— Concepts

    Tool Use

    An AI's ability to call external tools (APIs, code, search) instead of just generating text.

    Also known as: Function Calling · Tool Calling

    What is Tool Use?

    Tool use is when an LLM decides to invoke an external tool — call an API, run code, search the web, query a database — instead of just generating text. Modern models (Claude with computer use, GPT-4 with function calling, Gemini) all support tool use. This is the foundation of AI agents.

    — Related

    Terms connected to Tool Use

    Concepts

    AI Agent

    An AI system that decides its own next action and takes multi-step actions autonomously.

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    Concepts

    AI Orchestration

    Coordinating multiple AI calls, tools, and decisions into a single workflow.

    Open →

    Concepts

    MCP (Model Context Protocol)

    Anthropic's open standard for connecting AI assistants to external tools and data.

    Open →

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