Capability Reference

Complete reference for all capability strings recognized by Scarab-Runtime.

Format

<domain>.<action>[:<scope>]

Capability	Description
`fs.read`	Read any file on the host filesystem
`fs.read:<path>`	Read files matching the path glob (e.g. `fs.read:/home/agent/**`)
`fs.write`	Write to any file (requires `trusted` or higher)
`fs.write:<path>`	Write files matching the path glob (e.g. `fs.write:/home/agent/workspace/**`)
`fs.list`	List directory contents anywhere
`fs.list:<path>`	List directories matching the path glob
`fs.delete`	Delete any file
`fs.delete:<path>`	Delete files matching the path glob

Capability	Description
`tool.invoke:<tool-name>`	Invoke a specific tool
`tool.invoke:*`	Invoke any registered tool
`tool.invoke:mcp.<server>.*`	Invoke all tools from an attached MCP server
`tool.invoke:mcp.*`	Invoke any MCP tool

Tool name	Description
`echo`	Echo a message
`lm.complete`	LLM text completion
`lm.embed`	Text embedding
`fs.read`	Read a file
`fs.write`	Write a file
`fs.list`	List a directory
`fs.delete`	Delete a file
`web.fetch`	HTTP GET
`web.search`	DuckDuckGo web search
`sandbox.exec`	Execute code in a sandboxed namespace
`agent.info`	Get info about the current agent
`sensitive-op`	Invoke a sensitive operation (requires HITL or operator approval)

Capability	Description
`net.connect:<host>:<port>`	Connect to a specific host and port
`net.connect:*:<port>`	Connect to any host on the given port
`net.local`	Access local network (loopback + LAN)
`net.fetch:*`	Unrestricted HTTP fetch (requires `trusted`+)

Capability	Description
`secret.use:<name>`	Use the named secret in tool call arguments
`secret.use:<glob>`	Use secrets matching the glob (e.g. `secret.use:openai-*`)
`secret.use:*`	Use any secret (privileged agents only)

Capability	Description
`memory.read:<namespace>`	Read persistent memory keys in a namespace
`memory.read:*`	Read all memory keys
`memory.write:<namespace>`	Write persistent memory keys in a namespace
`memory.write:*`	Write all memory keys

Capability	Description
`bb.read`	Read any blackboard key
`bb.read:<pattern>`	Read keys matching a glob pattern
`bb.write`	Write to any blackboard key
`bb.write:<pattern>`	Write keys matching a glob pattern

Capability	Description
`bus.publish`	Publish messages to any topic
`bus.publish:<pattern>`	Publish to topics matching a glob pattern
`bus.subscribe`	Subscribe to any topic pattern
`bus.subscribe:<pattern>`	Subscribe to specific topic patterns

Capability	Description
`obs.append`	Append entries to the agent's own observation log
`obs.query`	Query own observation log (and supervised agents' logs)

Capability	Description
`agent.spawn`	Spawn child agents (by manifest or by name)
`agent.kill`	Terminate child agents
`agent.discover`	Discover other agents by capability pattern
`agent.grant`	Grant capabilities to child agents

Capability	Description
`sandbox.exec`	Execute code in a throwaway namespace sandbox

Capability	Description
`.`	All capabilities (reserved for `privileged` system agents)

Some capabilities require a minimum trust level regardless of what the manifest declares: