Tools

All tools Claude Code can use on your behalf

Tools are capabilities Claude uses automatically to complete your tasks. When you ask Claude to read a file, run a command, or search the web, it selects and invokes the appropriate tool behind the scenes. You do not call tools directly — Claude decides which tool to use and when.

Some tools require your explicit approval the first time they are used, while others run automatically. You can configure permission behavior per tool using /permissions or by setting rules in your project’s settings file.

File system

Tool	What it does	Permission
FileReadTool	Reads text files, images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP), PDFs, and Jupyter notebooks from your local file system. Supports reading specific line ranges or PDF page ranges for large files	Automatic for allowed paths; prompts for new paths
FileWriteTool	Creates or overwrites a file at the specified path	Prompts for approval
FileEditTool	Makes targeted edits to an existing file using string replacement, without rewriting the whole file	Prompts for approval
GlobTool	Finds files by name pattern (e.g., **/*.ts) within a directory. Returns matching paths sorted by modification time	Automatic
GrepTool	Searches file contents using regular expressions, powered by ripgrep. Returns file paths and line numbers for matches	Automatic
NotebookEditTool	Edits cells inside a Jupyter notebook (.ipynb) file	Prompts for approval

Shell and execution

Tool	What it does	Permission
BashTool	Executes shell commands. Supports foreground and background execution, optional timeouts, and sandboxing. Long-running commands can be auto-backgrounded	Prompts for approval; pre-approved commands run automatically
PowerShellTool	Executes PowerShell commands on Windows	Prompts for approval
REPLTool	Runs code interactively in a persistent REPL session	Prompts for approval

Web

Tool	What it does	Permission
WebFetchTool	Fetches and extracts content from a URL. Converts the page to Markdown and applies a prompt to filter or summarize the result. Does not work on authenticated or private URLs	Prompts once per domain; pre-approved domains run automatically
WebSearchTool	Searches the web and returns a list of results with titles, URLs, and snippets	Prompts for approval

Agents and orchestration

Tool	What it does	Permission
AgentTool	Spawns a sub-agent with its own context and tool set to work on a task in parallel or in isolation	Automatic
SkillTool	Executes a named skill — a reusable prompt workflow stored in your skills directory	Automatic
MCPTool	Invokes a tool exposed by an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server you have configured	Inherits the MCP server’s permission settings
SendMessageTool	Sends a message to another agent in a multi-agent team	Automatic
TeamCreateTool	Creates a team of coordinated agents to work on parallel tasks	Automatic
TeamDeleteTool	Tears down an agent team when the work is complete	Automatic

Task management

Tool	What it does	Permission
TodoWriteTool	Creates and updates a structured task list for the current session. Claude uses this to track progress on multi-step tasks and show you what it is working on	Automatic
TaskCreateTool	Creates a persistent background task	Automatic
TaskUpdateTool	Updates the status or output of a background task	Automatic
TaskGetTool	Retrieves the current state of a specific task	Automatic
TaskListTool	Lists all active and completed tasks	Automatic
TaskStopTool	Stops a running background task	Automatic
TaskOutputTool	Reads the output of a background task	Automatic
ScheduleCronTool	Schedules a command to run on a cron schedule	Prompts for approval
SleepTool	Pauses execution for a specified duration, used in proactive/monitor mode	Automatic

Planning and control

Tool	What it does	Permission
EnterPlanModeTool	Switches Claude into plan mode, where it outlines steps before taking any action	Automatic
ExitPlanModeTool	Exits plan mode and resumes normal execution	Automatic
EnterWorktreeTool	Switches Claude’s working context to a git worktree for isolated branch work	Automatic
ExitWorktreeTool	Returns Claude’s working context from a worktree back to the main workspace	Automatic

IDE and language services

Tool	What it does	Permission
LSPTool	Queries the Language Server Protocol for diagnostics, go-to-definition, hover info, and code actions in your editor	Automatic
ListMcpResourcesTool	Lists resources exposed by a connected MCP server	Automatic
ReadMcpResourceTool	Reads the content of a specific MCP server resource	Automatic

Utility

Tool	What it does	Permission
AskUserQuestionTool	Pauses Claude’s work and asks you a clarifying question when it needs more information to proceed	Automatic
SyntheticOutputTool	Generates structured output in a specified format, used internally to produce consistent results	Automatic
ToolSearchTool	Discovers available tools at runtime, used when the full tool list is deferred to keep the context window small	Automatic

The BashTool and FileWriteTool / FileEditTool will prompt you for approval before running unless you have pre-approved them with a permission rule. Read-only tools like FileReadTool, GlobTool, and GrepTool generally run automatically within allowed paths.

BashTool can run any shell command Claude constructs. Review the proposed command in the permission prompt before approving, especially for commands that delete files, modify system configuration, or access the network.

Use /permissions to create allow or deny rules for specific tools and path patterns so Claude can work without interrupting you for every file write or shell command.