[BUG] Main Agent for Scheduled Tasks does NOT have access to MCP / Connectors, Sub-Agents Do!

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

When I use connectors for scheduled agents, the main agent does not have access to the tools. A work around was found when the main agent spawned subagents, and those subagents had access to the tools.

What Should Happen?

The main agent in scheduled processes should have access to the provided connector tools, not just the subagents.

Error Messages/Logs

ToolSearch query="Slack" → "No matching deferred tools found"
ToolSearch query="Notion" → "No matching deferred tools found"
Direct call mcp__Slack__slack_send_message → "No such tool available"
Direct call mcp__Notion__API-query-data-source → "No such tool available"

# But from a spawned Agent subagent, same tools work:
Agent → mcp__Slack__slack_send_message → ✅ success
Agent → mcp__Notion__API-query-data-source → ✅ success

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a scheduled trigger with MCP connections attached:

• Slack (mcp.slack.com/mcp)
• Notion (mcp.notion.com/mcp)
• Google Calendar (gcal.mcp.claude.com/mcp)

1. Prompt the agent to call any MCP tool directly → fails
2. Prompt the agent to use ToolSearch to find MCP tools → returns nothing
3. Prompt the agent to spawn an Agent subagent that calls the same MCP tool by name → succeeds

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.91

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Tested with sleep delays (15s, 30s), ToolSearch retry loops, multiple tool name
prefixes (mcp__Slack__, mcp__claude_ai_Slack__), and wildcard allowed_tools
(mcp__Slack__*), methods given by #42323. None work from the main session. Only Agent subagents can
access the tools.

Trigger config includes both mcp_connections and allowed_tools with wildcards
— the connections are properly attached, just not exposed to the main session.

Solution Prompt:

\#\# CRITICAL: How MCP Tools Work in This Environment MCP tools will NEVER appear in ToolSearch. Do NOT use ToolSearch for MCP tools. Do NOT sleep and retry. The ONLY way to call MCP tools is by spawning Agent subagents that call them directly by name.