diff --git a/pkg/agent/instance_test.go b/pkg/agent/instance_test.go
index 76e1b7f2d..dff2c0f2f 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/instance_test.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/instance_test.go
@@ -842,3 +842,60 @@ mcpServers: [github]
 		t.Fatal("expected malformed frontmatter to fail closed for MCP servers")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestNewAgentInstance_ExplicitEmptyToolsFieldBlocksAllTools(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name         string
+		toolsSnippet string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:         "empty list",
+			toolsSnippet: "tools: []",
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "blank field",
+			toolsSnippet: "tools:",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			workspace := setupWorkspace(t, map[string]string{
+				"AGENT.md": `---
+` + tt.toolsSnippet + `
+---
+# Agent
+`,
+			})
+			defer cleanupWorkspace(t, workspace)
+
+			cfg := &config.Config{
+				Agents: config.AgentsConfig{
+					Defaults: config.AgentDefaults{
+						Workspace: workspace,
+						ModelName: "default-model",
+					},
+				},
+				Tools: config.ToolsConfig{
+					ReadFile: config.ReadFileToolConfig{Enabled: true},
+					ListDir:  config.ToolConfig{Enabled: true},
+				},
+			}
+
+			agent := NewAgentInstance(&config.AgentConfig{
+				ID:        "research",
+				Workspace: workspace,
+			}, &cfg.Agents.Defaults, cfg, &mockProvider{})
+
+			if got := agent.Tools.List(); len(got) != 0 {
+				t.Fatalf("agent tools = %v, want no registered tools", got)
+			}
+			if _, ok := agent.Tools.Get("read_file"); ok {
+				t.Fatal("expected read_file to be blocked by explicit empty tools field")
+			}
+			if _, ok := agent.Tools.Get("list_dir"); ok {
+				t.Fatal("expected list_dir to be blocked by explicit empty tools field")
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/agent/tool_allowlist.go b/pkg/agent/tool_allowlist.go
index ad7394c7d..962f7ec05 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/tool_allowlist.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/tool_allowlist.go
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func resolveAgentToolAllowlist(definition AgentContextDefinition) []string {
 	if frontmatterParseFailed(definition) {
 		return []string{}
 	}
-	if definition.Agent == nil || definition.Agent.Frontmatter.Tools == nil {
+	if definition.Agent == nil || !frontmatterDeclaresField(definition, "tools") {
 		return nil
 	}
 
@@ -157,6 +157,10 @@ func resolveAgentToolAllowlist(definition AgentContextDefinition) []string {
 		allowlist[trimmed] = struct{}{}
 	}
 
+	if len(allowlist) == 0 {
+		return []string{}
+	}
+
 	return sortedKeys(allowlist)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/agent/tool_allowlist_test.go b/pkg/agent/tool_allowlist_test.go
index 4851dcaa8..5ed35d4c6 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/tool_allowlist_test.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/tool_allowlist_test.go
@@ -68,6 +68,68 @@ tools: [serial, reaction, send_tts, load_image, delegate, made_up]
 	}
 }
 
+func TestResolveAgentToolAllowlistDistinguishesMissingAndEmptyToolsField(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name      string
+		agentMD   string
+		wantNil   bool
+		wantEmpty bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "missing tools field allows all tools",
+			agentMD: `---
+name: pico
+---
+# Agent
+`,
+			wantNil: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "explicit empty tools list blocks all tools",
+			agentMD: `---
+tools: []
+---
+# Agent
+`,
+			wantEmpty: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "blank tools field blocks all tools",
+			agentMD: `---
+tools:
+---
+# Agent
+`,
+			wantEmpty: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			workspace := setupWorkspace(t, map[string]string{
+				"AGENT.md": tt.agentMD,
+			})
+			defer cleanupWorkspace(t, workspace)
+
+			allowlist := resolveAgentToolAllowlist(loadAgentDefinition(workspace))
+
+			if tt.wantNil {
+				if allowlist != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("resolveAgentToolAllowlist() = %v, want nil", allowlist)
+				}
+				return
+			}
+
+			if allowlist == nil {
+				t.Fatal("resolveAgentToolAllowlist() = nil, want explicit empty allowlist")
+			}
+			if len(allowlist) != 0 {
+				t.Fatalf("resolveAgentToolAllowlist() = %v, want empty allowlist", allowlist)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestUnknownAgentMCPServerNames(t *testing.T) {
 	workspace := setupWorkspace(t, map[string]string{
 		"AGENT.md": `---