Workflow tool triggers on keyword 'workflow' in normal conversation

Open 💬 7 comments Opened May 29, 2026 by DevenDucommun

Problem

The Workflow tool auto-triggers whenever the user's message contains the word "workflow" — even in normal conversation context like "building in more workflows for wired clients" (referring to UI flows, not the multi-agent orchestration tool).

This is frustrating because:

  1. "Workflow" is an extremely common English word used in product discussions, UX design, process conversations, etc.
  2. The trigger fires even when the user clearly means "guided user flow" not "multi-agent orchestration script"
  3. There's no way to disable just the keyword trigger while keeping the Workflow tool available for explicit use
  4. disableWorkflows is the only config option but it removes the entire feature

Expected behavior

The Workflow tool should only activate when the user explicitly requests multi-agent orchestration — e.g., "run a workflow", "use the workflow tool", "fan out agents", "orchestrate this with subagents". Not when "workflow" appears as a normal English word in a sentence about something else.

Suggested fix

Either:

  • Remove the keyword auto-trigger entirely (require explicit invocation)
  • Add a workflowAutoTrigger: false setting to disable the keyword while keeping the tool available
  • Make the trigger smarter (only fire when "workflow" is used in the context of requesting Claude to orchestrate something, not when discussing product features)

Environment

  • Claude Code CLI
  • macOS

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