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Tools Overview

Tools enable AI agents to interact with the external world through a unified interface. The framework includes built-in tools for common tasks and supports custom tool development for specialized use cases.

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What are Tools?

Tools are programmable functions that AI agents can call to interact with external systems and perform specific tasks. They extend agent capabilities beyond text generation to include file operations, code execution, web browsing, and system interactions.

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Key Characteristics

  • Action-Oriented: Tools perform specific actions rather than generate responses
  • Type-Safe: Full type support with runtime schema validation
  • Standardized Interface: All tools implement a consistent base interface
  • Error Handling: Structured error responses with categorized error types
  • Context-Aware: Tools can access execution context and maintain state

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How Agents Use Tools

  1. Reasoning: Agent analyzes the user request and determines which tools are needed
  2. Selection: Agent chooses appropriate tools based on descriptions and schemas
  3. Invocation: Agent calls tools with validated parameters
  4. Observation: Agent processes tool results and error responses
  5. Response: Agent incorporates tool outputs into the final response

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Tool Categories

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Built-in Tools

A comprehensive set of built-in tools for common agent tasks:

File System Tools

Complete file and directory operations with configurable toolkits

Code Execution Tools

Secure multi-language code execution with sandboxed and local options

Command Line Tools

Shell command execution with operator-based architecture

MCP Tool

Model Context Protocol integration for external tool ecosystems

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Custom Tools

Build specialized tools tailored to your specific use cases:

Function Tools

Create tools from TypeScript/JavaScript functions

Connect Custom MCP Services

Model Context Protocol integration for external tool ecosystems

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Tool Architecture

Tools follow a consistent architecture pattern:
  • Sandboxing: Tools execute in isolated environments for security
  • Schema Validation: Input parameters are validated against defined schemas before execution
  • Error Handling: Structured error responses enable agents to handle failures gracefully
  • Context Integration: Tools can access and modify execution context
  • Standardized Output: Consistent result format across all tools simplifies agent processing

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Tool Results

All tools return a standardized result structure for consistent error handling: 
interface ToolResult {
  success: boolean;        // Operation success status
  data?: any;             // Tool output (when successful)
  error?: string;         // Error message (when failed)
  error_type?: string;    // Categorized error type
  executionTime?: number; // Execution duration in milliseconds
}

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Quick Start

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Using Built-in Tools

Built-in tools provide ready-to-use functionality for common tasks like file operations and code execution. See Built-in Tools for detailed documentation.

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Creating Custom Tools

Create custom tools tailored to your specific needs. See Custom Tool Development for comprehensive guides.

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Integration with Agents

Tools are integrated into agents through their configuration. Agents can automatically discover and use available tools based on their descriptions and schemas. See Agent Integration for detailed examples.

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Next Steps

Agent Integration

Integrate tools with agents

Built-in Tools

Explore the comprehensive set of built-in tools

Custom Tool Development

Learn to build custom tools for your use cases

API Reference

Detailed API documentation and examples