diff --git a/app/components/ChatInput.vue b/app/components/ChatInput.vue
index 6d466b9..6bd39e9 100644
--- a/app/components/ChatInput.vue
+++ b/app/components/ChatInput.vue
@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@ const searchConfig = ref({
     rerank: props.agent?.config?.search?.rerank ?? false,
 });
 
+const toolsConfig = ref({
+    python: props.agent?.config?.tools?.python ?? false,
+});
+
 watch(() => props.agent?.config?.search, (val) => {
     searchConfig.value = {
         enabled: val?.enabled ?? false,
@@ -58,21 +62,45 @@ watch(() => props.agent?.config?.search, (val) => {
     };
 }, { deep: true });
 
-const saveSearchConfig = async () => {
+watch(() => props.agent?.config?.tools, (val) => {
+    toolsConfig.value = {
+        python: val?.python ?? false,
+    };
+}, { deep: true });
+
+const saveAgentConfig = async (partial: {
+    search?: typeof searchConfig.value;
+    tools?: typeof toolsConfig.value;
+}) => {
     if (!props.agent) return;
     const currentConfig = props.agent.config ?? {};
     const newConfig = {
         ...currentConfig,
-        search: {
-            enabled: searchConfig.value.enabled,
-            maxResults: searchConfig.value.maxResults,
-            rerank: searchConfig.value.rerank,
-        },
+        ...(partial.search !== undefined ? {
+            search: {
+                enabled: partial.search.enabled,
+                maxResults: partial.search.maxResults,
+                rerank: partial.search.rerank,
+            },
+        } : {}),
+        ...(partial.tools !== undefined ? {
+            tools: {
+                python: partial.tools.python,
+            },
+        } : {}),
     };
     patchAgentLocally(props.agent.id, { config: newConfig });
     updateAgent(props.agent.id, { config: newConfig });
 };
 
+const saveSearchConfig = async () => {
+    await saveAgentConfig({ search: searchConfig.value });
+};
+
+const saveToolsConfig = async () => {
+    await saveAgentConfig({ tools: toolsConfig.value });
+};
+
 const isUploading = computed(() => files.value.some((f) => f.status === 'uploading'));
 const hasFailedUploads = computed(() => files.value.some((f) => f.status === 'error'));
 
@@ -386,6 +414,8 @@ onUnmounted(() => {
                         @update:enabled="(v: boolean) => { searchConfig.enabled = v; saveSearchConfig() }"
                         @update:max-results="(v: number) => { searchConfig.maxResults = v; saveSearchConfig() }"
                         @update:rerank="(v: boolean) => { searchConfig.rerank = v; saveSearchConfig() }" />
+                    <ToolSelector v-if="selectedModel?.capabilities.includes('tools')" :python="toolsConfig.python"
+                        @update:python="(v: boolean) => { toolsConfig.python = v; saveToolsConfig() }" />
                     <FileSelector ref="fileSelectorRef" :selected-model="selectedModel" v-model="files" />
                 </div>
                 <div v-if="allowManualRole" class="flex items-center">
diff --git a/app/components/SearchSelector.vue b/app/components/SearchSelector.vue
index f91ecd6..630d819 100644
--- a/app/components/SearchSelector.vue
+++ b/app/components/SearchSelector.vue
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ const openSettings = () => {
                             </span>
                             <span class="text-xs leading-snug"
                                 :class="enabled ? 'text-[var(--text-secondary)]' : 'text-[var(--text-dim)]'">
-                                Search the web automatically when needed
+                                Search the web and fetch URLs when needed
                             </span>
                         </div>
                     </button>
diff --git a/app/components/ToolSelector.vue b/app/components/ToolSelector.vue
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0930b47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/components/ToolSelector.vue
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+<script setup lang="ts">
+const props = defineProps<{
+    python: boolean;
+}>();
+
+const emit = defineEmits<{
+    'update:python': [value: boolean];
+}>();
+
+const anyEnabled = computed(() => props.python);
+</script>
+
+<template>
+    <Dropdown dropdownClass="text-sm" placement="top">
+        <template #default="{ toggle, setRef }">
+            <button :ref="setRef" @click="toggle"
+                class="flex items-center justify-center h-8.5 w-8.5 @hover:bg-[var(--color-hover)] rounded-lg transition-colors duration-200 ease-[cubic-bezier(0.5,_1,_0.89,_1)]">
+                <span class="pointer-events-none i-mynaui-archive text-5 transition-colors duration-200"
+                    :class="anyEnabled ? 'text-[var(--color-accent)]' : 'text-[var(--text-secondary)]'"></span>
+            </button>
+        </template>
+
+        <template #dropdown>
+            <div class="flex flex-col gap-1 p-1 min-w-48">
+                <label
+                    class="flex items-start gap-3 rounded-xl px-3 py-2.5 text-left cursor-pointer transition-colors duration-150 @hover:bg-[var(--color-hover)]"
+                    :class="python ? 'bg-[var(--color-active)]' : ''">
+                    <input type="checkbox" :checked="python"
+                        @change="emit('update:python', ($event.target as HTMLInputElement).checked)"
+                        class="mt-0.5 w-4 h-4 rounded border-[var(--color-border)] bg-transparent text-[var(--color-accent)] focus:ring-[var(--color-accent)] focus:ring-offset-0 cursor-pointer shrink-0" />
+                    <div class="flex flex-col gap-0.5">
+                        <span class="text-sm font-medium"
+                            :class="python ? 'text-[var(--text-primary)]' : 'text-[var(--text-secondary)]'">
+                            Python
+                        </span>
+                        <span class="text-xs leading-snug"
+                            :class="python ? 'text-[var(--text-secondary)]' : 'text-[var(--text-dim)]'">
+                            Run code in a sandbox
+                        </span>
+                    </div>
+                </label>
+            </div>
+        </template>
+    </Dropdown>
+</template>
diff --git a/drizzle/schema.ts b/drizzle/schema.ts
index 33edae8..5e787f3 100644
--- a/drizzle/schema.ts
+++ b/drizzle/schema.ts
@@ -112,7 +112,10 @@ export const agents = pgTable('agents', {
             enabled: boolean;
             rerank: boolean;
             maxResults: number;
-        }
+        };
+        tools?: {
+            python?: boolean;
+        };
     }>().default({}),
     createdAt: timestamptz('created_at').notNull().defaultNow(),
 }, (table) => [
diff --git a/server/api/agent/[id]/index.patch.ts b/server/api/agent/[id]/index.patch.ts
index 3d9aef4..cae71e6 100644
--- a/server/api/agent/[id]/index.patch.ts
+++ b/server/api/agent/[id]/index.patch.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ export default defineEventHandler(async (event) => {
                         rerank: z.boolean(),
                         maxResults: z.number().min(1).max(50),
                     }).optional(),
+                    tools: z.object({
+                        python: z.boolean().optional(),
+                    }).optional(),
                 }).optional(),
             })
             .safeParse(body),
diff --git a/server/api/topic/[topicId]/chat/index.post.ts b/server/api/topic/[topicId]/chat/index.post.ts
index c26a042..49dd853 100644
--- a/server/api/topic/[topicId]/chat/index.post.ts
+++ b/server/api/topic/[topicId]/chat/index.post.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import { db } from "~~/server/lib/db";
 import * as z from 'zod';
 import { type MessageEntity } from '~/composables/useChat';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
-import { glob } from 'glob';
 import { isLoopFinished, type ModelMessage, rerank, type RerankingModel, streamText, type StreamTextTransform, type Tool, tool } from "ai";
 import { generations, messageParts, messages, toolCalls, ToolCallType } from "~~/drizzle/schema";
 import { topicEvents } from "~~/server/utils/events";
@@ -332,6 +331,9 @@ export default defineEventHandler(async (event) => {
             agentmessage as MessageEntity,
             { gateway: gateway.gateway, model, parameters: args },
             searchParam,
+            {
+                python: topic.agent.config?.tools?.python ?? false,
+            },
             agentmessage.generationId!,
             userId,
             topicId,
@@ -363,24 +365,54 @@ const formatToolCallId = (nativeId: string) => {
     return `veridian__tool-${nativeId.slice(0, 16)}-${nanoid()}`;
 };
 
-const evalPython = async (code: string) => {
+const formatPythonValue = (value: unknown): string => {
+    if (value === undefined || value === null) {
+        return '';
+    }
+    if (typeof value === 'string') {
+        return value;
+    }
     try {
-        let stdout = ''
+        return JSON.stringify(value, (_, v) => typeof v === 'bigint' ? v.toString() : v);
+    } catch {
+        return String(value);
+    }
+};
+
+const evalPython = async (code: string): Promise<string> => {
+    try {
+        let stdout = '';
         const printCallback = (_: string, text: string) => {
-            stdout += text
+            stdout += text;
+        };
+        const m = new Monty(code);
+        const result = m.run({
+            printCallback,
+            limits: {
+                maxDurationSecs: 10,
+                maxMemory: 32 * 1024 * 1024,
+                maxRecursionDepth: 100,
+            },
+        });
+
+        const expressionOutput = formatPythonValue(result);
+        if (stdout && expressionOutput) {
+            return stdout.endsWith('\n')
+                ? `${stdout}${expressionOutput}`
+                : `${stdout}\n${expressionOutput}`;
         }
-        const m = new Monty(code)
-        await m.run({ printCallback })
-        return stdout
+        return stdout || expressionOutput || '';
     } catch (error) {
         if (error instanceof MontySyntaxError) {
-            console.log('Syntax error:', error.message)
-        } else if (error instanceof MontyRuntimeError) {
-            console.log('Runtime error:', error.message)
-            console.log('Traceback:', error.traceback())
-        } else if (error instanceof MontyTypingError) {
-            console.log('Type error:', error.displayDiagnostics())
+            return `SyntaxError: ${error.message}`;
         }
+        if (error instanceof MontyRuntimeError) {
+            return error.display('traceback') || `RuntimeError: ${error.message}`;
+        }
+        if (error instanceof MontyTypingError) {
+            return error.display('concise') || `TypeError: ${error.message}`;
+        }
+        return error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Python execution failed';
     }
 };
 
@@ -438,165 +470,47 @@ export const searchTheWeb = (config: SearchTheWebConfig) => {
     };
 };
 
-// TODO: obviously come up with a better way for the user to define their own tools
-const { listDirectoryTool, globTool, readFileTool, readFilesTool, fetchUrlTool, pythonTool, bashTool } = {
-    listDirectoryTool: tool({
-        description: 'Lists the contents of a directory',
-        inputSchema: z.object({
-            path: z.string(),
-        }),
-        outputSchema: z.object({
-            files: z.array(z.object({ name: z.string(), type: z.string() })),
-        }),
-        execute: async ({ path }) => {
-            const rawFiles = await fs.readdir(path, { withFileTypes: true });
-            const files = rawFiles.map((file) => ({
-                name: file.name,
-                type: file.isFile() ? 'file' : 'directory',
-            }));
+const fetchUrlTool = tool({
+    description: 'Fetches the content of a URL',
+    inputSchema: z.object({
+        url: z.string(),
+    }),
+    outputSchema: z.object({
+        content: z.string(),
+    }),
+    execute: async ({ url }) => {
+        const response = await fetch('https://api.firecrawl.dev/v2/scrape', {
+            method: 'POST',
+            headers: {
+                'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+                'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + process.env.FIRECRAWL_API_KEY,
+            },
+            body: JSON.stringify({
+                url,
+            }),
+        });
+        const content = await response.json();
+        return {
+            content: content.data.markdown,
+        };
+    },
+});
 
-            return {
-                files,
-            };
-        },
+const pythonTool = tool({
+    description: 'Executes Python in a sandbox. The value of the last expression is returned automatically (no print needed). stdout from print() is also included.',
+    inputSchema: z.object({
+        code: z.string().describe('Python code to run. Prefer a final expression over print(), e.g. `2 + 2` returns `4`.'),
     }),
-    globTool: tool({
-        description: 'Lists files matching a glob pattern',
-        inputSchema: z.object({
-            pattern: z.string(),
-        }),
-        outputSchema: z.object({
-            files: z.array(z.object({ path: z.string(), type: z.string() })),
-        }),
-        execute: async ({ pattern }) => {
-            const rawFiles = await glob(pattern, { withFileTypes: true });
-            const files = rawFiles.map((file) => ({
-                path: file.parentPath + '/' + file.name,
-                type: file.isFile() ? 'file' : 'directory',
-            }));
-
-            return {
-                files,
-            };
-        },
+    outputSchema: z.object({
+        output: z.string(),
     }),
-    readFileTool: tool({
-        description: 'Reads the contents of a file',
-        inputSchema: z.object({
-            path: z.string(),
-        }),
-        outputSchema: z.object({
-            path: z.string(),
-            content: z.string(),
-        }),
-        execute: async ({ path }) => {
-            const file = await fs.readFile(path);
-            return {
-                path,
-                content: file.toString(),
-            };
-        },
-    }),
-    readFilesTool: tool({
-        description: 'Reads the contents of multiple files',
-        inputSchema: z.object({
-            paths: z.array(z.string()).describe('a list of file paths to read'),
-        }),
-        outputSchema: z.object({
-            files: z.array(
-                z.object({
-                    path: z.string(),
-                    content: z.string(),
-                }),
-            ),
-        }),
-        execute: async ({ paths }) => {
-            const files = await Promise.all(
-                paths.map(async (path) => {
-                    const file = await fs.readFile(path);
-                    return {
-                        path: path,
-                        content: file.toString(),
-                    };
-                }),
-            );
-
-            return {
-                files,
-            };
-        },
-    }),
-    fetchUrlTool: tool({
-        description: 'Fetches the content of a URL',
-        inputSchema: z.object({
-            url: z.string(),
-        }),
-        outputSchema: z.object({
-            content: z.string(),
-        }),
-        execute: async ({ url }) => {
-            const response = await fetch('https://api.firecrawl.dev/v2/scrape', {
-                method: 'POST',
-                headers: {
-                    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
-                    'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + process.env.FIRECRAWL_API_KEY,
-                },
-                body: JSON.stringify({
-                    url,
-                }),
-            });
-            const content = await response.json();
-            console.log(content);
-            return {
-                content: content.data.markdown,
-            };
-        },
-    }),
-    pythonTool: tool({
-        description: 'Executes a Python code snippet',
-        inputSchema: z.object({
-            code: z.string(),
-        }),
-        outputSchema: z.object({
-            output: z.string(),
-        }),
-        execute: async ({ code }) => {
-            const output = await evalPython(code);
-            return {
-                output,
-            };
-        },
-    }),
-    bashTool: tool({
-        description: 'Executes a Bash command',
-        inputSchema: z.object({
-            code: z.string(),
-        }),
-        outputSchema: z.object({
-            output: z.string(),
-        }),
-        execute: async ({ code }) => {
-            const { exec } = await import('child_process');
-            const { promisify } = await import('util');
-            const execAsync = promisify(exec);
-
-            async function runCommand(command: string) {
-                const { stdout, stderr } = await execAsync(command);
-                if (stderr) {
-                    console.error(`Error: ${stderr}`);
-                    return stderr;
-                } else {
-                    return stdout;
-                }
-            }
-
-            const output = await runCommand(code);
-            return {
-                output,
-            };
-        },
-    }),
-}
+    execute: async ({ code }) => {
+        const output = await evalPython(code);
+        return {
+            output,
+        };
+    },
+});
 
 async function generateResponse(
     message: MessageEntity,
@@ -608,6 +522,9 @@ async function generateResponse(
     search: false | {
         config: SearchTheWebConfig,
     },
+    enabledTools: {
+        python?: boolean;
+    },
     generationId: string,
     userId: string,
     topicId: string,
@@ -625,31 +542,11 @@ async function generateResponse(
     const activeToolCalls = new Set<string>();
     const nativeToDbToolCallId = new Map<string, string>();
 
-    // TODO: somehow let the user turn on and off tools
-    const tools: Record<string, Tool> = {
-        // writeFile: tool({
-        //     inputSchema: z.object({
-        //         path: z.string(),
-        //         content: z.string(),
-        //     }),
-        //     outputSchema: z.object({
-        //         success: z.boolean(),
-        //     }),
-        //     execute: async ({ path, content }) => {
-        //         await fs.writeFile(path, content);
-        //         return {
-        //             success: true,
-        //         };
-        //     }
-        // }),
-        listDirectory: listDirectoryTool,
-        glob: globTool,
-        readFile: readFileTool,
-        readFiles: readFilesTool,
-        fetchUrl: fetchUrlTool,
-        python: pythonTool,
-        bash: bashTool,
-    };
+    const tools: Record<string, Tool> = {};
+
+    if (enabledTools.python) {
+        tools.python = pythonTool;
+    }
 
     if (search) {
         tools.search = tool({
@@ -669,6 +566,7 @@ async function generateResponse(
                 return await searchTheWeb(search.config)(query);
             },
         });
+        tools.fetchUrl = fetchUrlTool;
     }
 
     const response = streamText({
@@ -685,7 +583,7 @@ async function generateResponse(
         },
         experimental_transform: streamTransoforms,
         stopWhen: isLoopFinished(),
-        tools: model.model.capabilities.includes('tools') ? tools : undefined,
+        tools: model.model.capabilities.includes('tools') && Object.keys(tools).length > 0 ? tools : undefined,
         onError: async (error: any) => {
             // TODO: the docs say "The stream processing will pause until the callback promise is resolved." Suggesting that this error might not be fatal?
             console.error('generation error', error);