home / skills / 89jobrien / steve / tool-presets

tool-presets skill

This skill provides standardized tool presets for Claude Code agents to ensure consistent tool access across similar agent types.

npx playbooks add skill 89jobrien/steve --skill tool-presets

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

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SKILL.md

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---
name: tool-presets
description: Standardized tool set definitions for Claude Code agents ensuring consistent tool access across similar agent types
author: Joseph OBrien
status: unpublished
updated: '2025-12-23'
version: 1.0.1
tag: skill
type: skill
---

# Tool Presets Skill

Standardized tool set definitions for Claude Code agents. Use these presets to ensure consistent tool access across similar agent types.

## Available Presets

| Preset | Tools | Best For |
|--------|-------|----------|
| `dev-tools` | Read, Write, Edit, Bash | Development/coding agents |
| `file-ops` | Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob | File manipulation agents |
| `analysis` | Read, Grep, Glob, Bash | Code analysis agents |
| `research` | Read, Write, WebSearch, WebFetch | Research agents |
| `orchestration` | Read, Write, Edit, Task, TodoWrite | Coordinator agents |
| `full-stack` | All tools | Comprehensive agents |

## Usage

Reference a preset in your agent's frontmatter:

```yaml
---
name: my-agent
description: Agent description
tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash  # Use dev-tools preset pattern
skills: tool-presets
---
```

## Preset Selection Guide

### When to use `dev-tools`

- Writing or modifying code
- Running build/test commands
- General development tasks

### When to use `file-ops`

- Searching codebases
- Refactoring across files
- Code analysis without execution

### When to use `analysis`

- Read-only code review
- Pattern detection
- Static analysis

### When to use `research`

- Documentation lookup
- External API research
- Web-based information gathering

### When to use `orchestration`

- Multi-agent coordination
- Complex task breakdown
- Workflow management

### When to use `full-stack`

- Comprehensive agents needing all capabilities
- Meta agents that delegate to others

## Reference Files

For detailed tool lists per preset, see:

- `dev-tools.md` - Development tools preset
- `file-ops.md` - File operations preset
- `analysis.md` - Code analysis preset
- `research.md` - Research tools preset
- `orchestration.md` - Multi-agent orchestration preset

Overview

This skill provides standardized tool-set presets for Claude Code agents so teams can apply consistent capabilities across similar agent types. Presets map common tool names (Read, Write, Edit, Bash, WebSearch, etc.) to named profiles like dev-tools, file-ops, analysis, research, orchestration, and full-stack. Using these presets reduces configuration drift and speeds agent creation.

How this skill works

Declare a preset name in an agent's frontmatter to automatically assign the associated tool list. Each preset bundles a curated set of tool permissions and roles suited to a class of tasks (development, file manipulation, analysis, research, orchestration, or full capability). The skill enforces a clear, repeatable mapping so agents of the same type have identical tool access.

When to use it

Set up new agents that should share identical capabilities across a team
Standardize tool access for different agent roles (dev, researcher, analyst, orchestrator)
Quickly prototype agents without hand-selecting every tool
Create governance and security baselines for agent tool permissions
Replace ad-hoc tool lists with named, documented presets

Best practices

Choose the narrowest preset that satisfies the agent’s tasks to minimize unnecessary tool exposure
Document which preset is used and why in the agent frontmatter for future reviewers
Use dev-tools for active coding agents and file-ops for file-focused tasks to reduce risk
Reserve full-stack only for trusted meta agents that must delegate broadly
Keep preset definitions updated in a single source so changes affect all agents consistently

Example use cases

A coding assistant that writes and runs tests using the dev-tools preset (Read, Write, Edit, Bash)
A batch refactoring agent that searches and updates repositories using the file-ops preset
A static analysis agent that inspects codebases without execution using the analysis preset
A research agent that fetches web resources and drafts documentation with the research preset
A coordinator agent that assigns subtasks and updates trackers using the orchestration preset

FAQ

How do I apply a preset to an agent?

Reference the preset pattern in the agent frontmatter tools field so the agent tooling layer maps the preset to its tool list.

Can I customize a preset?

Yes — presets are templates. You can extend or restrict the tool list per agent, but prefer updating the canonical preset when many agents must change.

When should I use full-stack?

Use full-stack only for trusted agents that legitimately need comprehensive capabilities, such as meta-orchestration agents that delegate tasks across specialized agents.