diff --git a/docs/concepts/agents.mdx b/docs/concepts/agents.mdx
index fa954d4fc..4234e6428 100644
--- a/docs/concepts/agents.mdx
+++ b/docs/concepts/agents.mdx
@@ -255,7 +255,11 @@ custom_agent = Agent(
 - `response_template`: Formats agent responses
 
 <Note>
-When using custom templates, you can use variables like `{role}`, `{goal}`, and `{input}` in your templates. These will be automatically populated during execution.
+When using custom templates, ensure that both `system_template` and `prompt_template` are defined. The `response_template` is optional but recommended for consistent output formatting.
+</Note>  
+
+<Note>
+When using custom templates, you can use variables like `{role}`, `{goal}`, and `{backstory}` in your templates. These will be automatically populated during execution.
 </Note>
 
 ## Agent Tools
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 085a6e242..f15942207 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Documentation = "https://docs.crewai.com"
 Repository = "https://github.com/crewAIInc/crewAI"
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
-tools = ["crewai-tools~=0.42.0"]
+tools = ["crewai-tools~=0.42.2"]
 embeddings = [
     "tiktoken~=0.7.0"
 ]
diff --git a/src/crewai/cli/templates/crew/pyproject.toml b/src/crewai/cli/templates/crew/pyproject.toml
index 6dd0d5067..8f3400a74 100644
--- a/src/crewai/cli/templates/crew/pyproject.toml
+++ b/src/crewai/cli/templates/crew/pyproject.toml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ description = "{{name}} using crewAI"
 authors = [{ name = "Your Name", email = "you@example.com" }]
 requires-python = ">=3.10,<3.13"
 dependencies = [
-    "crewai[tools]>=0.117.0,<1.0.0"
+    "crewai[tools]>=0.117.1,<1.0.0"
 ]
 
 [project.scripts]
diff --git a/src/crewai/cli/templates/flow/pyproject.toml b/src/crewai/cli/templates/flow/pyproject.toml
index a03f3eee2..9c89661aa 100644
--- a/src/crewai/cli/templates/flow/pyproject.toml
+++ b/src/crewai/cli/templates/flow/pyproject.toml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ description = "{{name}} using crewAI"
 authors = [{ name = "Your Name", email = "you@example.com" }]
 requires-python = ">=3.10,<3.13"
 dependencies = [
-    "crewai[tools]>=0.117.0,<1.0.0",
+    "crewai[tools]>=0.117.1,<1.0.0",
 ]
 
 [project.scripts]
diff --git a/src/crewai/cli/templates/tool/pyproject.toml b/src/crewai/cli/templates/tool/pyproject.toml
index 01fef4c1d..437fb7994 100644
--- a/src/crewai/cli/templates/tool/pyproject.toml
+++ b/src/crewai/cli/templates/tool/pyproject.toml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ description = "Power up your crews with {{folder_name}}"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.10,<3.13"
 dependencies = [
-    "crewai[tools]>=0.117.0"
+    "crewai[tools]>=0.117.1"
 ]
 
 [tool.crewai]
diff --git a/src/crewai/utilities/prompts.py b/src/crewai/utilities/prompts.py
index 0100f0f07..cd3577874 100644
--- a/src/crewai/utilities/prompts.py
+++ b/src/crewai/utilities/prompts.py
@@ -54,10 +54,12 @@ class Prompts(BaseModel):
         response_template=None,
     ) -> str:
         """Constructs a prompt string from specified components."""
-        if not system_template and not prompt_template:
+        if not system_template or not prompt_template:
+            # If any of the required templates are missing, fall back to the default format
             prompt_parts = [self.i18n.slice(component) for component in components]
             prompt = "".join(prompt_parts)
         else:
+            # All templates are provided, use them
             prompt_parts = [
                 self.i18n.slice(component)
                 for component in components
@@ -67,8 +69,12 @@ class Prompts(BaseModel):
             prompt = prompt_template.replace(
                 "{{ .Prompt }}", "".join(self.i18n.slice("task"))
             )
-            response = response_template.split("{{ .Response }}")[0]
-            prompt = f"{system}\n{prompt}\n{response}"
+            # Handle missing response_template
+            if response_template:
+                response = response_template.split("{{ .Response }}")[0]
+                prompt = f"{system}\n{prompt}\n{response}"
+            else:
+                prompt = f"{system}\n{prompt}"
 
         prompt = (
             prompt.replace("{goal}", self.agent.goal)
diff --git a/tests/agent_test.py b/tests/agent_test.py
index 94d68cab2..b3d243a53 100644
--- a/tests/agent_test.py
+++ b/tests/agent_test.py
@@ -72,9 +72,54 @@ def test_agent_creation():
     assert agent.role == "test role"
     assert agent.goal == "test goal"
     assert agent.backstory == "test backstory"
-    assert agent.tools == []
+
+def test_agent_with_only_system_template():
+    """Test that an agent with only system_template works without errors."""
+    agent = Agent(
+        role="Test Role",
+        goal="Test Goal",
+        backstory="Test Backstory",
+        allow_delegation=False,
+        system_template="You are a test agent...",
+        # prompt_template is intentionally missing
+    )
+
+    assert agent.role == "Test Role"
+    assert agent.goal == "Test Goal"
+    assert agent.backstory == "Test Backstory"
+
+def test_agent_with_only_prompt_template():
+    """Test that an agent with only system_template works without errors."""
+    agent = Agent(
+        role="Test Role",
+        goal="Test Goal",
+        backstory="Test Backstory",
+        allow_delegation=False,
+        prompt_template="You are a test agent...",
+        # prompt_template is intentionally missing
+    )
+
+    assert agent.role == "Test Role"
+    assert agent.goal == "Test Goal"
+    assert agent.backstory == "Test Backstory"
 
 
+def test_agent_with_missing_response_template():
+    """Test that an agent with system_template and prompt_template but no response_template works without errors."""
+    agent = Agent(
+        role="Test Role",
+        goal="Test Goal",
+        backstory="Test Backstory",
+        allow_delegation=False,
+        system_template="You are a test agent...",
+        prompt_template="This is a test prompt...",
+        # response_template is intentionally missing
+    )
+
+    assert agent.role == "Test Role"
+    assert agent.goal == "Test Goal"
+    assert agent.backstory == "Test Backstory"
+    
 def test_agent_default_values():
     agent = Agent(role="test role", goal="test goal", backstory="test backstory")
     assert agent.llm.model == "gpt-4o-mini"
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index c47eee516..19e5b0e71 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -826,7 +826,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "blinker", specifier = ">=1.9.0" },
     { name = "chromadb", specifier = ">=0.5.23" },
     { name = "click", specifier = ">=8.1.7" },
-    { name = "crewai-tools", marker = "extra == 'tools'", specifier = "~=0.42.0" },
+    { name = "crewai-tools", marker = "extra == 'tools'", specifier = "~=0.42.2" },
     { name = "docling", marker = "extra == 'docling'", specifier = ">=2.12.0" },
     { name = "fastembed", marker = "extra == 'fastembed'", specifier = ">=0.4.1" },
     { name = "instructor", specifier = ">=1.3.3" },
@@ -875,7 +875,7 @@ dev = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "crewai-tools"
-version = "0.42.0"
+version = "0.42.2"
 source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "chromadb" },
@@ -890,9 +890,9 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "pytube" },
     { name = "requests" },
 ]
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/c2/dc/94e9cdf83f1ac699855ee0624451e68bb00c217e55edd2fa2200de9a7ba4/crewai_tools-0.42.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:cf66d48e5a46ecc0964b60bf985f84c5ae4a0a82c4fe35326d5f706fc4020f71", size = 754588 }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/17/34/9e63e2db53d8f5c30353f271a3240687a48e55204bbd176a057c0b7658c8/crewai_tools-0.42.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:69365ffb168cccfea970e09b308905aa5007cfec60024d731ffac1362a0153c0", size = 754967 }
 wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/ed/2b/2245ee519a7c96988c27d65eb224023d9c204101eea44763e3297d3ba01a/crewai_tools-0.42.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:ee095d5366b96ee1ad2558e350abda098065c20d24afd6afe0e49baaa5a371b7", size = 583065 },
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/4e/43/0f70b95350084e5cb1e1d74e9acb9e18a89ba675b1d579c787c2662baba7/crewai_tools-0.42.2-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:13727fb68f0efefd21edeb281be3d66ff2f5a3b5029d4e6adef388b11fd5846a", size = 583933 },
 ]
 
 [[package]]