Skill tool not available after upgrading to 2.1.38, skills execute via sub-agents instead
Status Fixed / completed
Reported on v2.1.38
Maintainer reply None cached
Activity 5 comments · opened Feb 10, 2026 · closed Feb 11, 2026
Environment
- Claude Code version: 2.1.38 (also reproduced on 2.1.32 after downgrade)
- OS: Windows 10
- Terminal: Windows Terminal
- Model: GLM (non-Anthropic model)
Description
After upgrading to v2.1.38, the Skill tool is no longer available in the tool set. Skills defined in .claude/skills/ are still listed in the system prompt as "available for use with the Skill tool", but the actual Skill tool does not exist in the available tools.
As a result, when skills are invoked, they execute inside sub-agents (via the Task tool) instead of running in the main conversation context. This causes:
- Loss of conversation context - sub-agents don't have full conversation history
- Information loss during communication between main context and sub-agents
- Additional latency from spawning new agents
Steps to Reproduce
- Upgrade to Claude Code 2.1.38
- Define skills in
.claude/skills/directory (minimal frontmatter with only name and description) - Start a conversation and check available tools - no Skill tool present
- Invoke a skill - it executes via Task tool (sub-agent) instead of inline
Expected Behavior
The Skill tool should be available, and skills should execute in the main conversation context as they did in earlier versions.
Actual Behavior
- No Skill tool in the tool set
- Skills are forced to execute via sub-agents (Task tool)
- Downgrading to 2.1.32 does not restore the Skill tool
Additional Context
Skill frontmatter contains only name and description fields - no context: fork or agent-related settings. The sub-agent execution appears to be a platform-level change, not a skill configuration issue.
5 Comments
Found 3 possible duplicate issues:
This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code
This issue is different from the suggested duplicates:
| Issue | Problem | My Issue |
|-------|---------|----------|
| #24577 | Skills not discovered | Skills ARE discovered and listed in system prompt |
| #23947 | Partial skill discovery | Same - skills are visible |
| #20576 | ENOENT error aborts loading | No errors, skills load fine |
My specific problem:
This appears to be a platform-level architectural change, not a skill discovery/loading issue. The skills work, but they're forced to run in isolated sub-agent contexts instead of the main conversation.
Please do not auto-close as duplicate - this is a distinct issue about the Skill tool being removed from the tool set.
This has been fixed in 2.1.39, can be closed.
Fixed in 2.1.39
This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.