feat: add tool prompt override support in .continuerc.json

[shanevcantwell]

Summary

Adds the ability to customize tool prompts via .continuerc.json at the workspace level, plus fixes two bugs that were preventing this feature from working.

• Add ToolOverride interface for customizing tool descriptions, disabling tools, or modifying system message prompts
• Fix silent failure when reading .continuerc.json files (Bug: .continuerc.json files fail to load due to 'this' binding issue #9312)
• Fix YAML config path not loading workspace .continuerc.json files (Bug: YAML config path does not load workspace .continuerc.json files #9313)

Motivation

Local models (via LM Studio, Ollama, etc.) often struggle with Continue's default tool prompts, which include legacy syntax examples that confuse models into outputting raw [TOOL_CALLS]BEGIN_ARG... text instead of using proper tool calling.

This feature allows per-repo customization of tool prompts to work better with specific models.

Before (broken tool syntax output):

[TOOL_CALLS]ls BEGIN_ARG: dirPath ./docs END_ARG BEGIN_ARG: recursive false END_ARG

After (clean tool usage with custom prompts):

• Model lists available tools properly
• Tools are called via native function calling
• No broken syntax in output

Example .continuerc.json

{
  "mergeBehavior": "merge",
  "tools": [
    {
      "name": "view_diff",
      "disabled": true
    },
    {
      "name": "read_file",
      "description": "Read file contents. Use relative paths from workspace root.",
      "systemMessageDescription": {
        "prefix": "To read a file, use read_file with a relative path:"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Bug Fixes Included

Fix #9312: .continuerc.json files fail to load

rcFiles.map(ide.readFile) lost this binding, causing silent failures. Fixed by using rcFiles.map((uri) => ide.readFile(uri)).

Fix #9313: YAML config path ignores .continuerc.json

loadContinueConfigFromYaml never called getWorkspaceRcConfigs. Added conditional loading in doLoadConfig.ts so tool overrides work regardless of config format.

Test plan

• Verified .continuerc.json loads with JSON config
• Verified .continuerc.json loads with YAML config
• Verified disabled: true removes tool from list
• Verified custom descriptions appear in tool prompts
• Tested with devstral via LM Studio - clean tool usage

Fixes #9312, Fixes #9313

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

---

Summary by cubic

Add per-model tool prompt overrides via YAML config to customize or disable tools, applied in BaseLLM and the CLI during chat.

• New Features
  • Support chatOptions.toolOverrides (keyed by tool name) in YAML model config.
  • Apply overrides at runtime in BaseLLM and CLI; added ToolOverride type, helpers, and tests.

^{Written for commit f3883ee. Summary will update on new commits.}

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[cubic-dev-ai]

No issues found across 7 files

[continue]

📚 Documentation PR created: #9315

I've created a documentation PR that adds usage examples and explains the new tool prompt override feature. The docs include accordion components showing how to:

• Override tool descriptions
• Disable specific tools
• Customize system message prompts
• Override display titles and action phrases

The documentation follows the existing structure in .continuerc.json section and uses Mintlify components for better discoverability.

[shanevcantwell]

@sestinj Just to personalize this a bit... I've been trying to love Continue with my local models for like 6mo now, but tool usage never worked. I finally discovered that there were multiple conflicting messages being prompted to the models. With this in place, and the following tool definitions, tools now "just work", with dozens of mixin tool calls strung together, and no broken tool call text in the stream.

Every model is a little different, so making the tool prompts completely override-able is to me just a necessity. I tried to stick to your established patterns and touch as little as possible, and I think there is minimal drift.

I hope you'll consider this a nice xmas gift!
Cheers

{
"mergeBehavior": "merge",
"tools": [
{
"name": "view_diff",
"disabled": true
},
{
"name": "read_file",
"description": "Read the contents of an existing file. Use relative paths from workspace root (e.g., 'src/index.ts').",
"systemMessageDescription": {
"prefix": "To read a file, use the read_file tool with a relative path from workspace root. Example:"
}
},
{
"name": "create_new_file",
"description": "Create a new file with the specified content. Use relative paths from workspace root.",
"systemMessageDescription": {
"prefix": "To create a new file, use the create_new_file tool with a relative path. Example:"
}
},
{
"name": "run_terminal_command",
"description": "Run a shell command in the workspace directory. Stateless between calls. Use Edit tools for file modifications.",
"systemMessageDescription": {
"prefix": "To run a terminal command, use the run_terminal_command tool. Shell is stateless. Use Edit tools instead of sed/awk. Example:"
}
},
{
"name": "grep_search",
"description": "Search file contents using regex patterns. Returns matching lines with context.",
"systemMessageDescription": {
"prefix": "To search file contents, use grep_search with a regex pattern. Example:"
}
},
{
"name": "glob_search",
"description": "Find files by name pattern (e.g., '**/*.ts'). Use for locating files.",
"systemMessageDescription": {
"prefix": "To find files by name pattern, use glob_search. Example:"
}
},
{
"name": "multi_edit",
"description": "Make multiple edits to files. Each edit: filepath, old_string (exact match), new_string.",
"systemMessageDescription": {
"prefix": "To edit files, use multi_edit with filepath, old_string, and new_string. Use relative paths. Example:"
}
}
],
"chatOptions": {
"baseSystemMessage": "You are an AI coding assistant. Focus on completing tasks efficiently. Use relative paths from workspace root for all file operations. Be concise."
}
}

[shanevcantwell]

Before & after for reference (with PR #9325 fix) (gpt-oss-20b)

[RomneyDa]

@shanevcantwell the ability to override tool prompts would be a neat change. Currently JSON configuration is deprecated and we are very tentative to make changes that only work in JSON.

What if we put this under chatOptions in a model's YAML configuration? Or thoughts on other ways we could make this work for most users?

[RomneyDa]

@shanevcantwell realized one more thing, it could be confusing to users if their toolPromptOverrides apply in VS Code but not in the CLI. Are you a CLI user by chance? If so could you take a look at implementing the same override application during CLI tool loading? If not I could take a look at it next week

Note @chezsmithy took a go at unifying the core and CLI tool types recently, somewhat relevant here but we wouldn't need to unify to apply the same toolPromptOverrides to each style of tool definition #8555

[shanevcantwell]

@shanevcantwell realized one more thing, it could be confusing to users if their toolPromptOverrides apply in VS Code but not in the CLI. Are you a CLI user by chance? If so could you take a look at implementing the same override application during CLI tool loading? If not I could take a look at it next week

Note @chezsmithy took a go at unifying the core and CLI tool types recently, somewhat relevant here but we wouldn't need to unify to apply the same toolPromptOverrides to each style of tool definition #8555

Absolutely. This new addition passes existing and a few new tests, but I don't have experience with the CLI to verify it working in realistic situations. New tests:

extensions/cli/src/tools/applyToolOverrides.test.ts (6 tests):

Returns tools unchanged when no overrides
Applies description override
Filters out disabled tools
Handles multiple overrides
Ignores overrides for non-existent tools
Does not mutate original tools
These test the CLI-specific applyChatCompletionToolOverrides function. The core applyToolOverrides function (for VS Code) already had tests from when we cherry-picked it.

[RomneyDa]

@shanevcantwell waiting on the final go ahead from team since involves YAML schema change

[RomneyDa]

@shanevcantwell appreciate the iterations!

[RomneyDa]

@shanevcantwell one last tweak, could we call it toolOverrides instead of toolPromptOverrides? Since it adds ability to override all tool properties not just json schema descriptions etc

[RomneyDa]

@shanevcantwell looks like just the gui package lock changes are breaking CI, should work if reverted

[RomneyDa]

@shanevcantwell appreciate the iterations!

[sestinj]

🎉 This PR is included in version 1.41.0 🎉

The release is available on:

• npm package (@latest dist-tag)
• GitHub release

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