[Bug] Research Agent Tool Permission Failures (WebSearch, WebFetch, Read)

[bhargavvc]

I am encountering issues when GSD Research agents attempt to execute tasks. The agents are failing to access necessary external tools and file reading capabilities, forcing them to fallback to training data with flagged confidence levels.

Error Details: The agents are specifically unable to use the following tools in some cases:

WebSearch
WebFetch
Read (specifically for accessing template files)
observed Behavior: Instead of executing the tools, the agents proceed using only their internal training data knowledge and flag the result with confidence levels, which degrades the quality of the research output.

Questions:

Is there a specific configuration or permission grant required to enable these tools for Research agents?
Are there known limitations with the current agent role definitions regarding these tools?
Request: Please provide guidance on how to enable these permissions or resolve this blocking issue.

Context:

Component: GSD Research Agents
Issue Type: Tool Permissions / Agent Execution

[itsjwill]

This is a known limitation of how GSD spawns research subagents. The research agents use WebSearch, WebFetch, and Read tools, but subagents inherit a restricted tool set depending on how they're spawned.

Workaround for now: Run research commands from the main Claude Code context (not inside a subagent). The tools work fine at the top level — it's the nested agent permission inheritance that fails.

Root cause: The agent spawning in research-phase.md doesn't pass through all tool permissions. The upstream v1.24.0 merge (just landed) includes fixes to agent frontmatter handling that may resolve this. Please try updating:

```bash
npx get-shit-done-cc@latest
```

If the issue persists after update, please reply with your runtime (Claude Code / OpenCode / Codex) and I'll dig deeper.

[lucifer]

Yes I had this situation, I find GSD runs way better outside of an agent harness. I run Claude directly in Ghostty and it flies, this issue goes away.