diff --git a/cli.py b/cli.py
index e0f9be91bb57..86978ced6553 100644
--- a/cli.py
+++ b/cli.py
@@ -1498,6 +1498,26 @@ def run(self):
 
 def _build_cli_from_args(model, toolsets, provider, reasoning, api_key, base_url, max_turns, run_budget, verbose, compact, resume, checkpoints, pass_session_id, ignore_rules, skills):
     """Resolve the toolset list (explicit / coding posture / platform default), construct HermesCLI, and start the background skills preload."""
+    from hermes_cli.oneshot import _normalize_toolsets
+    from toolsets import ZERO_TOOLSET
+
+    # A flag that was PASSED but names nothing is not "unspecified". `hermes chat -q ... -t ""`
+    # must not silently receive the coding posture or the platform default, which is the same
+    # footgun -z had: the caller asked for a restricted session and got a fully equipped one.
+    # The parser already distinguishes absent (None) from empty (""), so the resolver must too.
+    explicit = toolsets is not None
+    normalized = _normalize_toolsets(toolsets) if explicit else None
+    if explicit and not normalized:
+        raise ValueError(
+            "--toolsets was passed an empty value, which means \"unspecified\" — "
+            f"pass a toolset name, or '{ZERO_TOOLSET}' for an explicitly tool-less session."
+        )
+    if normalized and ZERO_TOOLSET in normalized and len(normalized) > 1:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"--toolsets: '{ZERO_TOOLSET}' means zero tools and cannot be combined with "
+            f"other toolsets: {', '.join(n for n in normalized if n != ZERO_TOOLSET)}"
+        )
+
     toolsets_list = None
     if isinstance(toolsets, str) and toolsets:
         toolsets_list = [t.strip() for t in toolsets.split(",")]
diff --git a/hermes_cli/_parser.py b/hermes_cli/_parser.py
index ade6dd98b529..7fcf1d8e89a5 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/_parser.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/_parser.py
@@ -171,7 +171,8 @@ def _add_top_level_flags(parser: argparse.ArgumentParser) -> None:
         "config.yaml for this run only; the persistent level lives there "
         "(or per-model under agent.reasoning_overrides)."))
     add("-t", "--toolsets", default=None,
-        help="Comma-separated toolsets to enable for this invocation. Applies to -z/--oneshot and --tui.")
+        help=("Comma-separated toolsets to enable for this invocation. Pass 'none' for an "
+              "explicitly tool-less session. Applies to -z/--oneshot and --tui."))
     add("--resume", "-r", metavar="SESSION", default=None, help=(
         "Resume a previous session by ID or title, or pass 'latest' for "
         "the most recent session (workspace-scoped, like -c with no name)"))
diff --git a/hermes_cli/oneshot.py b/hermes_cli/oneshot.py
index cfddfc975caa..e89a731af584 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/oneshot.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/oneshot.py
@@ -162,10 +162,30 @@ def _configured_mcp_servers() -> tuple[set[str], set[str]]:
 
 
 def _validate_explicit_toolsets(toolsets: object = None) -> tuple[list[str] | None, str | None]:
+    from toolsets import ZERO_TOOLSET
+
+    # A flag that was PASSED but names nothing is not "unspecified". Folding it into the
+    # config default is how `-t ""` — the natural way to ask for a tool-less probe — silently
+    # ran with the full configured toolset. Fail closed instead, and name the way to actually
+    # ask for zero tools (#126122).
+    if toolsets is not None and not _normalize_toolsets(toolsets):
+        return None, (
+            "hermes -z: --toolsets was passed an empty value, which means \"unspecified\" — "
+            f"pass a toolset name, or '{ZERO_TOOLSET}' for an explicitly tool-less session.\n"
+        )
+
     normalized = _normalize_toolsets(toolsets)
     if normalized is None:
         return None, None
 
+    if ZERO_TOOLSET in normalized:
+        if len(normalized) > 1:
+            return None, (
+                f"hermes -z: '{ZERO_TOOLSET}' means zero tools and cannot be combined with "
+                f"other toolsets: {', '.join(n for n in normalized if n != ZERO_TOOLSET)}\n"
+            )
+        return [ZERO_TOOLSET], None
+
     try:
         from toolsets import validate_toolset
     except Exception as exc:
diff --git a/model_tools.py b/model_tools.py
index 8566c62842cc..65293927d9e2 100644
--- a/model_tools.py
+++ b/model_tools.py
@@ -317,11 +317,16 @@ def _select_tool_names(enabled_toolsets: Optional[list[str]], disabled_toolsets:
     """Tool names requested by the toolset selection (before check_fn filtering)."""
     tools: set = set()
     if enabled_toolsets is not None:
+        from toolsets import ZERO_TOOLSET
+
         enabled = list(enabled_toolsets)
         # Dispatcher-spawned kanban workers always get the lifecycle handoff
         # tools, even when the assignee profile restricts its chat toolsets.
+        # The exception is an explicit zero-tool request: the caller asked for a session that
+        # cannot act at all, and quietly adding kanban_* would contradict that (#126122).
         if (os.environ.get("HERMES_KANBAN_TASK") and not _is_delegated_child_context()
-                and _is_dispatcher_owned_worker() and "kanban" not in enabled):
+                and _is_dispatcher_owned_worker() and "kanban" not in enabled
+                and ZERO_TOOLSET not in enabled):
             enabled.append("kanban")
         _apply_toolset_selection(tools, enabled, quiet_mode, disable=False)
     else:
diff --git a/tests/test_toolsets_zero_selection.py b/tests/test_toolsets_zero_selection.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..bee4b9efe67c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_toolsets_zero_selection.py
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+"""``--toolsets`` must be able to say "zero tools", and must never silently mean the opposite.
+
+``hermes -z '<prompt>' -t ''`` is the idiom people reach for when they want a tool-less
+liveness probe or classifier. It did the opposite: ``_normalize_toolsets`` folds a falsy value
+to ``None``, and ``None`` means "use the user's configured toolsets" — so the probe ran with
+terminal, file writes and everything else, with nothing in the output saying so.
+
+Two contracts, both about the relationship between what was asked for and what is sent:
+
+* an EXPLICITLY EMPTY selection is an error, not a silent fallback to the config default;
+* ``none`` is a real toolset meaning zero tools, and it survives the kanban worker's
+  automatic toolset injection (which exists so a worker can always hand its card back).
+
+Absent-vs-empty is a real distinction at the parser (``default=None``), so it is preserved
+here: ``None`` still means "not specified".
+
+The same footgun existed on the interactive/one-query entry point (``hermes chat -q``), where
+an empty value fell through to the coding posture or the platform default instead. Both call
+sites now share one rule.
+
+Regression for #126122.
+"""
+
+import pytest
+
+import cli
+from hermes_cli.oneshot import _validate_explicit_toolsets
+from model_tools import _select_tool_names
+from toolsets import get_toolset, resolve_toolset, validate_toolset
+
+
+class TestNoneIsARealToolset:
+    """``none`` must exist and mean exactly zero tools."""
+
+    def test_none_is_registered_and_validates(self):
+        assert validate_toolset("none"), "the sentinel must pass the same validation as any name"
+        assert get_toolset("none") is not None
+
+    def test_none_resolves_to_zero_tools(self):
+        # resolve_toolset is documented to return a sorted List[str], not a set.
+        assert resolve_toolset("none") == [], (
+            "the whole point of the sentinel is an empty tool list"
+        )
+
+
+class TestExplicitEmptyIsRejected:
+    """``-t ''`` asked for nothing; silently granting the configured toolsets is the bug."""
+
+    def test_empty_string_is_an_error_not_a_config_fallback(self):
+        toolsets, error = _validate_explicit_toolsets("")
+        assert error is not None, (
+            f"an explicitly empty --toolsets silently resolved to {toolsets!r} "
+            "(None means 'use the configured toolsets')"
+        )
+        assert toolsets is None
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("value", ["   ", ",", " , "])
+    def test_whitespace_and_bare_separators_are_also_errors(self, value):
+        _, error = _validate_explicit_toolsets(value)
+        assert error is not None, f"{value!r} carries no toolset name and must not fall back"
+
+    def test_absent_flag_still_means_config_default(self):
+        """The absent case is unchanged — this is the behavior everything else relies on."""
+        assert _validate_explicit_toolsets(None) == (None, None)
+
+
+class TestNoneSentinelThroughTheOneShotPath:
+    """``-t none`` must survive validation as a real, empty selection."""
+
+    def test_none_alone_is_accepted(self):
+        toolsets, error = _validate_explicit_toolsets("none")
+        assert error is None
+        assert toolsets == ["none"]
+
+    def test_none_combined_with_another_toolset_is_rejected(self):
+        """``none`` plus anything else is contradictory — ``none,web`` cannot mean zero tools."""
+        _, error = _validate_explicit_toolsets("none,web")
+        assert error is not None, "combining the zero-tool sentinel with a real toolset must fail"
+
+
+class TestNoneSurvivesTheKanbanInjection:
+    """A worker asked for zero tools gets zero tools.
+
+    The dispatcher appends ``kanban`` so a worker can always hand its card back, which is
+    right for a normal selection and wrong for an explicit zero-tool request: the caller
+    asked for a session that cannot act at all.
+    """
+
+    def test_dispatcher_worker_gets_no_kanban_tools_when_none_requested(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_KANBAN_TASK", "card-123")
+        monkeypatch.setattr("model_tools._is_delegated_child_context", lambda: False)
+        monkeypatch.setattr("model_tools._is_dispatcher_owned_worker", lambda: True)
+
+        assert _select_tool_names(["none"], None, quiet_mode=True) == set(), (
+            "the kanban toolset was injected into an explicit zero-tool selection"
+        )
+
+    def test_dispatcher_worker_still_gets_kanban_for_a_normal_selection(self, monkeypatch):
+        """The negative case: the injection must survive for every other selection."""
+        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_KANBAN_TASK", "card-123")
+        monkeypatch.setattr("model_tools._is_delegated_child_context", lambda: False)
+        monkeypatch.setattr("model_tools._is_dispatcher_owned_worker", lambda: True)
+
+        tools = _select_tool_names(["web"], None, quiet_mode=True)
+        assert tools, "a normal toolset selection must still resolve tools"
+        assert any(t.startswith("kanban") for t in tools), (
+            "a dispatcher-owned worker must keep the kanban lifecycle tools for a normal selection"
+        )
+
+
+def _build_cli(toolsets):
+    """Run cli._build_cli_from_args with a stub CLI and return the toolsets it was handed.
+
+    The guard under test raises BEFORE HermesCLI is constructed, so the two error cases cost
+    nothing. The accept cases need construction, hence the stub: the assertion is on the
+    ``toolsets=`` the real call site would pass to the agent.
+    """
+    captured = {}
+
+    class _StubCLI:
+        def __init__(self, **kwargs):
+            captured.update(kwargs)
+            self.ignore_rules = kwargs.get("ignore_rules", False)
+
+    original = cli.HermesCLI
+    cli.HermesCLI = _StubCLI
+    try:
+        cli._build_cli_from_args(
+            None, toolsets, None, None, None, None, None, None,
+            False, False, None, False, False, False, None,
+        )
+    finally:
+        cli.HermesCLI = original
+    return captured.get("toolsets")
+
+
+class TestChatOneQueryPath:
+    """``hermes chat -q`` resolves the same flag and must apply the same rule."""
+
+    def test_empty_value_is_rejected_before_anything_is_built(self):
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="empty value"):
+            _build_cli("")
+
+    def test_none_combined_with_another_toolset_is_rejected(self):
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="cannot be combined"):
+            _build_cli("none,web")
+
+    def test_none_alone_reaches_the_agent_as_the_sentinel(self):
+        assert _build_cli("none") == ["none"], (
+            "an explicit zero-tool request must survive the resolver untouched"
+        )
+
+    def test_absent_flag_still_resolves_the_platform_default(self):
+        """The negative control: absent is NOT empty, and must keep working."""
+        resolved = _build_cli(None)
+        assert resolved, "an absent --toolsets must still resolve a real toolset list"
diff --git a/toolsets.py b/toolsets.py
index 7572ad12850d..8ff837201e42 100644
--- a/toolsets.py
+++ b/toolsets.py
@@ -70,8 +70,16 @@ def _core_without(*excluded, kanban=True):
 # config: another surface lacking them made no configuration choice.
 CLIENT_SURFACE_TOOLSETS = frozenset({"project", "desktop_ui", "catalog"})
 
+# The toolset name that means "explicitly zero tools". Registered in TOOLSETS so it resolves
+# through the same validate_toolset()/resolve_toolset() path as every other name, letting a
+# caller SAY "no tools" instead of passing an empty value that reads as "unspecified" and
+# silently receives the configured toolsets (#126122).
+ZERO_TOOLSET = "none"
+
 # Core toolset definitions: individual tools or references to other toolsets.
 TOOLSETS = {
+    ZERO_TOOLSET: _ts(
+        "No tools at all — an explicitly tool-less session (scripted one-shots, liveness probes)"),
     # Basic toolsets - individual tool categories
     "web": _ts("Web research and content extraction tools", ["web_search", "web_extract"]),
     "search": _ts("Web search only (no content extraction/scraping)", ["web_search"]),