diff --git a/src/smolagents/agents.py b/src/smolagents/agents.py
index 4407c5515..cb719b2c9 100644
--- a/src/smolagents/agents.py
+++ b/src/smolagents/agents.py
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@
     Monitor,
 )
 from .remote_executors import DockerExecutor, E2BExecutor, WasmExecutor
-from .tools import BaseTool, Tool, validate_tool_arguments
+from .tools import BaseTool, Tool, ToolRegistry, validate_tool_arguments
 from .utils import (
     AgentError,
     AgentExecutionError,
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ def _setup_tools(self, tools, add_base_tools):
         assert all(isinstance(tool, BaseTool) for tool in tools), (
             "All elements must be instance of BaseTool (or a subclass)"
         )
-        self.tools = {tool.name: tool for tool in tools}
+        self.tools = ToolRegistry(tools)
         if add_base_tools:
             self.tools.update(
                 {
diff --git a/src/smolagents/tools.py b/src/smolagents/tools.py
index 95b6b45b5..b1acc8266 100644
--- a/src/smolagents/tools.py
+++ b/src/smolagents/tools.py
@@ -103,6 +103,21 @@ def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs) -> Any:
         pass
 
 
+class ToolRegistry(dict):
+    """Registry for tools that provides dict-like access."""
+
+    def __init__(self, tools: list[BaseTool]):
+        super().__init__({tool.name: tool for tool in tools})
+
+    def __setitem__(self, key: str, value: BaseTool):
+        """Add or update a tool."""
+        super().__setitem__(key, value)
+
+    def __repr__(self) -> str:
+        """String representation of the registry."""
+        return f"ToolRegistry({list(self.keys())})"
+
+
 class Tool(BaseTool):
     """
     A base class for the functions used by the agent. Subclass this and implement the `forward` method as well as the