feat: Implement parallel tool calling functionality #6524

Patrick-Erichsen · 2025-07-08T22:43:30Z

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parallel-tool-calling.mp4

Overview

AI summary of the PR below.

This PR implements parallel tool calling functionality allowing multiple tools to be called and processed simultaneously with proper permission
handling.

Key Changes:

🔧 Core Infrastructure:

State Management: Replaced single toolCallState with toolCallStates array in Redux to track
multiple tool calls
Utilities: Enhanced selectors (findCurrentToolCalls, findCurrentToolCallsByStatus) to handle
parallel processing
Message Processing: Updated tool call streaming logic to process multiple tool calls with
proper index-based handling

🎯 Tool Processing:

Parallel Execution: Tools with "automatic" permissions now execute concurrently instead of
serially
Permission System: Individual tool calls can be approved/rejected independently
State Transitions: Fixed tool call status flow from "generating" → "generated" → "calling" →
"done"

🖥️ User Experience:

Individual Prompts: Changed from generic "Continue wants to use tools" to specific "Continue
wants to use [tool name]"
Parallel UI: Multiple pending tool calls now display simultaneously with individual
approve/reject buttons
Toolbar Updates: Enhanced to show individual tool names and proper counts

⚠️ Limitations:

Blocked Tools: editFile and searchAndReplaceInFile cannot be called in parallel (marked with
NO_PARALLEL_TOOL_CALLING_INSRUCTION)
Backward Compatibility: Maintains support for existing single tool call workflows

🧪 Testing:

Added comprehensive test suite (7 tests) covering single/multiple tool calls, permissions, and
UI states
Enhanced MockIdeMessenger for better tool call simulation

Impact:

Before: Sequential tool execution even when permissions allowed parallel processing
After: Concurrent tool execution with individual permission prompts, significantly improving
workflow efficiency

The implementation maintains backward compatibility while enabling substantial performance
improvements for multi-tool workflows.

- Add toolCallStates array to ChatHistoryItem interface for multiple tool calls - Update findToolCall and findCurrentToolCall utilities to support both single and multiple tool calls - Add findCurrentToolCalls function to get all current tool calls - Create comprehensive test suite for parallel tool calls - Maintain backward compatibility with existing single tool call logic 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

- Update test to use proper ChatMessage format with toolCalls array - Fix TypeScript errors by using correct message part types - Test now properly validates parallel tool calls behavior - First test passes, showing system can handle multiple tool calls without crashing - Other tests fail as expected since parallel tool calls aren't implemented yet 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

- Remove findCurrentToolCall and replace with parallel-aware alternatives - Add hasCurrentToolCalls() for boolean checks - Add findCurrentToolCallsByStatus() for status-specific filtering - Add new selectors: selectCurrentToolCalls, selectHasCurrentToolCalls, selectCurrentToolCallsByStatus - Keep selectCurrentToolCall as legacy selector (returns first tool call) - Update all imports to use proper selectors - Comprehensive unit tests with 21 passing tests - Maintain backward compatibility while enabling parallel tool calls Key Changes: - Deprecated single tool call logic in favor of array-based approach - All utility functions now handle both single and multiple tool call scenarios - TypeScript compilation clean, all tests passing 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

- Renamed function from callCurrentTool to callToolById to better reflect its purpose - Updated function signature to accept toolCallId parameter for parallel tool execution - Renamed file from callCurrentTool.ts to callToolById.ts - Updated all import paths and call sites across codebase - Verified TypeScript compilation passes - All utility function tests still pass (21/21) 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

- Changed from selectCurrentToolCall to selectCurrentToolCalls selector - Added loop to iterate over all tool calls in a response - Each tool call is marked as "generated" with setToolGenerated - Auto-execute tools with "allowedWithoutPermission" policy - Tools with "allowedWithPermission" require manual approval - Maintains backward compatibility with single tool calls - TypeScript compilation passes, core functionality verified 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

- Changed from selectCurrentToolCall to selectCurrentToolCallsByStatus - Show individual UI for each tool call requiring approval - Display dynamic text: "1 pending tool call" vs "X pending tool calls" - Individual approve/reject buttons for each tool call - Added test IDs with toolCallId for specific tool testing - Used only Tailwind classes, no styled components - Returns null when no pending tool calls exist 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

- Modified streamUpdate to process all tool calls instead of just [0] - Store multiple tool calls in toolCallStates array - Maintain backward compatibility with single toolCallState - Update streaming logic to handle multiple tool call deltas - Enhanced abort logic to cancel all pending tool calls - Removed "Intentionally only supporting one tool call" limitation - TypeScript compilation passes, all utility tests pass 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

- Modified constructMessages to find correct tool call state for each tool call ID - Updated tool message generation to use toolCallStates array when available - Falls back to legacy toolCallState for backward compatibility - Each tool call now gets proper output/content from its corresponding state - Removed TODO comment about parallel tool call limitation - TypeScript compilation passes, all utility tests pass 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

…bility - Fix findCurrentToolCalls to prioritize toolCallStates array over single toolCallState - Remove all backward compatibility code for single toolCallState field - Update clearDanglingMessages to only use toolCallStates array - Clean up utility function tests to only test new behavior - Add comprehensive test coverage for parallel tool calls functionality - Suppress ProseMirror DOM errors in test environment - Fix TypeScript errors in test files 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

- Reverted ID-based streaming logic back to index-based approach - Reverted permission processing changes - Preserved existing parallel tool calls infrastructure - Tests show tool calls are stored but not transitioning to "generated" status - Ready to start fresh on the parallel tool calling issue 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

- This allows parallel tool calls to be processed without ID conflicts - Tool calls are now stored correctly but still need state transition fix 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

- Fixed import for selectCurrentToolCalls in streamNormalInput - Tool calls now properly transition from 'generating' to 'generated' status - All parallel tool calling tests are now passing - Enables true parallel tool execution with proper permission handling 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

netlify · 2025-07-08T22:43:35Z

❌ Deploy Preview for continuedev failed. Why did it fail? →

Name	Link
🔨 Latest commit	`e9a3d63`
🔍 Latest deploy log	https://app.netlify.com/projects/continuedev/deploys/6875791b07db120008e76e1d

## Key Issues Fixed ### 1. Tool Output Matching Error - **Problem**: `compileChatMessages` only processed the last tool message, causing "no tool call found to match tool output" errors - **Solution**: Modified to collect and process all consecutive tool messages from the end - **Files**: `core/llm/countTokens.ts` - Enhanced tool message collection and validation logic ### 2. Claude API Missing tool_result Blocks - **Problem**: `flattenMessages` was merging adjacent tool messages, losing individual `toolCallId` properties - **Solution**: Prevented merging of tool messages to preserve unique `toolCallId` for each `tool_result` block - **Files**: `core/llm/messages.ts` - Added condition to prevent tool message merging ### 3. Token Counting for Parallel Tool Calls - **Problem**: Token counting only considered the last tool message - **Solution**: Added logic to count tokens for all tool messages in parallel scenarios - **Files**: `core/llm/countTokens.ts` - Enhanced token counting for multiple tool messages ## Test Coverage - Added comprehensive tests for parallel tool call scenarios - Tests verify correct message structure for Claude API format - All existing functionality preserved with backward compatibility 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

RomneyDa

@Patrick-Erichsen I think this is on track

Thoughts:
change from toolCallState to toolCallStates in history is not backwards compatible in that old toolCallState will not load, but that seems okay, better than trying to do e.g. toolCallState?: ToolCallState | ToolCallState[] and dealing with the mess

compile chat messages is on the right track, I think could be simplified a bit, maybe rename toolSequence to assistantSequence since might have no tool messages. But seems like it will work.

Seems like some duplicate logic in gui vitest setup with adding double ways to bury specific error messages and also adding setup code to solve them?

Gui seems nice.

Only actual missing code I think I see would be the queueing of client tools with apply states. Some kind of tool queue manager that detects closed apply states and calls the next tool or something

gui/src/components/StyledMarkdownPreview/index.tsx

gui/src/pages/gui/ToolCallsGroup.tsx

gui/src/redux/selectors/selectLastToolCall.ts

gui/src/redux/thunks/streamNormalInput.ts

gui/src/redux/thunks/streamResponseAfterToolCall.ts

- Fixed utility functions to find tool calls in correct assistant message instead of last history item - Enhanced PendingToolCallToolbar to handle individual tool call actions properly - Added comprehensive tests for multiple tool call scenarios - Consolidated tool call selectors into single file with cleaner naming - Added mock support for tools/call endpoint to enable proper testing - Fixed streamResponseAfterToolCall to wait for all parallel tool calls before continuing This resolves the issue where accepting/rejecting one tool call would cause other pending tool calls to disappear from the UI. 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

Only process tool calls with "generating" status in handleToolCallExecution to prevent re-processing completed tool calls from previous messages when starting new assistant responses. 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>

core/index.d.ts

core/llm/messages.ts

core/tools/definitions/editFile.ts

chezsmithy · 2025-07-14T04:40:36Z

You might also want to have a look at this PR: #6604

Patrick-Erichsen · 2025-07-14T04:55:06Z

Thanks for the heads up here @chezsmithy ! I'll postpone merging this til we get #6604 merged.

Doesn't seem like things should conflict too much here, I'll just update the logic in the middleware to check for our new array of tool states instead of a singular state. Let me know your thoughts however!

chezsmithy · 2025-07-14T13:45:16Z

@Patrick-Erichsen totally agree. Should be really easy to adapt to the middleware.

RomneyDa

Code looks good to me

The thumbs up/down, generate rule etc. should not show during pending tool call. They also show between calls which jenks agent mode. I'm not sure this was broken on this PR or not but it's jenky in usage

Pending tool bar looks funny with ls tool:

"pause" feels off to me, what was the thought on changing?

Spacing between edits is very large

Patrick-Erichsen · 2025-07-14T21:34:41Z

Thanks for the additional review @RomneyDa ! Fixed the bug with <ResponseActions /> incorrectly rendering.

The gap on multiple codeblocks was due to some unnecessary padding, stripped that out as well. Also had accidentally removed our specific rendering for search/replace, added that back.

Pending tool bar looks funny with ls tool:

Agreed but I think we just need a better name for it. Maybe List files?

"pause" feels off to me, what was the thought on changing?

No hard logic haha, "Cancel" just felt a bit destructive to me vs "Pause" implies the ability to resume. I've seen "Stop" used in other tools, assuming with similar logic.

RomneyDa

Implements parallel tool calling functionality to reduce token usage significantly and increase parallel functionality.

Note to add multiple apply-tool capabilities in the future

Patrick-Erichsen and others added 12 commits July 8, 2025 10:59

github-project-automation bot added this to Issues and PRs Jul 8, 2025

github-project-automation bot moved this to Todo in Issues and PRs Jul 8, 2025

Patrick-Erichsen changed the title ~~Implement parallel tool calling functionality~~ feat: Implement parallel tool calling functionality Jul 8, 2025

Patrick-Erichsen and others added 7 commits July 8, 2025 21:18

fix: countTokens bug

cd30d42

remove unneeded fn

4da6a68

Update countTokens.ts

1d72ef6

countTokens testing

9c8ea71

Update countTokens.ts

6fd0135

nuke flattenMessages

d1de549

RomneyDa reviewed Jul 10, 2025

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Patrick-Erichsen and others added 6 commits July 10, 2025 11:25

UI polish

77a1482

improve tool group ui

e100d9f

merge main

7da112b

Update launch.json

6d1db0a

Patrick-Erichsen commented Jul 14, 2025

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core/index.d.ts Show resolved Hide resolved

Patrick-Erichsen commented Jul 14, 2025

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core/llm/messages.ts Show resolved Hide resolved

Patrick-Erichsen commented Jul 14, 2025

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core/tools/definitions/editFile.ts Show resolved Hide resolved

Patrick-Erichsen added 2 commits July 13, 2025 22:06

Update GUI.selectors.ts

7190dce

fix failing tests

7e90887

dosubot bot added size:XL This PR changes 500-999 lines, ignoring generated files. and removed size:XXL This PR changes 1000+ lines, ignoring generated files. labels Jul 14, 2025

Patrick-Erichsen added 4 commits July 13, 2025 22:51

Update GUI.selectors.ts

44166d6

Update GUI.test.ts

1654ba5

Update StepContainer.tsx

5d05636

fix test errors and linting

669769b

Merge branch 'main' into pe/parallel-tool-calling

44719e0

RomneyDa reviewed Jul 14, 2025

View reviewed changes

Update StepContainer.tsx

3a6f928

Patrick-Erichsen added 6 commits July 14, 2025 14:35

address dallin's feedback

b146d84

Update GUI.test.ts

da93021

Update GUI.test.ts

e9a3d63

fix response actions

1d38426

fix tests

3aacc1c

Update StepContainer.tsx

a082de9

RomneyDa self-requested a review July 15, 2025 05:07

RomneyDa approved these changes Jul 15, 2025

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Patrick-Erichsen merged commit 3828e1e into main Jul 15, 2025
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Patrick-Erichsen deleted the pe/parallel-tool-calling branch July 15, 2025 15:25

github-project-automation bot moved this from In Progress to Done in Issues and PRs Jul 15, 2025

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feat: Implement parallel tool calling functionality #6524

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