Dynamically Update Agent Tools Mid-Conversation Using Beta Headers
Swap AI tools mid-chat without losing your conversation history or cache.
Use the mid-conversation tool change beta to dynamically update your AI's capabilities during a session while maintaining prompt cache efficiency.
The Scenario
You are building an AI agent that first needs to search the web, then subsequently needs to write to a database without losing the chat history.
Before & after
Developers had to restart entire conversation sessions to change the available toolset, losing progress and spending 10–15 minutes re-establishing context.
Use the 'mid-conversation-tool-changes-2026-07-01' beta header to swap or add tools in seconds while keeping your cached prompt active.
The Prompt
// In your API request header, include:
"anthropic-beta": "mid-conversation-tool-changes-2026-07-01"
// Between turns, update your 'tools' array:
{"tools": [new_tool_definition_here]}The new beta feature allows you to add or remove tools between turns of a conversation. This is highly efficient for agentic workflows where different stages of a task require different specialized tools.
Source
Claude Platform release notes - Claude Platform Docs"Add or remove tools between turns of a conversation while preserving the prompt cache."