Glossary term
Tool calling
A model capability to request structured calls to external functions or APIs, whose results are returned to the model.
Also called function calling. The application defines tools with names, descriptions and parameter schemas; the model chooses when to call them.
The application, not the model, executes calls, which is where validation, permissions and approvals are enforced.
Related terms
- AI agentA system in which a language model decides which actions to take, calls tools to take them and uses the results to choose its next step.
- Prompt injectionAn attack in which text supplied to a model, directly or inside retrieved content, attempts to override its instructions.
- Structured outputConstraining a model to produce data in a defined format, such as JSON matching a schema.
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