diff --git a/agent.py b/agent.py
index db7626b0eb..08b03864d1 100644
--- a/agent.py
+++ b/agent.py
@@ -978,8 +978,9 @@ async def validate_tool_request(self, tool_request: Any):
             raise ValueError("Tool request must be a dictionary")
         if not tool_request.get("tool_name") or not isinstance(tool_request.get("tool_name"), str):
             raise ValueError("Tool request must have a tool_name (type string) field")
-        if not tool_request.get("tool_args") or not isinstance(tool_request.get("tool_args"), dict):
-            raise ValueError("Tool request must have a tool_args (type dictionary) field")
+        # tool_args is optional - will default to empty dict in process_tools
+        if tool_request.get("tool_args") is not None and not isinstance(tool_request.get("tool_args"), dict):
+            raise ValueError("Tool args must be a dictionary if provided")