subagentdescriptions

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Avoid ambiguous, overlapping tool sets

scoping prc_avoid_overlap
description

If two tools could plausibly both apply to the same request, the model has to guess -- and guesses are where tool-use errors come from. Where possible, consolidate near-duplicate tools into one tool with a parameter, or make the boundary between them explicit in both descriptions.

good example

One tool `search(source: "docs" | "web")` with a parameter, rather than two separately-described tools with fuzzy, overlapping "search for information" descriptions.

bad example

Two tools, `search_docs` and `find_documents`, both described only as "search for information" with no distinguishing detail.

source note

General best practice for multi-tool agent systems; consistent with this repo's own subagentcode.com AgentTool enum design, which keeps tool variants distinct rather than overlapping.

provenance

created 2026-07-02 08:28:30 · JSON