Task tool fails with 'Tool names must be unique' error
Resolved 💬 2 comments Opened Oct 31, 2025 by Jbrush218 Closed Oct 31, 2025
Description
The Task tool is failing with an API error when attempting to launch any subagent type. The error indicates that there are duplicate tool names in the configuration.
Steps to Reproduce
- Attempt to invoke the Task tool with any subagent type
- Example invocations that all fail:
subagent_type: "general-purpose"subagent_type: "Explore"- With or without the
modelparameter
Expected Behavior
The Task tool should successfully launch the specified subagent and execute the provided prompt.
Actual Behavior
All Task tool invocations fail with:
API Error: 400 {"type":"error","error":{"type":"invalid_request_error","message":"tools: Tool names must be unique."},"request_id":"req_vrtx_011CUfdJXEC1FN1xtDzaeR1m"}
Error Details
- Error Type:
invalid_request_error - Error Message:
tools: Tool names must be unique. - HTTP Status: 400
- Affected Tool: Task (all subagent types)
Environment
- Model: claude-opus-4-1@20250805
- Platform: darwin (macOS)
- Date: 2025-10-31
Impact
This prevents the use of all Task tool subagents, including:
- general-purpose
- Explore
- Plan
- code-reviewer
- test-automator
- And all other specialized agents
Workaround
Currently using direct tool invocations (Bash, Read, Write, Edit, etc.) instead of delegating to subagents.
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