fix: ensure task-bound tools propagate in hierarchical mode

[JakeMY-coder]

Summary

When kicking off a crew run in hierarchical mode, any MCP tools owned by agents are ignored even if they are required for successful task completion. The cause is simple: in hierarchical mode, the agent_to_use for prepare_tools is always the manager agent.

From prepare_task_execution in utils.py:

    tools_for_task = task.tools or agent_to_use.tools or []
    tools_for_task = crew._prepare_tools(
        agent_to_use,
        task,
        tools_for_task,
    )

Effectively, this function is checking the manager agent against tasks assigned to subordinate agents to see if any tools should be made available for the upcoming agent activation. As a result, subordinate agents never have the necessary tools for task execution in hierarchical mode.

Fix:

In the _prepare_tools function in crew.py, check to see if there is an agent assigned to the task:

        task_agent = task.agent or agent

Then, when preparing mcp and platform tools, use that task's agent instead of the manager agent to retrieve the relevant tools for the activation:

        if task_agent and (hasattr(task_agent, "apps") and getattr(task_agent, "apps", None)):
            tools = self._add_platform_tools(task, tools)

        if task_agent and (hasattr(task_agent, "mcps") and getattr(task_agent, "mcps", None)):
            tools = self._add_mcp_tools(task, tools)

---

Note

Fixes tool resolution in hierarchical mode by selecting the task’s agent when preparing tools.

• In Crew._prepare_tools, introduce task_agent = task.agent or agent and use it to add platform and mcp tools via _add_platform_tools and _add_mcp_tools
• Prevents loss of task-bound tools when the manager agent is passed during hierarchical execution

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[JakeMY-coder]

After further testing, I'm not sure this fix solves the problem. I'm at a loss. MCP tools, agents, and crew executions work fine in sequential mode. As soon as I begin executing in hierarchical mode with a designated manager agent the MCP tools no longer appear in agent prompts, leading to confusion and hallucination.