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The tool handshake

Tools provide a flexible, powerful way for models to interface with the external world. They are provided to the model as a JSON object with a name and an arguments schema. For example, a read_file tool with a filepath argument will give the model the ability to request the contents of a specific file. The following handshake describes how Agent uses tools:
  1. In Agent mode, available tools are sent along with user chat requests
  2. The model can choose to include a tool call in its response
  3. The user gives permission. This step is skipped if the policy for that tool is set to Automatic
  4. Continue calls the tool using built-in functionality or the MCP server that offers that particular tool
  5. Continue sends the result back to the model
  6. The model responds, potentially with another tool call and step 2 begins again
Tool availability varies by mode:
  • Chat mode: No tools included
  • Plan mode: Only read-only tools included
  • Agent mode: All tools included

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Built-in tools

Continue includes several built-in tools which provide the model access to IDE functionality.

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Plan mode tools (read-only)

In Plan mode, only these read-only tools are available:
  • Read file (read_file)
  • Read currently open file (read_currently_open_file)
  • List directory (ls)
  • Glob search (glob_search)
  • Grep search (grep_search)
  • Fetch URL content (fetch_url_content)
  • Search web (search_web)
  • View diff (view_diff)
  • View repo map (view_repo_map)
  • View subdirectory (view_subdirectory)
  • Codebase tool (codebase_tool)

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Agent mode tools (all tools)

In Agent mode, all tools are available including the read-only tools above plus:
  • Create new file (create_new_file): Create a new file within the project
  • Edit file (edit_file): Make changes to existing files
  • Run terminal command (run_terminal_command): Run commands from the workspace root
  • Create Rule Block (create_rule_block): Create a new rule block in .continue/rules
  • All other write/execute tools for modifying the codebase