2026-10-13-eve-eve-deleted-scaffolding-the-todo-tool-default-ask-question-background-tasks-and-per-connec

eve deleted scaffolding: the todo tool, default ask_question, background tasks, and per-connection tool listings. 0.65.0 removed the default todo tool and made ask_question an opt-in workflow tool; the PR says “Codex and opencode v2 have both removed or opted out of equivalent default tools.” 0.69.0 removed background tasks, and with them the taskDeliveryPolicy setting that had shipped nine days earlier, in favor of task() and serve() tools that return a receipt and a resumable task id. 0.76.0 put deferred tools, subagents, connection tools and skills behind three fixed catalog tools (eve__search, eve__tool, eve__skill) and deleted load_skill, connection_search and connection_execute with no compatibility layer; the PR reports about 85% fewer tool tokens per request on a 70-tool catalog as a vendor example, not an independent measurement. From 0.78.0, catalog tools appear only when the session first reaches an eligible entry, then stay present, so the set can grow at that point. 0.71.0 lets a slow bash command keep running as a sandbox job after 30 seconds instead of blocking the turn.

Channel: tagged-release. Half: capability. Date: 2026-09-23 (eve@0.65.0) to 2026-10-09 (eve@0.76.0).

Operator consequence: Remove a hand-built planning shim only after checking whether it adds needed oversight; the removal itself does not measure a general-model improvement. Add ask_question back with eve add tool/ask_question only if you want it. Agents with large connection catalogs can stop hand-pruning tool lists and mark entries deferred: true. Update anything that matches tool names: approval policies, hooks and evals that name load_skill, connection_execute, task_wait, task_cancel or final_output (now eve__*), and expect saved “always approve” decisions for connection tools to reset at 0.76.0. Code reading BashToolOutput.exitCode must check status first. Lens: the harness is shedding planning scaffolding as models improve, the same move Codex made when rust-v0.152.0 turned update_plan off by default (recorded in the 2026-09-21 Codex harvest).

Receipt

• https://github.com/vercel/eve/commit/60998d606bfceb4ab367de869d73769065eadd04
• https://github.com/vercel/eve/commit/8c55ea7c132f9a23829214bda48069d710da77fa
• https://github.com/vercel/eve/commit/db71190b2c3abce9f375b06fc890d90b035d1fe7
• https://github.com/vercel/eve/pull/3648
• https://github.com/vercel/eve/pull/4400
• https://github.com/vercel/eve/releases/tag/eve%400.69.0
• https://github.com/vercel/eve/releases/tag/eve%400.76.0