## Summary
- hide deferred MCP/app nested tool descriptions from the `exec` prompt
in code mode
- add short guidance that omitted nested tools are still available
through `ALL_TOOLS`
- cover the code_mode_only path with an integration test that discovers
and calls a deferred app tool
## Motivation
`code_mode_only` exposes only top-level `exec`/`wait`, but the `exec`
description could still include a large nested-tool reference. This
keeps deferred nested tools callable while avoiding that prompt bloat.
## Tests
- `just fmt`
- `just fix -p codex-code-mode`
- `just fix -p codex-tools`
- `cargo test -p codex-code-mode
exec_description_mentions_deferred_nested_tools_when_available`
- `cargo test -p codex-tools
create_code_mode_tool_matches_expected_spec`
- `cargo test -p codex-core
code_mode_only_guides_all_tools_search_and_calls_deferred_app_tools`
stacked on #17402.
MCP tools returned by `tool_search` (deferred tools) get registered in
our `ToolRegistry` with a different format than directly available
tools. this leads to two different ways of accessing MCP tools from our
tool catalog, only one of which works for each. fix this by registering
all MCP tools with the namespace format, since this info is already
available.
also, direct MCP tools are registered to responsesapi without a
namespace, while deferred MCP tools have a namespace. this means we can
receive MCP `FunctionCall`s in both formats from namespaces. fix this by
always registering MCP tools with namespace, regardless of deferral
status.
make code mode track `ToolName` provenance of tools so it can map the
literal JS function name string to the correct `ToolName` for
invocation, rather than supporting both in core.
this lets us unify to a single canonical `ToolName` representation for
each MCP tool and force everywhere to use that one, without supporting
fallbacks.
## Why
The previous `codex-tools` migration steps moved the shared schema
models, local-host specs, collaboration specs, and related adapters out
of `codex-core`, but `core/src/tools/spec.rs` still contained a grab bag
of pure utility tool builders. Those specs do not need session state or
handler logic; they only describe wire shapes for tools that
`codex-core` already knows how to execute.
Moving that remaining low-coupling layer into `codex-tools` keeps the
migration moving in meaningful chunks and trims another large block of
passive tool-spec construction out of `codex-core` without touching the
runtime-coupled handlers.
## What changed
- extended `codex-tools` to own the pure spec builders for:
- code-mode `exec` / `wait`
- `js_repl` / `js_repl_reset`
- MCP resource tools `list_mcp_resources`,
`list_mcp_resource_templates`, and `read_mcp_resource`
- utility tools `list_dir` and `test_sync_tool`
- split those builders across small module files with sibling
`*_tests.rs` coverage, keeping `src/lib.rs` exports-only
- rewired `core/src/tools/spec.rs` to call the extracted builders and
deleted the duplicated core-local implementations
- moved the direct JS REPL grammar seam test out of
`core/src/tools/spec_tests.rs` so it now lives with the extracted
implementation in `codex-tools`
- updated `codex-rs/tools/README.md` so the documented crate boundary
matches the new utility-spec surface
## Test plan
- `CARGO_TARGET_DIR=/tmp/codex-tools-utility-specs cargo test -p
codex-tools`
- `CARGO_TARGET_DIR=/tmp/codex-core-utility-specs cargo test -p
codex-core --lib tools::spec::`
- `just fix -p codex-tools -p codex-core`
- `just argument-comment-lint`
## References
- #15923
- #15928
- #15944
- #15953
- #16031
- #16047
- #16129
- #16132
- #16138
- #16141
## Why
The longer-term `codex-tools` migration is to move pure tool-definition
and tool-spec plumbing out of `codex-core` while leaving session- and
runtime-coupled orchestration behind.
The remaining code-mode adapter layer in
`core/src/tools/code_mode_description.rs` was a good next extraction
seam because it only transformed `ToolSpec` values for code mode and
already delegated the low-level description rendering to
`codex-code-mode`.
## What Changed
- added `codex-rs/tools/src/code_mode.rs` with
`augment_tool_spec_for_code_mode()` and
`tool_spec_to_code_mode_tool_definition()`
- added focused unit coverage in `codex-rs/tools/src/code_mode_tests.rs`
- rewired `core/src/tools/spec.rs` and `core/src/tools/code_mode/mod.rs`
to use the extracted adapters from `codex-tools`
- removed the old `core/src/tools/code_mode_description.rs` shim and its
test file from `codex-core`
- added the `codex-code-mode` dependency to `codex-tools`, updated
`Cargo.lock`, and refreshed the `codex-tools` README to reflect the
expanded boundary
## Test Plan
- `cargo test -p codex-tools`
- `CARGO_TARGET_DIR=/tmp/codex-core-code-mode-adapters cargo test -p
codex-core --lib tools::spec::`
- `CARGO_TARGET_DIR=/tmp/codex-core-code-mode-adapters cargo test -p
codex-core --lib tools::code_mode::`
- `just bazel-lock-update`
- `just bazel-lock-check`
- `just argument-comment-lint`
## References
- #15923
- #15928
- #15944
- #15953
- #16031
- #16047
- #16129
