Conditional tool availability

When a tool is enabled for a workflow step, you can optionally limit when that tool is offered to the AI agent. The limit is based on the current work item’s property values. If the condition does not match for a work item, the tool is hidden for that run — the agent cannot call it.

This is useful when the same step handles different kinds of work items, and only some of them should have access to a particular tool.

Why use it

Turning a tool off for an entire step is often too blunt. Conditional availability lets you keep a tool enabled on the step, but only offer it when the work item matches a rule you define.

Examples:

Offer an update tool only when status is Reviewable
Offer a web search tool only when needsResearch is Yes
Offer an escalation tool only when priority is High

Narrower tool sets usually mean lower cost, fewer mistakes, and more reliable agent behavior.

Where to configure it

Conditional availability is set on a workflow step, in that step’s AI Instructions tool configuration. It is not available on the thunk-level Tools settings page, and it is not shown in the custom tool builder.

Open the workflow step in the thunk builder.
Open AI Instructions for that step.
Expand the AI Tools section.
Expand the tool you want to restrict.
Find the Availability setting.

By default, Availability shows Always. Use Add to set a condition.

After you save a condition, Availability shows a short summary such as Only when status is Reviewable, with an Edit control.

Availability set to Only when status is Reviewable, with Edit

In the step AI Tools list, an expanded tool shows Availability together with Approval and Constraints:

Step AI Tools panel with update_item available only when status is Reviewable

How to set a condition

Expand an enabled tool in the step’s AI Tools list.
In Availability, choose Add (or Edit if a condition already exists).
In the Tool available when dialog, choose a property, an operator, and a value.
Save.

You can add more than one condition when you need a richer rule. Any property on the work item can appear in the picker — including system properties such as status.

What happens at runtime

For each work item that reaches the step:

Condition result	Effect
No condition set	The tool stays available whenever it is enabled for the step
Condition matches the work item	The tool is available to the AI agent
Condition does not match	The tool is treated as off for that work item — the agent does not see it

The step itself still runs. Only that tool is hidden for non-matching work items.

How Availability relates to other tool settings

Availability is one of several per-tool controls on a workflow step. They do different jobs:

Setting	What it does
Tool enable toggle	Turns the tool on or off for the step for every work item
Availability	Further limits an enabled tool to work items that match a condition
Approval	Requires a person to approve before the tool runs
Constraints	Natural-language rules checked against the tool call before it runs

A few practical details:

The tool must already be enabled for the thunk and for the step. Availability only further restricts an enabled tool.
Turning a tool off on the step clears its Availability condition. Turn the tool back on and re-add the condition if you still need it.
Approval required at the thunk level cannot be removed by the step. Availability does not change approval rules.

Availability vs skipping the whole step

Some steps also have Workflow Options run conditions. That setting is different from tool Availability:

Control	Effect	Properties you can use
Workflow Options → Only run this step if…	Skips the entire step when the work item does not match	Any work-item property
Availability	Keeps the step running, but hides one tool when the work item does not match	Any property on the work item

Use a run condition when the step should not run at all. Use tool Availability when the step should still run, but a specific capability should only appear for some work items. (Proceed conditions under Workflow Options are separate — they hold automatic advance to the next step, they do not skip the step.) See Control when a step runs and proceeds.

Tips

Prefer clear property values in your workflow state (status, country, priority) so conditions stay easy to read.
Pair Availability with Constraints when you want both a hard work-item filter and guidance on how the tool should be used when it is available.
After you change Availability, run a few representative work items and confirm the agent only receives the tools you expect on each kind of item.