Tool Use and Function Calling

Know the Vocabulary

This lesson uses the terms below many times. Read them once now, and come back here when a later section needs one.

• Agent: A system in which the model chooses some of the next steps, within limits that the application enforces.
• Tool: A function the model may ask the system to run, such as looking up an order or issuing a refund.
• Function calling: The mechanism that lets a model use tools. The model writes a structured request, and ordinary code runs the function.
• Tool menu: The list of tools the model may call during one task