ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH
A Claude Code environment variable, read out of the shipped bundle. It has been in the build since v2.1.138, including the newest one read.
What it is
Tool search now runs on Vertex AI instead of being refused outright.
Not Anthropic's. This is the line from the earliest changelog entry here that named it, v2.1.221.
Presence across releases
| Releases | Reading | Declared type | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1.245 – 2.1.250 5 releases | never mined | — | — |
| 2.1.210 – 2.1.243 33 releases | in the build | str | — |
| 2.1.160 – 2.1.209 42 releases | in the build | bool | — |
| 2.1.138 – 2.1.159 20 releases | in the build | — | — |
A row reading never mined is a release with no archived bundle behind it. Nothing was read out of it, so nothing here says whether the name was in it. A declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.
Changelog entries naming it
-
v2.1.232Tool search says once why it turned itself off
Tool search logs why it disabled itself and refuses entirely against a non-Anthropic base URL.
named in this entry
-
v2.1.227
ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=forcenow works from settings-composed environmentENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=force now works when set through your settings, not just the shell.
named in this entry
-
v2.1.224Tool-search telemetry records the real mode and a finer skip reason
Skipped tool-search events now report the real mode in effect and a more precise skip reason.
named in this entry
-
v2.1.221Tool search no longer disabled on Vertex AI
Tool search now runs on Vertex AI instead of being refused outright.
named in this entry
Documentation pages
- Scale to many tools with tool search mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Explore the context window mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Environment variables mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Claude Code on Google Cloud's Agent Platform mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Connect Claude Code to tools via MCP mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Customize sessions in self-hosted environments mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Configuration reference mentions it Claude Documentation
- Deploy Claude Desktop on 3P with an LLM gateway mentions it Claude Documentation
A reference table page is one whose own table defines this name, and it is where the description above came from. A page that mentions it carries the name somewhere in its text and may say nothing about it at all. Every page carrying it.
Names beside it
Every environment variable in the inventory starting enable, up to twelve of them.
ENABLE_BETA_TRACING_DETAILEDNo description from anybody. 2.1.138
ENABLE_CLAUDEAI_MCP_SERVERSNo description from anybody. 2.1.138
ENABLE_ENHANCED_TELEMETRY_BETANo description from anybody. 2.1.138
ENABLE_LOCKLESS_UPDATESNo description from anybody. 2.1.160
ENABLE_LSP_TOOLNo description from anybody. 2.1.160
ENABLE_MCP_LARGE_OUTPUT_FILESMCP_TOOL_TIMEOUT is parsed with a minimum of 1 and ENABLE_MCP_LARGE_OUTPUT_FILES only disables when explicitly false. 2.1.138
ENABLE_PID_BASED_VERSION_LOCKINGNo description from anybody. 2.1.160
ENABLE_PROMPT_CACHING_1HNo description from anybody. 2.1.138
ENABLE_PROMPT_CACHING_1H_BEDROCKNo description from anybody. 2.1.138
ENABLE_SESSION_BACKGROUNDINGNo description from anybody. 2.1.160
ENABLE_SESSION_PERSISTENCENo description from anybody. 2.1.160
Read out of the published npm bundle release by release, and out of Anthropic's own documentation as this site captured it. Nothing on this page is a description anybody here wrote about what the environment variable does. All environment variables.