diff --git a/src/core/transform.ts b/src/core/transform.ts
index 0351259..8ce9c8f 100644
--- a/src/core/transform.ts
+++ b/src/core/transform.ts
@@ -1823,6 +1823,9 @@ export async function transformRequest(
       // server-side; there is nothing to compress). Mirrors the OpenAI-path
       // guard (openai.ts isFunctionTool).
       if (t.type !== undefined && t.type !== 'custom') return t;
+      // Anthropic excludes deferred tool definitions from model context until
+      // selected by tool search; imaging their docs would defeat that behavior.
+      if ((t as ToolDef & { defer_loading?: boolean }).defer_loading === true) return t;
       docs.push(renderToolDoc(t));
       // tools[] keeps the annotation-STRIPPED schema: structure (type/properties/
       // required/enum/items) stays for Anthropic's tool-use validator — a bare
diff --git a/tests/defer-loading.test.ts b/tests/defer-loading.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..90d4755
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/defer-loading.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+/**
+ * Tools managed by Anthropic's tool-search beta must pass through the tool
+ * rewrite untouched.
+ *
+ * A tool marked `defer_loading: true` is not injected into context until the
+ * model searches for it — the server bills it at ~zero until then. Rewriting
+ * it (stub description + annotation-stripped schema) and rendering its full
+ * docs into the imaged Tool Reference would materialize documentation the API
+ * was deliberately keeping out of context: with a large MCP surface, Claude
+ * Code ships hundreds of deferred tools (~477k chars observed), all of which
+ * were being imaged into every request. The search tool itself
+ * (`tool_search_tool_regex_20251119` / `_bm25_`) is schema-less and
+ * server-defined and must also survive byte-identical.
+ *
+ * Contract being verified:
+ *   - `defer_loading: true` tools keep their original description and
+ *     input_schema and gain no stub.
+ *   - `tool_search_tool_*` server tools pass through unchanged.
+ *   - Deferred tools' docs do NOT count toward info.toolDocsChars.
+ *   - Non-deferred tools in the same request are still rewritten (stubbed).
+ *   - A request with no deferred tools behaves exactly as before.
+ */
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { transformRequest } from '../src/core/transform.js';
+
+const enc = new TextEncoder();
+const dec = new TextDecoder();
+
+const DEFERRED_DESC =
+  'Query the observability backend for traces. '.repeat(40);
+const PLAIN_DESC = 'Run a shell command in the workspace. '.repeat(40);
+
+function makeReq(tools: unknown[]) {
+  return enc.encode(
+    JSON.stringify({
+      model: 'claude-3-5-sonnet',
+      // Large static slab so the compression path definitely runs.
+      system: 'x'.repeat(80_000),
+      tools,
+      messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'hello' }],
+    }),
+  );
+}
+
+function parse(body: Uint8Array): any {
+  return JSON.parse(dec.decode(body));
+}
+
+const deferredTool = {
+  name: 'mcp__datadog__get_traces',
+  description: DEFERRED_DESC,
+  input_schema: {
+    type: 'object',
+    properties: {
+      query: { type: 'string', description: 'Trace search query' },
+    },
+    required: ['query'],
+  },
+  defer_loading: true,
+};
+
+const searchTool = {
+  type: 'tool_search_tool_regex_20251119',
+  name: 'tool_search_tool_regex',
+};
+
+const plainTool = {
+  name: 'bash',
+  description: PLAIN_DESC,
+  input_schema: {
+    type: 'object',
+    properties: {
+      command: { type: 'string', description: 'The command to execute' },
+    },
+    required: ['command'],
+  },
+};
+
+describe('defer_loading tools pass through the tool rewrite', () => {
+  it('leaves deferred tools byte-identical and still rewrites the rest', async () => {
+    const { body, info } = await transformRequest(
+      makeReq([searchTool, deferredTool, plainTool]),
+      {},
+    );
+    const out = parse(body);
+    expect(out.tools).toHaveLength(3);
+
+    const [outSearch, outDeferred, outPlain] = out.tools;
+
+    // Search tool: byte-identical.
+    expect(outSearch).toEqual(searchTool);
+
+    // Deferred tool: original description + schema + flag survive; no stub.
+    expect(outDeferred).toEqual(deferredTool);
+    expect(outDeferred.description).toBe(DEFERRED_DESC);
+    expect(outDeferred.input_schema.properties.query.description).toBe(
+      'Trace search query',
+    );
+
+    // Plain tool: still rewritten — stub description pointing at the
+    // Tool Reference, schema annotations stripped.
+    expect(outPlain.description).toContain('## Tool: bash');
+    expect(outPlain.description).not.toBe(PLAIN_DESC);
+    expect(outPlain.input_schema.properties.command.description).toBeUndefined();
+
+    // Deferred docs excluded from the imaged reference accounting.
+    expect(info.toolDocsChars).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(info.toolDocsChars!).toBeLessThan(
+      PLAIN_DESC.length + DEFERRED_DESC.length,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('keeps deferred docs out of the imaged Tool Reference text', async () => {
+    const { body } = await transformRequest(
+      makeReq([deferredTool, plainTool]),
+      {},
+    );
+    const out = parse(body);
+    // The system field carries the imaged slab plus any text tail; no
+    // rendered remnant of the deferred tool's doc heading should exist
+    // anywhere in the outgoing body except the tool's own definition.
+    const raw = dec.decode(body);
+    expect(raw).not.toContain('## Tool: mcp__datadog__get_traces');
+    expect(raw).toContain('## Tool: bash');
+    // And the deferred tool's full description exists exactly once — in
+    // its own tools[] entry, not duplicated into any reference text.
+    expect(raw.split(DEFERRED_DESC).length - 1).toBe(1);
+    expect(out.tools[0]).toEqual(deferredTool);
+  });
+
+  it('is a no-op for requests without deferred tools', async () => {
+    const { body } = await transformRequest(makeReq([plainTool]), {});
+    const out = parse(body);
+    expect(out.tools[0].description).toContain('## Tool: bash');
+  });
+
+  it('stays byte-identical when every tool is deferred and the request falls below the compression gate', async () => {
+    // Tiny system prompt + all-deferred tools -> toolDocsText stays empty and
+    // combinedRaw lands under minCompressChars, taking the below_min_chars
+    // early return (before req.tools = toolsRewritten runs). The passthrough
+    // this suite verifies elsewhere must still hold on that path.
+    const req = {
+      model: 'claude-3-5-sonnet',
+      system: 'hi',
+      tools: [searchTool, deferredTool],
+      messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'hello' }],
+    };
+    const reqBytes = enc.encode(JSON.stringify(req));
+    const { body, info } = await transformRequest(reqBytes, {});
+    expect(info.compressed).toBe(false);
+    expect(dec.decode(body)).toBe(dec.decode(reqBytes));
+    const out = parse(body);
+    expect(out.tools).toEqual([searchTool, deferredTool]);
+  });
+});