agent-tools

description: "Agent tools must be an array of tool names, cannot be used with disallowed-tools"

agent-tools

<RuleHeader description="Agent tools must be an array of tool names, cannot be used with disallowed-tools" severity="error" :fixable="false" :configurable="false" category="Agents" />

Rule Details

This rule enforces two constraints on the `tools` field in agent markdown frontmatter. First, `tools` must be a valid array of strings representing tool names the agent is allowed to use. Second, `tools` and `disallowedTools` are mutually exclusive -- specifying both is an error. Array validation is delegated to AgentFrontmatterSchema.shape.tools, while cross-field validation uses AgentFrontmatterWithRefinements. This prevents conflicting tool access configurations.

Incorrect

Tools as a single string instead of array

---
name: code-agent
description: Writes and edits code
tools: Bash
---

Both tools and disallowedTools specified

---
name: code-agent
description: Writes and edits code
tools:
  - Bash
  - Edit
disallowedTools:
  - Write
---

Correct

Tools as a valid array of tool names

---
name: code-agent
description: Writes and edits code
tools:
  - Bash
  - Edit
  - Read
---

Using disallowedTools alone (without tools)

---
name: safe-agent
description: Agent with restricted access
disallowedTools:
  - Bash
---

How To Fix

Ensure `tools` is a YAML array of strings. If you need to restrict certain tools, use either `tools` (allowlist) or `disallowedTools` (blocklist), but not both.

Options

This rule does not have any configuration options.

Related Rules

• [`agent-disallowed-tools`](/rules/agents/agent-disallowed-tools)

Resources

• [Rule Implementation](https://github.com/pdugan20/claudelint/blob/main/src/rules/agents/agent-tools.ts)
• [Rule Tests](https://github.com/pdugan20/claudelint/blob/main/tests/rules/agents/agent-tools.test.ts)

Version

Available since: v0.2.0