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Shell & Code Execution Tools

Bash

Section titled “Bash”
  • Invoked as: Bash
  • Source directory: claude-code-main/tools/BashTool/
  • Class: Shell
  • Side effect: Executes
  • Gating: Always; permission required
  • Documented in public docs?: Yes — https://code.claude.com/docs/en/tools-reference
  • Description: “Executes shell commands in your environment.” Each command runs in a separate process. Working directory persists across commands if it remains within the project directory; outside that, it resets. Environment variables do not persist between commands.
  • Input parameters:
    • command (string, required) — Shell command to execute
  • Returns: Standard output and exit code.
  • Notes: Permission required. Working directory behavior: cd persists within the project or additionalDirectories; outside those, resets to project root. Set CLAUDE_BASH_MAINTAIN_PROJECT_WORKING_DIR=1 to disable carry-over. Export statements do not persist; use CLAUDE_ENV_FILE for multi-command environment setup.

PowerShell

Section titled “PowerShell”
  • Invoked as: PowerShell
  • Source directory: claude-code-main/tools/PowerShellTool/
  • Class: Shell
  • Side effect: Executes
  • Gating: Opt-in via CLAUDE_CODE_USE_POWERSHELL_TOOL=1; permission required
  • Documented in public docs?: Yes — https://code.claude.com/docs/en/tools-reference
  • Description: “Executes PowerShell commands natively.” On Windows, routes commands through PowerShell instead of Git Bash. Requires PowerShell 7+ on non-Windows platforms (pwsh). Same working-directory and environment-variable persistence behavior as Bash.
  • Input parameters:
    • command (string, required) — PowerShell command to execute
  • Returns: Standard output and exit code.
  • Notes: Opt-in on non-Windows. Requires pwsh 7+ on Linux/macOS/WSL. On Windows, auto-detects pwsh.exe (7+) with fallback to powershell.exe (5.1). Bash tool remains registered alongside. Same working-directory reset rules apply. Not available in sandboxed mode on Windows during preview.

Monitor

Section titled “Monitor”
  • Invoked as: Monitor
  • Source directory: Not present in the inspected source snapshot — may be newer than the snapshot or registered elsewhere. See “Discrepancies & notes” below.
  • Class: Shell
  • Side effect: Executes
  • Gating: Permission required; unavailable on Bedrock, Vertex AI, Foundry, or when DISABLE_TELEMETRY is set
  • Documented in public docs?: Yes — https://code.claude.com/docs/en/tools-reference
  • Description: “Runs a command in the background and feeds each output line back to Claude, so it can react to log entries, file changes, or polled status mid-conversation.” Claude writes a watch script, runs it in the background, and receives each line as it arrives without pausing the conversation.
  • Input parameters:
    • command (string, required) — Command to run in the background
    • description (string, optional) — Human-readable description of what to watch
  • Returns: Each output line from the monitored command, streamed back as it arrives.
  • Notes: Uses same permission rules as Bash. Not available on Bedrock, Vertex, or Foundry. Requires non-disabled telemetry (because it relies on the stream health watchdog). Stop by asking Claude to cancel or by ending the session.

LSP

Section titled “LSP”
  • Invoked as: LSP
  • Source directory: claude-code-main/tools/LSPTool/
  • Class: Code intelligence
  • Side effect: Read-only
  • Gating: Always (inactive until language server is installed via code-intelligence plugin)
  • Documented in public docs?: Yes — https://code.claude.com/docs/en/tools-reference
  • Description: “Code intelligence via language servers: jump to definitions, find references, report type errors and warnings.” Auto-reports type errors and warnings after each file edit. Can also be called directly for navigation and inspection.
  • Input parameters:
    • file (string, required) — File path
    • line (number, required) — Line number (0-indexed)
    • character (number, required) — Character offset on the line
    • action (string, required) — One of: definition, references, hover, symbols, implementation, callHierarchy
  • Returns: Structured response with symbols, definitions, references, type info, or diagnostics.
  • Notes: Inactive until a code-intelligence plugin for your language is installed (bundles the LSP configuration; you install the binary separately). Auto-reports are non-interactive. Direct calls require explicit action parameter.

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