Tools

Tools are used to connect your agent to external systems or inline code supplied to the agent. This allows your agent to interact with other systems to fetch, update, format, or analyze information. Sections on this page describe various types of tools that are supported.

Create a tool

To create a tool:

  1. Click the tool icon on the right side of the agent builder.
  2. Select a tool type (see descriptions of tool types in this document).
  3. Provide the requested information for the tool.
  4. Use snake case for the tool name.
  5. Tool descriptions are supplied to agent models.

Use a tool in an agent

After creating a tool, you need to instruct a particular agent to use the tool.

  1. Hover over an agent.
  2. Click Add tool.
  3. Select a tool.
  4. Describe how the tool should be used in your agent instructions.

Test a tool

Before using a tool in your agent, you can test the tool in the console:

  1. Open the tool panel.
  2. Click the Test Tool button at the top of the panel.

  3. Provide input for the tool as defined by the tool schema. For example, if the schema is JSON with place and city properties, you could use the following input:

    {
  "place": "automobile repair center",
  "city": "austin texas"
}

  4. Click Submit. The tool is executed with the input, and the output is populated.

After directly testing the tool, you can also test the tool by using Preview agent.

Available tools

The following tools are available:

Tool Description
Client function tools Code tools that are executed on the client side, not by the agent.
Data store tools Provide AI-generated agent responses based on website content and uploaded data.
Google Search tools Connect your agent the power of grounding with Google Search.
Integration Connector tools Create tools that utilize your configured Connections.
OpenAPI tools Connect to an external API using an OpenAPI schema.
Python code tools Provide Python code as a tool for your agent.
Salesforce tools Connect your agent to a Salesforce instance.
Service Now tools Connect your agent to a Service Now instance.
System tools Built-in tools that can be used by the agent to perform common tasks.

Best practices

Use the following best practices for tools:

  • Always write semantically meaningful tool names that are relevant to the task they perform.
  • Always provide high quality descriptions of your tools and the task or tasks they are capable of achieving.