> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cobalt.peoplereign.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tools, rules & hooks

> The toolset ledger, family and per-tool rules, and code-enforced policy hooks.

# Tools, rules & hooks

However a tool reaches an agent — through an
[Integration](/integrations/overview), a
[Skillset](/build-agent/skillsets-and-skills), or built in — you control whether
it's on and how it's allowed to behave with a layered set of guardrails: the
**toolset ledger**, **rules** (family-wide with per-tool overrides), and
**hooks** (code-enforced policy gates).

## The toolset ledger

**Capabilities → Toolset** lists every tool the agent has, grouped by where it
came from: built-in tools, one section per integration (with per-module
subsections), and one per connected MCP server. Search and filter by
all / active / inactive / required.

Each row shows the tool, its description, and:

* An **enable/disable toggle**. A handful of tools are **required** for the
  agent to function and show a lock instead of a toggle.
* A **destructive** warning marker on tools that can change or remove things.
* **Privileged** vs **end-user** badges: privileged tools act with the admin
  credentials configured on the integration; end-user tools act as the person
  asking. Privileged tools whose integration credentials aren't verified yet
  show **Awaiting authorization** and stay unusable until an admin completes
  the integration's authorization.

## Confirmation before acting

Tools that send, change, or remove things ask the **end user to confirm**
before running — the conversation shows exactly what's about to happen and
waits. This is built into how each tool is classified; the highest-risk actions
always confirm and that can't be switched off.

## Family rules

The built-in web and file tools accept **family rules** — one set of
constraints applied to every tool in the family:

| Family         | Tools                            | What you can constrain                                                                                   |
| -------------- | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Web**        | web search, fetch, HTTP requests | Allowed / denied domains (wildcards like `*.acme.com` work), maximum response size, allowed HTTP methods |
| **File read**  | read, retrieve, search-in-files  | Allowed / denied file extensions and patterns, maximum read size                                         |
| **File write** | write, edit, patch               | Allowed / denied extensions and patterns, maximum write size                                             |

## Per-tool rules and the effective rule

Open any tool from the ledger for its **detail page**, where you can override
its family's rules for just that tool. The page shows the **effective rules** —
family rules first, overridden by anything set here — so you always see what
will actually be enforced. A per-tool **deny always wins**: anything on a
tool's deny list is refused even if the family rules would allow it, and the
ledger warns you when a per-tool allow contradicts a family deny.

## Hooks

A **hook** is a code-enforced policy gate that runs at a fixed point in a
tool's lifecycle — before the call is accepted, before and after it's sent to
the vendor, and before the result reaches the agent. Unlike prompt
instructions, hooks are enforced in code: the model can't talk its way past
one.

A hook pairs a **condition** on the call's arguments or result with an
**action**:

* **Allow** or **deny** (with a reason shown to the user — e.g. requires
  approval, out of hours, manager only).
* **Transform** the arguments before they're sent.
* **Append a message** or **enrich the result** the agent sees.

Configure hooks on a tool's detail page (each lifecycle slot shows what's
configured; your hook replaces any template default for that slot). The
agent-wide **Hooks** page is a read-only ledger of every hook — which tool,
which event, draft or production, where it came from — for review and audit.

## Related

* [Capabilities overview](/build-agent/capabilities-overview) — how tools reach
  an agent.
* [Skillsets & skills](/build-agent/skillsets-and-skills) — authoring your own
  capabilities.
* [Conversations & tracing](/operate/conversations-and-tracing) — seeing every
  tool call an agent made.