add flags for markdown rendering and live updating to Tool to avoid special-casing shell tool by name, and open door for other tools to specify their rendering/updating (#629)

packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useToolScheduler.ts

@@ -288,8 +288,7 @@ export function useToolScheduler(
           const callId = t.request.callId;
           setToolCalls(setStatus(t.request.callId, 'executing'));
 
-          const updateOutput =
-            t.tool.name === 'execute_bash_command'
+          const updateOutput = t.tool.canUpdateOutput
             ? (output: string) => {
                 setPendingHistoryItem(
                   (prevItem: HistoryItemWithoutId | null) => {
@@ -541,18 +540,6 @@ export function mapToDisplay(
 ): HistoryItemToolGroup {
   const tools = Array.isArray(tool) ? tool : [tool];
   const toolsDisplays = tools.map((t): IndividualToolCallDisplay => {
-    // Determine if markdown rendering should be skipped for this tool
-    let renderOutputAsMarkdown = true; // Default to true
-    if (t.status === 'error') {
-      // For errors, the tool object might not be available, so check t.request.name
-      if (t.request.name === 'execute_bash_command') {
-        renderOutputAsMarkdown = false;
-      }
-    } else if ('tool' in t && t.tool?.name === 'execute_bash_command') {
-      // For other statuses, check t.tool.name if tool exists
-      renderOutputAsMarkdown = false;
-    }
-
     switch (t.status) {
       case 'success':
         return {
@@ -562,7 +549,7 @@ export function mapToDisplay(
           resultDisplay: t.response.resultDisplay,
           status: mapStatus(t.status),
           confirmationDetails: undefined,
-          renderOutputAsMarkdown,
+          renderOutputAsMarkdown: t.tool.isOutputMarkdown,
         };
       case 'error':
         return {
@@ -572,7 +559,7 @@ export function mapToDisplay(
           resultDisplay: t.response.resultDisplay,
           status: mapStatus(t.status),
           confirmationDetails: undefined,
-          renderOutputAsMarkdown,
+          renderOutputAsMarkdown: false,
         };
       case 'cancelled':
         return {
@@ -582,7 +569,7 @@ export function mapToDisplay(
           resultDisplay: t.response.resultDisplay,
           status: mapStatus(t.status),
           confirmationDetails: undefined,
-          renderOutputAsMarkdown,
+          renderOutputAsMarkdown: t.tool.isOutputMarkdown,
         };
       case 'awaiting_approval':
         return {
@@ -592,7 +579,7 @@ export function mapToDisplay(
           resultDisplay: undefined,
           status: mapStatus(t.status),
           confirmationDetails: t.confirmationDetails,
-          renderOutputAsMarkdown,
+          renderOutputAsMarkdown: t.tool.isOutputMarkdown,
         };
       case 'executing':
         return {
@@ -602,7 +589,7 @@ export function mapToDisplay(
           resultDisplay: t.liveOutput ?? undefined,
           status: mapStatus(t.status),
           confirmationDetails: undefined,
-          renderOutputAsMarkdown,
+          renderOutputAsMarkdown: t.tool.isOutputMarkdown,
         };
       case 'validating': // Add this case
         return {
@@ -612,7 +599,7 @@ export function mapToDisplay(
           resultDisplay: undefined,
           status: mapStatus(t.status),
           confirmationDetails: undefined,
-          renderOutputAsMarkdown,
+          renderOutputAsMarkdown: t.tool.isOutputMarkdown,
         };
       case 'scheduled':
         return {
@@ -622,7 +609,7 @@ export function mapToDisplay(
           resultDisplay: undefined,
           status: mapStatus(t.status),
           confirmationDetails: undefined,
-          renderOutputAsMarkdown,
+          renderOutputAsMarkdown: t.tool.isOutputMarkdown,
         };
       default: {
         // ensures every case is checked for above

packages/server/src/tools/shell.ts

@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ export class ShellTool extends BaseTool<ShellToolParams, ToolResult> {
       toolDisplayName,
       toolDescription,
       toolParameterSchema,
+      false, // output is not markdown
+      true, // output can be updated
     );
   }
 

packages/server/src/tools/tools.ts

@@ -33,6 +33,16 @@ export interface Tool<
    */
   schema: FunctionDeclaration;
 
+  /**
+   * Whether the tool's output should be rendered as markdown
+   */
+  isOutputMarkdown: boolean;
+
+  /**
+   * Whether the tool supports live (streaming) output
+   */
+  canUpdateOutput: boolean;
+
   /**
    * Validates the parameters for the tool
    * Should be called from both `shouldConfirmExecute` and `execute`
@@ -85,6 +95,8 @@ export abstract class BaseTool<
    * @param name Internal name of the tool (used for API calls)
    * @param displayName User-friendly display name of the tool
    * @param description Description of what the tool does
+   * @param isOutputMarkdown Whether the tool's output should be rendered as markdown
+   * @param canUpdateOutput Whether the tool supports live (streaming) output
    * @param parameterSchema JSON Schema defining the parameters
    */
   constructor(
@@ -92,6 +104,8 @@ export abstract class BaseTool<
     readonly displayName: string,
     readonly description: string,
     readonly parameterSchema: Record<string, unknown>,
+    readonly isOutputMarkdown: boolean = true,
+    readonly canUpdateOutput: boolean = false,
   ) {}
 
   /**