diff --git a/evals/subagents.eval.ts b/evals/subagents.eval.ts
index 7e9b3cd808..4d2886d8ef 100644
--- a/evals/subagents.eval.ts
+++ b/evals/subagents.eval.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ describe('subagent eval test cases', () => {
    *
    * This tests the system prompt's subagent specific clauses.
    */
-  evalTest('USUALLY_PASSES', {
+  evalTest('ALWAYS_PASSES', {
     name: 'should delegate to user provided agent with relevant expertise',
     params: {
       settings: {
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ describe('subagent eval test cases', () => {
       'index.ts': INDEX_TS,
       'README.md': 'TODO: update the README.',
     },
+    acknowledgedAgents: {
+      'docs-agent': AGENT_DEFINITION,
+    },
     assert: async (rig, _result) => {
       await rig.expectToolCallSuccess(['docs-agent']);
     },
diff --git a/evals/test-helper.ts b/evals/test-helper.ts
index 37d79eb6a4..05350eb951 100644
--- a/evals/test-helper.ts
+++ b/evals/test-helper.ts
@@ -112,6 +112,10 @@ export function evalTest(policy: EvalPolicy, evalCase: EvalCase) {
         execSync('git commit --allow-empty -m "Initial commit"', execOptions);
       }
 
+      if (evalCase.acknowledgedAgents) {
+        await rig.acknowledgeAgents(evalCase.acknowledgedAgents);
+      }
+
       const result = await rig.run({
         args: evalCase.prompt,
         approvalMode: evalCase.approvalMode ?? 'yolo',
@@ -172,5 +176,6 @@ export interface EvalCase {
   timeout?: number;
   files?: Record<string, string>;
   approvalMode?: 'default' | 'auto_edit' | 'yolo' | 'plan';
+  acknowledgedAgents?: Record<string, string>;
   assert: (rig: TestRig, result: string) => Promise<void>;
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/index.ts b/packages/core/src/index.ts
index f63c189014..d04432c55b 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/index.ts
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ export * from './prompts/mcp-prompts.js';
 export * from './agents/types.js';
 export * from './agents/agentLoader.js';
 export * from './agents/local-executor.js';
+export * from './agents/acknowledgedAgents.js';
 
 // Export specific tool logic
 export * from './tools/read-file.js';
diff --git a/packages/test-utils/src/test-rig.ts b/packages/test-utils/src/test-rig.ts
index 1401304560..61d69dcbb3 100644
--- a/packages/test-utils/src/test-rig.ts
+++ b/packages/test-utils/src/test-rig.ts
@@ -11,8 +11,13 @@ import { join, dirname } from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import { env } from 'node:process';
 import { setTimeout as sleep } from 'node:timers/promises';
-import { DEFAULT_GEMINI_MODEL, GEMINI_DIR } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
+import {
+  DEFAULT_GEMINI_MODEL,
+  GEMINI_DIR,
+  AcknowledgedAgentsService,
+} from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
+import crypto from 'node:crypto';
 import * as pty from '@lydell/node-pty';
 import stripAnsi from 'strip-ansi';
 import * as os from 'node:os';
@@ -356,6 +361,27 @@ export class TestRig {
     );
   }
 
+  async acknowledgeAgents(agents: Record<string, string>) {
+    // Use realpath to ensure the path matches what the CLI sees (e.g. /var vs /private/var on macOS)
+    const projectRoot = fs.realpathSync(this.testDir!);
+    const originalHome = process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'];
+    process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'] = this.homeDir!;
+
+    try {
+      const service = new AcknowledgedAgentsService();
+      for (const [name, content] of Object.entries(agents)) {
+        const hash = crypto.createHash('sha256').update(content).digest('hex');
+        await service.acknowledge(projectRoot, name, hash);
+      }
+    } finally {
+      if (originalHome) {
+        process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'] = originalHome;
+      } else {
+        delete process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'];
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   createFile(fileName: string, content: string) {
     const filePath = join(this.testDir!, fileName);
     writeFileSync(filePath, content);