Can My Agent Uselookup · compare · cite

Aug 28, 2026 · Catalog foundation is up

Product feature · runtime

Subagent MCP accessCommon product term

Allow a child agent to use MCP tools or declare its own MCP servers.

Terminology basis: Common product term. Anthropic — Create custom subagents

Subagent MCP access: 2 supported, 0 partial, 0 unsupported, 29 unreviewed across 31 cataloged products.

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Explore this familyMore in Subagents9 capabilities

Current evidence by product

Can my agent use Subagent MCP access?

Read across for the answer. 2 of 31 current product columns have reviewed evidence; unreviewed does not mean unsupported.

Known issues (0)Report an issue
  • Supported2
  • Partial0
  • Unsupported0
  • Unknown29
  • Not applicable0

Web

9 products

Desktop

13 products

CLI

9 products

Unknown means no public evidence has been reviewed for that product and capability. It does not mean unsupported.

How statuses are assigned

Definition and scope

What this capability means

Allow a child agent to use MCP tools or declare its own MCP servers.

Support is recorded only when exact, dated evidence covers this behavior.

Traceable compatibility

Assertion ledger

Documentation evidence only. No runtime conformance test is implied.

Claude CLIcli · current
Supported
Target
current Claude Code subagent documentation · dated-documentation
Environment
local-default
Observed
2026-08-28
  • runtimeplugin-provided subagents ignore the `mcpServers` frontmatter field for security; project, user, managed, and CLI-defined subagents can use it
Evidence
  1. 1. Evidence checked 2026-08-28: Claude Code subagents inherit MCP tools by default unless restricted and can use `mcpServers` to reference parent-session servers or declare inline servers scoped to the child.
  2. 2. Evidence checked 2026-08-28: VS Code custom agents can include individual MCP tools or complete `<server>/*` tool groups, and custom tool settings override defaults when the agent runs as a child.