
ToolSearchToolSearch available tools by description
AskUserQuestionToolPrompt the user for input during a task

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