Tools
Toolset
The core toolset behind every agent.
Tools are how an agent leaves the transcript and touches your machine. Codey ships the file, shell, search, and reasoning tools below on every client, and adds the Pro workspace tools where they apply.
#Core set
| Tool | Does | Writes |
|---|---|---|
| read | Read files with offset and images | No |
| write | Create or overwrite whole files, plus append | Yes |
| edit | Exact string replacement | Yes |
| apply_patch | Atomic multi-file create and update | Yes |
| bash | Run shell commands in a session | Yes |
| glob | Find files by pattern | No |
| grep | Search file contents | No |
| webfetch | Fetch a URL as text | No |
| lsp | Definitions, references, and symbols | No |
| task | Delegate work to a subagent | Delegated |
| todowrite | Track the session task list | Session |
| skill | Load domain skills | No |
| memory | Recall and store durable facts | Store |
#Workspace set
| Tool | Does | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| browser | Drives the Chromium in the Desktop side panel | Pro · Desktop |
| design_system | Browse, read, and author the design-system catalog | Pro |
| blueprint | Write an approved plan onto the Blueprint board | Pro |
| scheduled_task | Create and run scheduled tasks | All tiers |
| open_session | Open or fork a session from inside a session | All tiers |
| open_file | Open a file in the workbench for the user | All tiers |
| question | Ask the user a multiple-choice question | Desktop · app · CLI |
- Gated extras — websearch and codesearch load for the free model provider or with
CODEY_ENABLE_EXAorCODEY_ENABLE_PARALLEL. Pin the provider withCODEY_WEBSEARCH_PROVIDER=exa|parallel(no API key required;EXA_API_KEY/PARALLEL_API_KEYonly raise limits). - Apply patch — edits go through one multi-syntax patch engine with tiered context matching, so every model writes files the same way and shell heredocs stop corrupting them. Models with strict tool schemas get
apply_patchin place ofeditandwrite. - Experimental — the batch tool runs a set of edits as one step when
experimental.batch_toolis enabled.
#Document tools
Five built-in servers give agents hands outside the codebase. They show up as Codey features rather than third-party tool names, and each one can be turned off individually in config.
| Shown as | Server | Delivers |
|---|---|---|
| docs | context7 | Current library references, not remembered ones |
| sheets | excel | Spreadsheets and cleaned tabular data |
| pdf-toolkit | Read, extract, and package PDFs | |
| writer | word | Documents, reports, and briefs |
| slides | ppt | Decks built from rough notes |
codey.json
{
"builtin_mcp": {
"excel": { "enabled": false }
}
}- Pro gated — the built-in document servers need Pro; MCP servers you configure yourself do not.
- Browser is not one of them — Playwright never launches a second, unrelated browser. On Desktop it is the browser tool; everywhere else it stays disabled.
#Permissions
Every tool sits under a permission tier — allow, ask, or deny — set globally, per project, or per agent. Deny survives pipes, flags, and rephrasing.