Tool Usage

Tools allow LLMs to interact with your code, APIs, and external systems. Mojentic makes tool integration seamless with automatic execution and result handling.

What are Tools?

Tools are functions that LLMs can call to perform actions or retrieve information they can't handle directly:

• Date/Time Operations: "What's the date next Friday?"
• API Calls: "What's the weather in Tokyo?"
• File Operations: "Read the contents of config.json"
• Calculations: "What's 15% of 2,847?"
• Database Queries: "How many users registered today?"

Creating a Tool

Implement the LlmTool interface or extend BaseTool:

import { BaseTool, ToolArgs, ToolDescriptor, ToolResult, Ok, Err } from 'mojentic';

export class WeatherTool extends BaseTool {
  async run(args: ToolArgs): Promise<Result<ToolResult, Error>> {
    try {
      const location = args.location as string;

      // Your implementation
      const weather = await fetchWeather(location);

      return Ok({
        location,
        temperature: weather.temp,
        condition: weather.condition
      });
    } catch (error) {
      return Err(new Error(`Weather fetch failed: ${error.message}`));
    }
  }

  descriptor(): ToolDescriptor {
    return {
      type: 'function',
      function: {
        name: 'get_weather',
        description: 'Get current weather for a location',
        parameters: {
          type: 'object',
          properties: {
            location: {
              type: 'string',
              description: 'City name or location'
            }
          },
          required: ['location']
        }
      }
    };
  }
}

Using Tools

Basic Usage

import { LlmBroker, OllamaGateway, Message, DateResolverTool, isOk } from 'mojentic';

const gateway = new OllamaGateway();
const broker = new LlmBroker('qwen3:32b', gateway);

// Create tool instances
const tools = [new DateResolverTool()];

// Ask a question that requires the tool
const messages = [
  Message.system('You are a helpful assistant with access to tools.'),
  Message.user('What day of the week is next Friday?')
];

const result = await broker.generate(messages, tools);

if (isOk(result)) {
  console.log(result.value);
  // "Next Friday is December 20, 2025, which is a Saturday."
}

Multiple Tools

const tools = [
  new DateResolverTool(),
  new WeatherTool(),
  new CalculatorTool()
];

const messages = [
  Message.user('What will the weather be like next Monday in Tokyo?')
];

// The LLM will:
// 1. Call DateResolverTool to get next Monday's date
// 2. Call WeatherTool with that date and "Tokyo"
// 3. Respond with the weather information
const result = await broker.generate(messages, tools);

Tool Execution Flow

When you provide tools to the broker:

1. LLM Decides: The LLM determines if it needs to call tools
2. Tool Call: LLM returns tool call requests with arguments
3. Execution: Broker executes the requested tools
4. Result Injection: Results are added to the conversation
5. Continuation: LLM is called again with tool results
6. Final Response: LLM provides the final answer

// User: "What's the date 2 weeks from now?"
//
// Step 1: LLM receives question
// Step 2: LLM requests: resolve_date("in 2 weeks")
// Step 3: Tool returns: {"resolved": "2025-12-25", "day_of_week": "Thursday"}
// Step 4: Result added to conversation
// Step 5: LLM called again with tool result
// Step 6: LLM responds: "Two weeks from now is December 25, 2025, a Thursday."

Built-in Tools

DateResolverTool

Resolves relative date references:

import { DateResolverTool } from 'mojentic';

const tool = new DateResolverTool();

// Handles:
// - "next Friday"
// - "tomorrow"
// - "in 2 weeks"
// - "last Monday"

Tool Descriptor

The descriptor tells the LLM about your tool:

{
  type: 'function',
  function: {
    name: 'tool_name',              // Unique identifier
    description: 'What it does',    // Clear description
    parameters: {                   // JSON Schema
      type: 'object',
      properties: {
        arg1: {
          type: 'string',
          description: 'What this arg is for'
        }
      },
      required: ['arg1']
    }
  }
}

Writing Good Descriptions

Be specific and clear:

❌ Bad:

description: 'Gets weather'

✅ Good:

description: 'Get current weather conditions and temperature for a specific city or location'

Error Handling

Returning Errors

async run(args: ToolArgs): Promise<Result<ToolResult, Error>> {
  const location = args.location as string;

  if (!location) {
    return Ok({ error: 'Location is required' });
  }

  try {
    const data = await fetchData(location);
    return Ok(data);
  } catch (error) {
    return Err(new ToolError(
      `Failed to fetch data: ${error.message}`,
      'MyTool'
    ));
  }
}

Handling Tool Failures

The broker handles tool failures gracefully:

// If a tool fails, the broker:
// 1. Logs the error
// 2. Sends error message back to LLM
// 3. Lets LLM try again or respond differently

const result = await broker.generate(messages, tools);
// Even if a tool fails, you get a response

Advanced Patterns

Stateful Tools

class DatabaseTool extends BaseTool {
  constructor(private db: Database) {
    super();
  }

  async run(args: ToolArgs): Promise<Result<ToolResult, Error>> {
    const query = args.query as string;
    const results = await this.db.query(query);
    return Ok({ results });
  }

  descriptor(): ToolDescriptor {
    return {
      type: 'function',
      function: {
        name: 'query_database',
        description: 'Execute a database query',
        parameters: {
          type: 'object',
          properties: {
            query: { type: 'string', description: 'SQL query to execute' }
          },
          required: ['query']
        }
      }
    };
  }
}

// Usage with state
const db = await connectDatabase();
const tools = [new DatabaseTool(db)];

Async Operations

Tools support async operations naturally:

class ApiTool extends BaseTool {
  async run(args: ToolArgs): Promise<Result<ToolResult, Error>> {
    // Make API calls
    const data = await fetch(url);
    const json = await data.json();

    // Process results
    const processed = await processData(json);

    return Ok(processed);
  }
}

Tool Chains

Tools can call other tools indirectly through the LLM:

// The LLM can chain tools:
// User: "What's the weather next Friday in Paris?"
//
// 1. LLM calls: resolve_date("next Friday")
// 2. LLM calls: get_weather("Paris", "2025-12-19")
// 3. LLM responds with combined information

Best Practices

1. Keep Tools Focused

Each tool should do one thing well:

❌ Bad:

class DataTool {
  // Does too much
  async run(args) {
    if (args.action === 'fetch') { /* ... */ }
    else if (args.action === 'save') { /* ... */ }
    else if (args.action === 'delete') { /* ... */ }
  }
}

✅ Good:

class FetchDataTool { /* ... */ }
class SaveDataTool { /* ... */ }
class DeleteDataTool { /* ... */ }

2. Validate Input

async run(args: ToolArgs): Promise<Result<ToolResult, Error>> {
  const email = args.email as string;

  if (!email || !email.includes('@')) {
    return Ok({ error: 'Invalid email address' });
  }

  // Proceed with valid input
}

3. Provide Clear Results

// Return structured, useful data
return Ok({
  success: true,
  data: {
    temperature: 22,
    condition: 'sunny',
    humidity: 45
  },
  timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
});

4. Handle Rate Limits

class RateLimitedTool extends BaseTool {
  private lastCall = 0;
  private minInterval = 1000; // 1 second

  async run(args: ToolArgs): Promise<Result<ToolResult, Error>> {
    const now = Date.now();
    if (now - this.lastCall < this.minInterval) {
      return Ok({ error: 'Rate limit exceeded, try again later' });
    }

    this.lastCall = now;
    // Proceed with operation
  }
}

Example: Complete Tool

import { BaseTool, ToolArgs, ToolDescriptor, ToolResult, Ok, Err, ToolError } from 'mojentic';

export class GithubTool extends BaseTool {
  constructor(private apiKey: string) {
    super();
  }

  async run(args: ToolArgs): Promise<Result<ToolResult, Error>> {
    try {
      const owner = args.owner as string;
      const repo = args.repo as string;

      if (!owner || !repo) {
        return Ok({ error: 'Both owner and repo are required' });
      }

      const response = await fetch(
        `https://api.github.com/repos/${owner}/${repo}`,
        {
          headers: {
            'Authorization': `Bearer ${this.apiKey}`,
            'Accept': 'application/vnd.github.v3+json'
          }
        }
      );

      if (!response.ok) {
        return Ok({ error: `GitHub API error: ${response.status}` });
      }

      const data = await response.json();

      return Ok({
        name: data.name,
        description: data.description,
        stars: data.stargazers_count,
        forks: data.forks_count,
        language: data.language,
        url: data.html_url
      });
    } catch (error) {
      return Err(new ToolError(
        `GitHub API call failed: ${error.message}`,
        'GithubTool'
      ));
    }
  }

  descriptor(): ToolDescriptor {
    return {
      type: 'function',
      function: {
        name: 'get_github_repo',
        description: 'Get information about a GitHub repository including stars, forks, and description',
        parameters: {
          type: 'object',
          properties: {
            owner: {
              type: 'string',
              description: 'GitHub username or organization name'
            },
            repo: {
              type: 'string',
              description: 'Repository name'
            }
          },
          required: ['owner', 'repo']
        }
      }
    };
  }
}

// Usage
const tool = new GithubTool(process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN);
const tools = [tool];

const messages = [
  Message.user('Tell me about the microsoft/TypeScript repository')
];

const result = await broker.generate(messages, tools);

See Also

• Broker Guide
• API Reference - Tools
• Best Practices