When to Use This Skill

Build tools that agents can use effectively, including architectural reduction patterns

Use this skill when working with build tools that agents can use effectively, including architectural reduction patterns.

Tool Design for Agents

Tools are the primary mechanism through which agents interact with the world. They define the contract between deterministic systems and non-deterministic agents. Unlike traditional software APIs designed for developers, tool APIs must be designed for language models that reason about intent, infer parameter values, and generate calls from natural language requests. Poor tool design creates failure modes that no amount of prompt engineering can fix. Effective tool design follows specific principles that account for how agents perceive and use tools.

When to Use

Activate this skill when:

• Creating new tools for agent systems
• Debugging tool-related failures or misuse
• Optimizing existing tool sets for better agent performance
• Designing tool APIs from scratch
• Evaluating third-party tools for agent integration
• Standardizing tool conventions across a codebase

Core Concepts