Tools

What it is

Safe, defined actions the AI can take: look up a client in the CRM, fetch a document, create a task.

Why it matters

The system works with live data and real systems instead of copy-paste, while every action stays within limits you set.

Risk without it

Open-ended access lets a model read or change things it should not, and one-off integrations break with every vendor change.

How it works

Each tool is a typed function with a schema, permissions and audit logging. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) exposes them in a standard way, so the same tools work across models and applications. Write actions can require a human to confirm.

Typical stack

• MCP servers
• function / tool calling
• OAuth-scoped service accounts

Pitfalls & trade-offs

• Least privilege per tool and per tenant.
• Validate tool arguments. Never trust model-generated input.
• Timeouts and idempotency for anything that writes.