Research try to use not existing tool "create" for file save

[kos322]

Describe the bug

I use Copilot CLI. I made a research request. Results were printed in the console. I'm satisfied with the report, but the report could not be saved to the local disk. It tries to use a nonexistent tool "create": "Blocked item: I couldn’t save the report to
C:\Users\KanstantsinSudzilous.copilot\session-state\5bf2e4e3-f93b-4f6e-a4b3-e35b52a8ae0f\research\excel-excel-template-pivot-table-data-3-2025-xlsx.md because the
create tool is not available in this session." Then in terminal I've made prompt "save this report to @docs\design\EXPORT_DEEP_RESEARCH.md" but it also failed, it was trying to use "create" tool that does not exist. Resolution was "save last research results report to @docs\design\EXPORT_DEEP_RESEARCH.md using tool apply_patch"

Affected version

GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.47

Steps to reproduce the behavior

1. Make /research
2. Check the output it try to use a tool "create" to save report results

Expected behavior

Expected to use apply_patch for file creation

Additional context

No response

[aktsmm]

Still reproducible on v1.0.55-0 on Windows.

I hit a very similar failure pattern and did some extra triage after the fact.

What happened

• I ran /research and the research itself completed.
• The session then said it could not save the report because the create tool was not available.
• It kept steering toward "enable create" / "this session can't write" explanations.

What I verified

I inspected the affected session-state afterward and looked at events.jsonl.

The research session had a reduced toolset and only actually used:

• view
• grep
• web_fetch
• task
• github-mcp-server-get_file_contents
• github-mcp-server-search_code
• report_intent
• task_complete

Notably, it did not have powershell, shell, Edit, or apply_patch available in that session.

So this looks broader than just "use apply_patch instead of create": the /research session itself can be spawned with a read-only-ish toolset, but the assistant still reasons as if a normal write-capable session might be available if only the right tool name existed.

Why this matters

The confusing part is not only the failed save, but the misleading recovery path:

• it tells the user to enable / expose create
• but in reality the whole /research session appears to lack any local write tool at all
• meanwhile a separate normal session can write the missing report file afterward

That makes it look like a user-side permission/config mistake, when the real issue seems to be the session/tool profile chosen for /research.

Suggested fix

Either:

1. ensure /research sessions always get a valid local write path/tool for report output, or
2. make /research explicitly treat report persistence as a post-processing/export step handled outside the read-only research agent, or
3. at minimum, report the real limitation clearly ("this research session has no local write tool") instead of sending users down the create rabbit hole.

[copilot-cli-bot]

This appears to be resolved as of GitHub Copilot CLI v1.0.86. Please update to that release or a newer stable version. We're closing this as completed. If it still happens, please comment with your version and reproduction steps.