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Workbench / Issues / Tool Rules and Prompt Rules Conflict

Issue

Tool Rules and Prompt Rules Conflict

Tool, connector, function, or MCP rules conflict with prompt instructions, causing the AI or agent to face incompatible requirements.

What This Looks Like

The prompt tells the AI to do one thing, while the tool, connector, function, or MCP interface requires something incompatible. The agent may be instructed to format, omit, transform, call, or avoid something that the tool contract or tool rule requires differently.

Why It Matters

Tool use depends on both language instructions and interface rules. When they conflict, the AI may follow the prompt and fail the tool, follow the tool and appear to ignore the user, or produce an unstable compromise. Users may misread the failure as model disobedience when the rule set is incompatible.

Structural Signal

Two authority sources govern the same action or output with incompatible requirements. The issue is not only a bad tool call; it is a conflict between prompt-level rules and tool-level rules.

Common Triggers

  • The prompt asks for a shape the tool schema does not accept
  • Tool-required fields contradict prompt exclusions
  • The tool supports fewer modes than the prompt assumes
  • User instructions override values the tool requires
  • MCP tool descriptions and prompt examples describe different contracts
  • The agent is not given a precedence rule for prompt versus tool constraints

When to Use This Issue

Use this Issue when tool, connector, function, or MCP rules conflict with prompt instructions and the AI cannot satisfy both cleanly.

When Not to Use This Issue

Do not use this Issue when the tool call is merely malformed. Do not use it when the tool is unavailable or missing required inputs. This Issue applies when the declared rules themselves conflict.

Category

Rules & Policies

Primary Pattern

PAT-0100 — Authority Collision

Declared Patterns

PAT-0100

Authority Collision

A structural condition where multiple authorities claim governance over the same region without a declared precedence or resolution rule.

PAT-0150

Interface Mismatch

A structural condition where observed interface behavior, shape, or exchange differs from the declared interface contract.

PAT-0230

Authority Shadowing

A structural condition where a declared authority is functionally overridden by another authority without an explicit override rule.

Derived Primary Lenses

LEN-0110

Authority Overlay Lens

Maps declared authority hierarchies onto observed structure to detect absence, override, or conflict.

LEN-0150

Conflict Lens

Detects mutually incompatible constraints, claims, states, or declarations that cannot be simultaneously satisfied.

LEN-0200

Interface Contract Lens

Compares declared interface structure to observed runtime structure to detect contract deviations.

Derived Secondary Lenses

LEN-0210

Invariant Lens

Verifies that declared invariants are structurally enforceable and not contradicted by observed structure.

LEN-0230

Normalization Lens

Transforms structurally equivalent variants into a canonical form to prevent false divergence.

LEN-0270

Reconciliation Lens

Evaluates whether structural changes align with declared authority updates, version changes, or reconciliation rules.

Related AI-Adjacent Issues

ADJ-0015

Low-Level Configuration Overrides Workflow Policy

A low-level configuration, product setting, connector rule, runtime option, or environment flag overrides the workflow policy the user expects to govern the task.

Search Intents

  • tool rules and prompt rules conflict
  • MCP tool rules conflict with prompt
  • tool schema conflicts with instruction
  • AI prompt conflicts with tool requirement
  • function rules contradict prompt
  • agent tool instructions conflict