Tools
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Praetor exposes 18 built-in tools to the model, plus any MCP-compatible external tools you connect. Meta-tools are opt-in and are not part of the 18.
Tools are registered in createAllTools() in packages/core/src/tools/index.ts. Ten of them are STRAP-consolidated resource tools — that is, one domain-level tool with an action parameter, rather than a dozen granular CRUD tools. This is deliberate: large tool counts degrade model tool selection.
The 18 built-in tools
| Tool | Category | What it does |
|---|---|---|
file | filesystem | Read, write, edit, search, list, and glob files. Choose the operation with action |
memory | memory | Persistent key-value memory: store, recall, list keys |
web | web | Search the web or fetch content from URLs |
browser | web | Drive a browser to search the web or fetch pages |
code | code | Search, refine, and fix code |
checkpoint | workflow | Save, rewind, list, and collapse conversation checkpoints |
handoff | development | Hand a task to another agent, or check handoff status |
exec | code | Execute Python, shell, or JavaScript scripts |
media | multimodal | Analyze images, capture screenshots, extract PDF text |
system | control | Request human input, or retrieve a tool schema on demand |
git | development | Run git operations: status, log, diff, branch, blame, add, commit, push, pull. Do not use shell pipes — use git flags (-n 20, not | head -20) |
verify | code | Run linters, type checkers, and test runners; returns structured pass/fail with error counts |
apply_patch | code | Apply a unified diff patch to a file, validated before it is applied |
file_hash_edit | filesystem | Content-hash-anchored file editing (drift-proof). Preferred over plain edit |
lsp | development | Language Server Protocol diagnostics and attachment |
verify_answer | control | Verify that a final answer matches a required format |
skill_view | skills | Load full skill instructions by name from the available-skills catalog |
search_conversations | memory | Full-text (FTS5) search across past conversations, ranked by relevance |
Trust tiers
Every tool has a trust tier, trusted or untrusted. Tools that ingest external data default to untrusted:
- Untrusted:
web,browser,media,skill_view,search_conversations, and every MCP-prefixed tool (mcp_*) or tool in the MCP category. - Trusted:
file,memory,code,checkpoint,handoff,system,git,apply_patch,verify_answer,exec,verify,agent,meta, and the granular file operations.
Resolution order is: an explicit trustTier on the tool, then the mcp_ prefix or MCP category, then the defaults table, then fail closed to untrusted.
Tool exposure over MCP
When Praetor's tools are exposed to an external MCP client, a dangerous subset is filtered out unless the caller opts in with allowDangerousTools:
exec, git, apply_patch, file, file_hash_edit, system, verify, code, and refine_code.
See MCP for the full picture.
Meta-tools
Meta-tools are not registered by default. Enable them with createAllTools({ enableMetaTools: true }); they wrap other tools as sub-tools. Shell-equivalent tools are excluded from the sub-tool map so a meta-tool cannot be used to bypass exec policy.
External tools
MCP-compatible external tools appear with an mcp_ prefix and are always treated as untrusted. Configure them through the MCP surfaces described in MCP.