AI glossary
Tool calling
Tool calling lets a language model ask your program to run a named function with arguments, such as a search or a lookup, and then use the result.
You describe the tools in the request: a name, what it does and a schema for its arguments. The model does not run anything; it replies with "call get_order with id 1042", your code runs it and sends back the result.
This is how a model gets live data and takes actions it cannot do in text alone, from checking stock to booking a slot.
Your code decides what actually runs. Check every argument, refuse what the user may not do, and ask a person before anything that cannot be undone.
Learn it hands-on
These free lessons teach it with commands to run in a lab and checked tasks. Read them whole with no account.