Tools

Claude Code gives Claude a set of built-in tools it can call to interact with your machine. Each tool call is subject to the active permission mode and rules. Below is a reference for every tool available by default.

File tools

• Read — Read a file from the local filesystem.

  Reads up to 2 000 lines by default. Supports an offset and limit for targeted reads of large files. Returns content in cat -n format with line numbers.

  Also supports reading images (PNG, JPG, etc.) as visual input, PDF files (up to 20 pages at a time), and Jupyter notebooks (.ipynb).

  Read-only. Always auto-approved in default mode.

  • Edit — Perform exact string replacements in a file.

    Requires a prior Read call on the file in the same conversation. Replaces old_string with new_string — the match must be unique in the file. Use replace_all: true to rename across the entire file.

    Fails if old_string appears more than once (unless replace_all is set). This precision prevents unintended edits.

  • Write — Create a new file or completely overwrite an existing one.

    For existing files, a prior Read call is required in the same conversation. Prefer Edit for modifying existing files — Write sends the entire file content and is better suited for new files or full rewrites.

  • Glob — Find files by name pattern.

    Fast pattern matching that works on any codebase size. Returns matching file paths sorted by modification time (most recently modified first).

    Supports patterns like **/*.ts, src/**/*.test.js, **/CLAUDE.md. For open-ended multi-step searches, use the Task tool instead.

    Read-only. Always auto-approved.

Shell tool

• Bash — Execute a shell command in a persistent shell session.

  Runs the command in a shell that persists across tool calls within a conversation — environment variables and working-directory changes carry over between calls. Supports a timeout parameter (default and max values are configurable).

  Key behaviours:

  • Compound commands (&&, ||, ;, |) are parsed and each sub-command is permission-checked independently.
  • Background execution — pass run_in_background: true to run a long-running command without blocking. You are notified when it completes.
  • Output limits — stdout/stderr is truncated if it exceeds the per-tool result size budget; a preview and file path are returned instead.
  • Search commands (find, grep, rg) — for content search, prefer the dedicated Grep tool, which has optimised permissions and access.

  Subject to permission prompts in default mode. Auto-approved in acceptEdits mode only for commands covered by an allow rule.

Search tools

• Grep — Search file contents using regular expressions.

  Built on ripgrep. Supports full regex syntax (log.*Error, function\s+\w+), file-type filtering (*.ts, **/*.py), and three output modes:

  • files_with_matches (default) — returns only file paths
  • content — returns matching lines with context
  • count — returns match counts per file

  Multiline patterns are supported with multiline: true.

  Read-only. Always auto-approved.

  • LS — List directory contents.

    Returns files and subdirectories in a structured format. Useful for exploring project structure before reading or editing files.

    Read-only. Always auto-approved.

Note: In bare-minimum mode (CLAUDE_CODE_SIMPLE=1) only Bash, Read, and Edit are available — use ls via Bash instead.

Web tools

• WebFetch — Fetch a URL and extract information from it.

  Takes a URL and a prompt describing what to extract. Converts HTML to Markdown, then passes the content through a secondary model to produce a focused answer.

  Features:

  • HTTP URLs are automatically upgraded to HTTPS.
  • Includes a 15-minute self-cleaning cache — repeated fetches of the same URL are fast.
  • When a URL redirects to a different host, the tool returns the redirect URL for a follow-up request.
  • For GitHub URLs, prefer the gh CLI via Bash (e.g., gh pr view, gh api).

  Read-only. Prompts for approval in default mode.

  • WebSearch — Search the web and return results.

    Returns search results with titles, snippets, and URLs formatted as Markdown links. Useful for accessing information beyond the model's training cutoff.

    After answering, Claude automatically appends a Sources: section listing all referenced URLs.

    Domain filtering is supported to include or exclude specific sites. Currently only available in the US.

    Prompts for approval in default mode.

Agent and task tools

• Task (Agent) — Spawn a sub-agent to complete a task.

  Starts a nested agentic loop in a separate context. The sub-agent has its own conversation history, its own tool set (optionally restricted), and runs to completion before returning a result to the parent agent.

  Sub-agents can run:

  • Locally — in-process, sharing the parent's filesystem and shell
  • Remotely — on separate compute when remote agent eligibility criteria are met

  Use Task for open-ended multi-step searches, parallel workstreams, or delegating distinct sub-problems to isolated agents.

  The parent agent receives the sub-agent's final output as a tool result.

  • TodoWrite — Create and manage a structured task list.

    Writes a list of todo items with statuses (pending, in_progress, completed) to a persistent panel in the terminal UI. Helps Claude track progress on complex multi-step tasks and shows you what it is working on.

    Use proactively for tasks with 3 or more distinct steps. Not necessary for simple single-step requests.

    Results are rendered in the todo panel, not the conversation transcript.

MCP tools

MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers can expose additional tools to Claude Code. Connected tools appear in the tool list alongside built-in tools and follow the same permission system.

MCP tools are named with a mcp__ prefix:

mcp__<server-name>__<tool-name>

For example, a tool named query on a server named mydb appears as mcp__mydb__query.

Common MCP tool categories include:

• Database query and management tools
• Browser and web automation tools
• Cloud provider APIs (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Issue tracker integrations (GitHub, Linear, Jira)
• Internal company tools and APIs

Info: MCP servers are configured in ~/.claude/mcp_servers.json or .claude/mcp_servers.json. Tools from a connected server are automatically included in Claude's context once the server is running.

To deny all tools from a specific MCP server, add a deny rule for the server prefix:

{
  "permissions": {
    "deny": ["mcp__untrusted-server"]
  }
}

Notebook tool

• NotebookEdit — Edit cells in a Jupyter notebook.

  Allows Claude to insert, replace, or delete cells in a .ipynb file with line-level precision. Read notebooks using the standard Read tool, which returns all cells and their outputs.

Tool availability

Not all tools are available in every context. The active tool set is determined at startup and can be affected by:

• CLAUDE_CODE_SIMPLE=1 — restricts to Bash, Read, and Edit only
• Permission deny rules — tools blanket-denied by a rule are removed from the tool list before the model sees them
• isEnabled() checks — each tool can self-disable based on environment conditions (e.g., WebSearch is gated by region)
• MCP server connection state — MCP tools are only available when the server is running and connected

You can inspect the active tool set with the /tools command in the REPL.