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Exec tool

Run shell commands in the workspace. Supports foreground + background execution via process. If process is disallowed, exec runs synchronously and ignores yieldMs/background. Background sessions are scoped per agent; process only sees sessions from the same agent.

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Parameters

  • command (required)
  • yieldMs (default 10000): auto-background after delay
  • background (bool): background immediately
  • timeout (seconds, default 1800): kill on expiry
  • elevated (bool): run on host if elevated mode is enabled/allowed (only changes behavior when the agent is sandboxed)
  • Need a real TTY? Use the tmux skill. Note: elevated is ignored when sandboxing is off (exec already runs on the host).

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Examples

Foreground: 
{"tool":"exec","command":"ls -la"}
Background + poll: 
{"tool":"exec","command":"npm run build","yieldMs":1000}
{"tool":"process","action":"poll","sessionId":"<id>"}

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apply_patch (experimental)

apply_patch is a subtool of exec for structured multi-file edits. Enable it explicitly: 
{
  tools: {
    exec: {
      applyPatch: { enabled: true, allowModels: ["gpt-5.2"] }
    }
  }
}
Notes:
  • Only available for OpenAI/OpenAI Codex models.
  • Tool policy still applies; allow: ["exec"] implicitly allows apply_patch.
  • Config lives under tools.exec.applyPatch (no tools.bash alias).