Tools reference changedtools-reference
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99To add custom tools, connect an [MCP server](/docs/en/mcp). To extend Claude with reusable prompt-based workflows, write a [skill](/docs/en/skills), which runs through the existing `Skill` tool rather than adding a new tool entry.
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11<Info>
12 In [auto mode](/docs/en/permission-modes#eliminate-prompts-with-auto-mode), a classifier decides most permission prompts instead of you. The `Permission required` column shows whether the tool prompts in [Manual mode](/docs/en/permission-modes) for paths inside the working directory. File-access tools marked No, including `Read`, `Grep`, and `Glob`, still prompt for paths outside the [working directory and additional directories](/docs/en/permissions#working-directories). `Bash` is marked Yes but runs a built-in set of [read-only commands](/docs/en/permissions#read-only-commands) without prompting.
13</Info>
11> [!NOTE]
12>
13> In [auto mode](/docs/en/permission-modes#eliminate-prompts-with-auto-mode), a classifier decides most permission prompts instead of you. The `Permission required` column shows whether the tool prompts in [Manual mode](/docs/en/permission-modes) for paths inside the working directory. File-access tools marked No, including `Read`, `Grep`, and `Glob`, still prompt for paths outside the [working directory and additional directories](/docs/en/permissions#working-directories). `Bash` is marked Yes but runs a built-in set of [read-only commands](/docs/en/permissions#read-only-commands) without prompting.
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1515| Tool | Description | Permission required |
1616| :- | :- | :- |
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503503* **PDFs**: Claude reads short `.pdf` files whole. For PDFs longer than 10 pages, it reads in ranges with a `pages` parameter, such as `"1-5"`, up to 20 pages at a time. Page-range reads render pages with `pdftoppm` from poppler-utils, so install it with `brew install poppler` on macOS or `apt-get install poppler-utils` on Debian and Ubuntu. On Windows and other platforms, install a poppler build that puts `pdftoppm` on your `PATH`. Without it, a page-range read fails with `pdftoppm is not installed`.
504504* **Jupyter notebooks**: `.ipynb` files return all cells with their outputs, including code, markdown, and visualizations. A notebook whose cells come to more than 256 KB, or more than the [token limit](#large-files), returns an error instead. Claude Code refuses to read a notebook file over 100 MB; the error tells Claude how to read a portion of the notebook instead, such as a slice of cells, with a shell command.
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506Read refuses an image file larger than 128 MB with an error that tells Claude to resize the image or export a smaller copy, then read that copy. If Claude stops at the error instead of doing so, see [File is too large to read as an image](/docs/en/errors#file-is-too-large-to-read-as-an-image).
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506508Read only reads files, not directories. Claude lists directory contents with a shell command such as `ls`.
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508510Read refuses a file whose extension it treats as binary, such as `.xlsx`, `.parquet`, `.heic`, or `.zip`. Claude keeps working after a refusal: the error suggests a skill for that file type if one is available, or else a shell command or script that reads the format. If you [`@`-mention](/docs/en/common-workflows#reference-files-and-directories) a file that Read refuses, Claude receives the file's path but not its contents.
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555557Claude Code keeps your working directory in the local draft so it can find the transcript, and doesn't send the directory.
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557In [organizations with Zero Data Retention](/docs/en/zero-data-retention#features-disabled-under-zdr), and in organizations with the [HIPAA configuration](/docs/en/hipaa-setup) applied, Claude Code leaves the tool out, as it does for `/feedback`. If a session in an organization with Zero Data Retention still offers the tool, drafts stay on your machine, and sending fails with `Feedback collection is not available for organizations with custom data retention policies.`
559In [organizations with Zero Data Retention](/docs/en/zero-data-retention#features-disabled-under-zdr), and in organizations with the [HIPAA configuration](/docs/en/hipaa-setup) applied, Claude Code leaves the SendFeedback tool out of your sessions. If a session in an organization with Zero Data Retention still offers the tool, drafts stay on your machine, and sending fails with `Feedback collection is not available for organizations with custom data retention policies.`
558560
559561### Discard or keep a draft
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646648The search backend is not configurable. To search with a different provider, add an [MCP server](/docs/en/mcp) that exposes a search tool.
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648<Note>
649 WebSearch is available on the Claude API, [Claude Platform on AWS](/docs/en/claude-platform-on-aws), and Microsoft Foundry. On Google Cloud's Agent Platform it works with Opus 4, Sonnet 4, Haiku 4.5, and later models. Amazon Bedrock doesn't expose the server-side web search tool.
650</Note>
650> [!NOTE]
651>
652> WebSearch is available on the Claude API, [Claude Platform on AWS](/docs/en/claude-platform-on-aws), and Microsoft Foundry. On Google Cloud's Agent Platform it works with Opus 4, Sonnet 4, Haiku 4.5, and later models. Amazon Bedrock doesn't expose the server-side web search tool.
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652654### Session search limit
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688690Claude gives a conversational summary. For exact MCP tool names, run `/mcp`.
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690<Note>
691 The [advisor tool](/docs/en/advisor) is a [server tool](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/tool-use/advisor-tool) that the API runs, rather than a tool that Claude Code implements. It has no name you can reference in permission rules or hook matchers.
692</Note>
692> [!NOTE]
693>
694> The [advisor tool](/docs/en/advisor) is a [server tool](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/tool-use/advisor-tool) that the API runs, rather than a tool that Claude Code implements. It has no name you can reference in permission rules or hook matchers.
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694696## See also
695697
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