diff --git a/docs/content/docs/agents/claude.mdx b/docs/content/docs/agents/claude.mdx
index 4486ab7e17..68dd7a428f 100644
--- a/docs/content/docs/agents/claude.mdx
+++ b/docs/content/docs/agents/claude.mdx
@@ -43,6 +43,14 @@ Expose extra tools to the agent by passing `mcpServers` to `openSession`. Both l
 **Pre-install `npx`-launched servers.** A local server started with `npx -y …` writes install progress to **stdout** on its first run, which corrupts the MCP stdio handshake (you'll see `Connection closed`). Pre-install it in the VM so `npx` is silent — `await agent.process.exec("npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem")` before the session — or pin the package and point `command` at the installed binary.
 </Note>
 
+## Disallowing built-in tools
+
+Set `ACP_DISALLOWED_TOOLS` on the session's `env` to keep named built-in tools out of the model's context. Without it, a tool that cannot work in your deployment stays visible to the model, which keeps calling it and keeps failing.
+
+<CodeSnippet file="examples/claude/client.ts" title="client.ts" region="disallowed-tools" />
+
+The value is a comma-separated list of tool names (`WebFetch,WebSearch`), or a JSON array of strings when a name itself contains a comma (`["Bash(git commit:*)"]`). Unset keeps every tool enabled; a malformed value fails the session rather than silently leaving the tools on.
+
 ## Customizing the agent
 
 Claude Code is a built-in agent, but it's just a software package under the hood. To ship your own ACP adapter, swap the underlying agent SDK, or register a tweaked build as a new agent, see [Custom Agents](/agentos/docs/agents/custom).
diff --git a/examples/claude/client.ts b/examples/claude/client.ts
index 76c0973080..d73312ce6b 100644
--- a/examples/claude/client.ts
+++ b/examples/claude/client.ts
@@ -92,6 +92,24 @@ async function withMcp() {
 	// docs:end mcp
 }
 
+// ── Disallowing built-in tools ────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Some built-in Claude Code tools cannot work in every deployment. `WebFetch`
+// is useless behind a network policy that blocks egress, for example. Naming
+// them keeps the tools out of the model's context instead of letting it retry
+// calls that always fail.
+async function withoutWebTools() {
+	// docs:start disallowed-tools
+	await agent.sessions.open({
+		agent: "claude",
+		env: {
+			ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY!,
+			ACP_DISALLOWED_TOOLS: "WebFetch,WebSearch",
+		},
+	});
+	// docs:end disallowed-tools
+}
+
 // ── Skills + MCP together ─────────────────────────────────────────
 async function withSkillAndMcp() {
 	const skill = `---
@@ -146,4 +164,4 @@ Write commit messages in the imperative mood and keep the subject under 50 chara
 	console.log(result.message?.content ?? []);
 }
 
-export { quickStart, withSkill, withMcp, withSkillAndMcp };
+export { quickStart, withSkill, withMcp, withoutWebTools, withSkillAndMcp };
diff --git a/software/claude/src/adapter.ts b/software/claude/src/adapter.ts
index 68d8abb435..d34b97d8d3 100644
--- a/software/claude/src/adapter.ts
+++ b/software/claude/src/adapter.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
  * The upstream adapter delegates to an SDK that supports effort controls, but
  * that adapter version does not publish them through ACP configOptions. Keep
  * the extension here until AgentOS can consume a newer VM-compatible release.
+ *
+ * The launcher also translates the adapter-neutral `ACP_DISALLOWED_TOOLS` launch
+ * contract into the SDK's `disallowedTools` option.
  */
 
 import {
@@ -16,6 +19,11 @@ import {
 	applyEnvironmentSettings,
 	loadManagedSettings,
 } from "@agentclientprotocol/claude-agent-acp/dist/utils.js";
+import {
+	DISALLOWED_TOOLS_ENV,
+	parseDisallowedTools,
+	withDisallowedTools,
+} from "./disallowed-tools.js";
 
 type EffortLevel = "low" | "medium" | "high" | "xhigh" | "max";
 type ModelInfo = {
@@ -144,12 +152,32 @@ type AgentPrototype = {
 	setSessionConfigOption(
 		params: Record<string, unknown>,
 	): Promise<Record<string, unknown>>;
+	createSession(
+		params: Record<string, unknown>,
+		creationOpts?: Record<string, unknown>,
+	): Promise<Record<string, unknown>>;
 };
 
 const prototype = ClaudeAcpAgent.prototype as unknown as AgentPrototype;
 const upstreamNewSession = prototype.newSession;
 const upstreamResumeSession = prototype.unstable_resumeSession;
 const upstreamSetConfigOption = prototype.setSessionConfigOption;
+const upstreamCreateSession = prototype.createSession;
+
+// Parse the launch contract once, before the ACP server starts, so a malformed
+// policy fails the adapter with a named error on stderr instead of silently
+// leaving the tools enabled for every session on this process.
+const disallowedTools = parseDisallowedTools(process.env[DISALLOWED_TOOLS_ENV]);
+
+// Every entry point (new, resume, load, fork) funnels through createSession, so
+// patching it once applies the policy to restored sessions too.
+prototype.createSession = async function (params, creationOpts) {
+	return await upstreamCreateSession.call(
+		this,
+		withDisallowedTools(params, disallowedTools),
+		creationOpts,
+	);
+};
 
 prototype.newSession = async function (params) {
 	const response = await upstreamNewSession.call(this, params);
diff --git a/software/claude/src/disallowed-tools.ts b/software/claude/src/disallowed-tools.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2940ae15ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/software/claude/src/disallowed-tools.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/**
+ * Adapter-neutral launch contract for disallowing built-in agent tools.
+ *
+ * The sidecar owns no agent-specific tool policy: it forwards the caller's
+ * session `env` to the packaged adapter, and this AgentOS-owned launcher
+ * translates the neutral `ACP_DISALLOWED_TOOLS` value into the Claude Agent
+ * SDK's `disallowedTools` option. Mirrors how `ACP_APPEND_SYSTEM_PROMPT` is
+ * translated into each upstream adapter's own prompt flag.
+ */
+
+export const DISALLOWED_TOOLS_ENV = "ACP_DISALLOWED_TOOLS";
+
+function invalid(detail: string): Error {
+	return new Error(
+		`Invalid ${DISALLOWED_TOOLS_ENV}: ${detail}. Provide a comma-separated list of tool names (\`WebFetch,WebSearch\`) or a JSON array of strings (\`["WebFetch","WebSearch"]\`).`,
+	);
+}
+
+function normalize(names: string[]): string[] {
+	const seen = new Set<string>();
+	for (const name of names) {
+		seen.add(name);
+	}
+	return [...seen];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Parse the launch contract value into an ordered, de-duplicated tool list.
+ *
+ * An unset or blank value keeps the adapter's default behavior. A value that is
+ * present but unusable is a hard error rather than a silent empty list, so a
+ * mistyped policy fails the session instead of quietly leaving the tool enabled.
+ */
+export function parseDisallowedTools(raw: string | undefined): string[] {
+	const value = raw?.trim();
+	if (!value) return [];
+	if (value.startsWith("{")) {
+		throw invalid("JSON object values are not supported");
+	}
+	if (value.startsWith("[")) {
+		let parsed: unknown;
+		try {
+			parsed = JSON.parse(value);
+		} catch (error) {
+			throw invalid(`${(error as Error).message}`);
+		}
+		if (!Array.isArray(parsed)) throw invalid("JSON value is not an array");
+		const names = parsed.map((entry) => {
+			if (typeof entry !== "string") {
+				throw invalid(`JSON array entry is not a string: ${JSON.stringify(entry)}`);
+			}
+			const name = entry.trim();
+			if (!name) throw invalid("JSON array contains an empty tool name");
+			return name;
+		});
+		return normalize(names);
+	}
+	const names = value
+		.split(",")
+		.map((entry) => entry.trim())
+		.filter((entry) => entry.length > 0);
+	if (names.length === 0) throw invalid("no tool names were found");
+	return normalize(names);
+}
+
+function asRecord(value: unknown): Record<string, unknown> {
+	return value && typeof value === "object" && !Array.isArray(value)
+		? (value as Record<string, unknown>)
+		: {};
+}
+
+/**
+ * Merge the launch-contract tools into the session's `_meta.claudeCode.options`
+ * without mutating the caller's params. Caller-supplied entries are preserved;
+ * the upstream adapter appends its own always-disallowed tools afterwards.
+ */
+export function withDisallowedTools<T extends Record<string, unknown>>(
+	params: T,
+	disallowedTools: string[],
+): T {
+	if (disallowedTools.length === 0) return params;
+	const meta = asRecord(params._meta);
+	const claudeCode = asRecord(meta.claudeCode);
+	const options = asRecord(claudeCode.options);
+	const existing = Array.isArray(options.disallowedTools)
+		? options.disallowedTools.filter(
+				(entry): entry is string => typeof entry === "string",
+			)
+		: [];
+	return {
+		...params,
+		_meta: {
+			...meta,
+			claudeCode: {
+				...claudeCode,
+				options: {
+					...options,
+					disallowedTools: normalize([...existing, ...disallowedTools]),
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	};
+}
diff --git a/software/claude/tests/adapter.test.mjs b/software/claude/tests/adapter.test.mjs
index 5e8b10c6a8..c6dea26dd8 100644
--- a/software/claude/tests/adapter.test.mjs
+++ b/software/claude/tests/adapter.test.mjs
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ import {
 	ndJsonStream,
 } from "@agentclientprotocol/sdk";
 import { LLMock } from "@copilotkit/llmock";
+import {
+	DISALLOWED_TOOLS_ENV,
+	parseDisallowedTools,
+	withDisallowedTools,
+} from "../dist/disallowed-tools.js";
 
 const packageDir = resolvePath(import.meta.dirname, "..");
 const adapterPath = resolvePath(packageDir, "dist", "adapter.js");
@@ -239,3 +244,123 @@ test("published Claude Agent ACP prompts a second process while the first remain
 		await mock.stop();
 	}
 });
+
+test("parses the disallowed-tools launch contract in both accepted forms", () => {
+	assert.deepEqual(parseDisallowedTools(undefined), []);
+	assert.deepEqual(parseDisallowedTools("  "), []);
+	assert.deepEqual(parseDisallowedTools("WebFetch, WebSearch ,WebFetch"), [
+		"WebFetch",
+		"WebSearch",
+	]);
+	assert.deepEqual(parseDisallowedTools('["WebFetch", "Bash(git commit:*)"]'), [
+		"WebFetch",
+		"Bash(git commit:*)",
+	]);
+});
+
+test("rejects a malformed disallowed-tools value instead of ignoring it", () => {
+	for (const value of [",,,", "[", '["WebFetch", 3]', '["  "]', '{"a":1}']) {
+		assert.throws(
+			() => parseDisallowedTools(value),
+			(error) => error.message.includes(DISALLOWED_TOOLS_ENV),
+			`expected ${value} to fail with a named error`,
+		);
+	}
+});
+
+test("merges the launch contract into caller-supplied session meta", () => {
+	const params = {
+		cwd: "/home/agentos",
+		_meta: { claudeCode: { options: { disallowedTools: ["Bash"], model: "x" } } },
+	};
+	const merged = withDisallowedTools(params, ["WebFetch", "Bash"]);
+
+	assert.deepEqual(merged._meta.claudeCode.options.disallowedTools, [
+		"Bash",
+		"WebFetch",
+	]);
+	assert.equal(merged._meta.claudeCode.options.model, "x");
+	assert.equal(merged.cwd, "/home/agentos");
+	assert.deepEqual(params._meta.claudeCode.options.disallowedTools, ["Bash"]);
+	assert.equal(withDisallowedTools(params, []), params);
+});
+
+test("published Claude Agent ACP withholds disallowed built-in tools from the model", async () => {
+	async function toolsSentToModel(extraEnv) {
+		const mock = new LLMock({ port: 0, logLevel: "silent" });
+		mock.addFixtures([
+			{
+				match: { userMessage: "Reply with disallowed-tools" },
+				response: { content: "disallowed-tools" },
+			},
+		]);
+		const baseUrl = await mock.start();
+		try {
+			await withAdapter(
+				async (connection) => {
+					await connection.initialize({
+						protocolVersion: PROTOCOL_VERSION,
+						clientCapabilities: {},
+						clientInfo: { name: "agentos-test", version: "0.0.1" },
+					});
+					const session = await connection.newSession({
+						cwd: packageDir,
+						mcpServers: [],
+					});
+					const result = await connection.prompt({
+						sessionId: session.sessionId,
+						prompt: [{ type: "text", text: "Reply with disallowed-tools" }],
+					});
+					assert.equal(result.stopReason, "end_turn");
+				},
+				{ ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL: baseUrl, ...extraEnv },
+			);
+			// Claude Code also issues small toolless background calls; the main
+			// turn is the request that carries the tool schema.
+			const request = mock
+				.getRequests()
+				.find((entry) => (entry.body?.tools ?? []).length > 0);
+			assert.ok(request, "expected a tool-carrying request to reach the mock model");
+			return new Set(
+				request.body.tools.map((tool) => tool.function?.name ?? tool.name),
+			);
+		} finally {
+			await mock.stop();
+		}
+	}
+
+	const enabled = await toolsSentToModel({});
+	assert.ok(enabled.has("WebFetch"));
+	assert.ok(enabled.has("WebSearch"));
+	assert.ok(enabled.has("Read"));
+
+	const disabled = await toolsSentToModel({
+		[DISALLOWED_TOOLS_ENV]: "WebFetch,WebSearch",
+	});
+	assert.equal(disabled.has("WebFetch"), false);
+	assert.equal(disabled.has("WebSearch"), false);
+	assert.ok(disabled.has("Read"));
+});
+
+test("published Claude Agent ACP fails fast on a malformed disallowed-tools value", async () => {
+	const child = spawn(process.execPath, [adapterPath], {
+		cwd: packageDir,
+		env: {
+			...process.env,
+			CLAUDE_CODE_EXECUTABLE: claudePath,
+			ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: "agentos-test-key",
+			DISABLE_TELEMETRY: "1",
+			[DISALLOWED_TOOLS_ENV]: ",,,",
+		},
+		stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"],
+	});
+	let stderr = "";
+	child.stderr.setEncoding("utf8");
+	child.stderr.on("data", (chunk) => {
+		stderr += chunk;
+	});
+	const [code] = await once(child, "exit");
+
+	assert.notEqual(code, 0);
+	assert.match(stderr, new RegExp(DISALLOWED_TOOLS_ENV));
+});