name	native-tools
description	Claude Code native tools reference. Prefer native tools over bash commands for file operations, search, and orchestration.
triggers	glob, grep, read file, edit file, write file, task tool, askuserquestion, native tool, bash.find, bash.grep, bash.*cat

Provide comprehensive guidance on Claude Code's native tools. These tools are optimized for agent use and should ALWAYS be preferred over equivalent bash commands.

NEVER Use Bash For These Operations

Bad (Bash)	Good (Native)	Why
`find . -name "*.ts"`	`Glob({pattern: "*/.ts"})`	Faster, respects gitignore
`grep -r "pattern" .`	`Grep({pattern: "pattern"})`	Structured output, pagination
`cat file.txt`	`Read({file_path: "file.txt"})`	Line numbers, handles images/PDFs
`head -n 50 file.txt`	`Read({file_path: "file.txt", limit: 50})`	Native pagination
`sed -i 's/old/new/'`	`Edit({old_string: "old", new_string: "new"})`	Safe, atomic, validated
`echo "text" > file`	`Write({file_path: "file", content: "text"})`	Permission checked

Tool Categories

Category	Reference	Tools
File Search	`references/file-search.md`	Glob, Grep
Structural Search	See `ast-grep` skill	ast-grep (sg) for AST patterns
File Operations	`references/file-operations.md`	Read, Edit, Write
User Interaction	`references/user-interaction.md`	AskUserQuestion, TodoWrite
Agent Orchestration	`references/orchestration.md`	Task, TaskOutput
External Resources	`references/external.md`	WebFetch, WebSearch, Bash
MCP Tools	`references/external.md`	Context7, OctoCode, Codex

Skill References

Skill	When to Use
`ast-grep`	Structural code patterns (function calls, imports, types)

Tool Permission Matrix

Tool	Permission Required	Description
Glob	No	Find files by pattern
Grep	No	Search file contents
Read	No	Read file contents
Edit	Yes	Modify files
Write	Yes	Create/overwrite files
AskUserQuestion	No	Interactive questions
TodoWrite	No	Task tracking
Task	No	Spawn sub-agents
TaskOutput	No	Get agent results
Bash	Yes	Shell commands
WebFetch	Yes	Fetch URLs
WebSearch	Yes	Web search
NotebookEdit	Yes	Edit Jupyter notebooks

Search Then Read

// Find files matching pattern
Glob({pattern: "src/**/*.ts"})

// Search for content (text patterns)
Grep({pattern: "function handleAuth", type: "ts"})

// Read specific file
Read({file_path: "src/auth/handler.ts"})

Structural Code Search (ast-grep skill)

For complex code patterns, use ast-grep instead of Grep:

# Find all async functions
sg -p "async function $FUNC($$$)" -l typescript

# Find React hooks
sg -p "use$HOOK($$$)" -l tsx

# Find specific imports
sg -p 'import { $$$IMPORTS } from "react"' -l typescript

Documentation Lookup (MCP skill)

Prefer MCP tools over WebFetch for library docs:

// Context7 for library documentation
mcp__plugin_crew_context7__resolve-library-id({libraryName: "react-query"})
mcp__plugin_crew_context7__query-docs({
  context7CompatibleLibraryID: "/tanstack/query",
  topic: "query invalidation"
})

// OctoCode for GitHub code search
mcp__plugin_crew_octocode__githubSearchCode({
  keywordsToSearch: ["useQuery"],
  owner: "tanstack",
  repo: "query"
})

// Codex for deep reasoning
mcp__plugin_crew_codex__codex({
  prompt: "Analyze architectural trade-offs...",
  sandbox: "read-only"
})

Edit Workflow

// ALWAYS read before edit
Read({file_path: "path/to/file.ts"})

// Make targeted edit
Edit({
  file_path: "path/to/file.ts",
  old_string: "const x = 1",
  new_string: "const x = 2"
})

User Decision Points

AskUserQuestion({
  questions: [{
    question: "Which approach should we use?",
    header: "Approach",
    options: [
      {label: "Option A (Recommended)", description: "Fastest, simplest"},
      {label: "Option B", description: "More flexible"},
      {label: "Option C", description: "Most robust"}
    ],
    multiSelect: false
  }]
})

Agent Orchestration

// Launch parallel agents
Task({
  subagent_type: "Explore",
  prompt: "Find all API endpoints in src/",
  description: "Find API endpoints",
  run_in_background: true
})

// Retrieve results
TaskOutput({task_id: "abc123", block: true})

native-tools

Install Skill

SKILL.md