Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · anyhow::Error

Tool {name} was called with test-selection arguments, which

Error message

Tool {name} was called with test-selection arguments, which start a test process, and this agent has no shell authority. Drop `args` to run the default verification gate.

What it means

Error "Tool {name} was called with test-selection arguments, which start a test process, and this agent has no shell authority. Drop `args` to run the default verification gate." thrown in Hmbown/CodeWhale.

Source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/mod.rs:15076

/// the role useless. But both tools accept an escape hatch that is not
/// verification at all — `run_verifiers` takes `commands`, an array of arbitrary
/// `program` + `args` pairs, and `run_tests` takes `args`, a raw cargo argv.
/// `{"program": "bash", "args": ["-lc", "rm -rf src"]}` is exactly the raw shell
/// that [`crate::fleet::exact::RAW_SHELL_DENYLIST`] just removed, re-entered
/// through the one door that was left open for honest reasons.
///
/// So the tools stay and the arbitrary arguments go. The default form — the one
/// the deny list's comment actually promises is bounded — keeps working.
fn reject_unbounded_verification(name: &str, input: &Value, shell: bool) -> Result<()> {
    use crate::tools::execution_envelope::{VerificationBound, classify_verification};

    match classify_verification(canonical_action_alias(name, input), input) {
        None | Some(VerificationBound::Default) => Ok(()),
        // A pure test selection is what the shipped `verifier` role exists to
        // run. It starts a process, so it costs shell authority — and nothing
        // else, because `write` is not what a test filter needs.
        Some(VerificationBound::Filter) if shell => Ok(()),
        Some(VerificationBound::Filter) => Err(anyhow!(
            "Tool {name} was called with test-selection arguments, which start a test process, \
             and this agent has no shell authority. Drop `args` to run the default verification \
             gate."
        )),
        Some(VerificationBound::Unbounded) => Err(anyhow!(
            "Tool {name} was called with operator-supplied commands or arguments that can name a \
             program or redirect what runs, which spawns arbitrary programs and can mutate the \
             workspace. This agent runs read-only, so only the built-in verification gates and \
             test-selection arguments are available. Drop `commands`, drop the redirecting flag, \
             or use a write-capable role."
        )),
    }
}

fn is_internal_coordination_state_tool(name: &str) -> bool {
    matches!(
        name,
        "agent"

View on GitHub (pinned to 0c42157ee5)

Solutions

1. Drop the args field so run_tests executes the default verification gate
2. Use a write/shell-capable role if custom test argv is genuinely required
3. Run the custom commands from the parent or a builder-role agent instead

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/tui/src/tools/subagent/mod.rs:15076 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@0c42157ee5 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/11f60cfa7dab9ed6. Report an issue: GitHub.