Overview
Tools let the agent do things beyond chatting: look up orders, search your catalogue, answer from your knowledge base, or call your own systems. The agent decides on its own when to use a tool, based on the conversation and the tool's description. They come in two groups.
1. Built-in tools
These are ready to switch on.
Tool | Default | What it does | Ideal use case |
Process images customers send | On | Reads photos customers send | User searches for a certain product based on the image sent. |
Look up customer orders | Off | Fetches the contact's 5 most recent active orders. Requires a connected Shopify integration. | User asks for Shopify order status. For status checking from other platform, Custom API tool below can be configured. |
If image processing is on, mention in your AI intro message that images customers send are processed.
2. Custom tools
You configure these yourself. Add them with Add tool.
Tool | What it does |
Knowledge base | Answers from one of your content sources, such as a website, FAQ or documents. Use it for service and policy questions. |
Product search | Searches a product feed, shows product details and finds similar items. Use it for product discovery and upsell. |
Custom API | Calls any HTTP endpoint in your stack, for example customer reviews, or loyalty points. |
You can add the same tool type more than once, for example two Knowledge bases for different topics. The same knowledge base or feed can't be attached twice to one stage.
Advantages
Answers grounded in your data. Product, order and FAQ answers come from your systems, not the model's guesswork.
Commerce inside the chat. Customers can search, compare and get recommendations without leaving WhatsApp or Web Chat.
Connect anything. Custom API reaches your own backend with no developer-built integration on our side. Credentials are stored securely and never shown to the agent.
Richer customer profiles. Sizes and preferences customers mention, and values returned by your APIs, can be saved as contact properties for segmentation and later flows.
Control over the order of work. Rules make sure, for example, that a customer is identified before their loyalty balance is checked.
How to
Switch on built-in tools
Open the Tools tab.
Under Built-in tools, toggle Process images customers send and Look up customer orders as needed.
For order lookup, click the gear icon. In Response instructions, write how the agent should present order information. Your text is remembered for the next stage you build.
Add a Product search
Click Add tool → Product search and give the tile a clear name.
Pick a Storefront (product feed).
Optional: set Product Search Criteria to improve product catalogue filtering capability esp. for feed.
Optional: use Result Ranking to Boost items you want to promote, such as new arrivals or best sellers, or Bury items you don't.
Choose the options: Similar products, Product details, Exclude previously recommended products.
Add a Knowledge base
Click Add tool → Knowledge base.
Under Select knowledge base, choose the source.
For website sources, check the sync status. Use Re-sync after you update your site.
Add a Custom API
Click Add tool → Custom API and name it, for example "Check loyalty points".
Write a precise Description, such as "Returns the customer's current loyalty points balance. Use it when the customer asks about points or rewards." The agent decides when to call the tool based on this text.
Choose the Method (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE) and enter the URL. Write
{name}in the URL for values that change per call.Add Parameters. For each one:
• Choose where it goes: Path, Query or Body.
• Describe what it is and mark it Required if needed.
• Choose its source. From the agent means the agent asks for or infers the value. From a variable takes it from the flow, and the agent never sees it.Add Headers if your API needs them.
Under Advanced, set up Authentication: Bearer token, API key, Basic auth, custom header or OAuth 2.0. If needed, add a JSON Request body and a Response mapping to trim the response.
Optional: under Save from response, map a field, such as
data.points, to a text contact property. Saved values can be used in variables from the customer's next message on.
If your team works with technical partners, they can help with the Advanced settings. Everything else needs no code.
Set the order and rules (optional)
Runs after: the tool runs only after the selected tools have succeeded, for example "Check loyalty points" after "Identify customer".
Required: the agent must use this tool before the stage can exit. If the conversation stalls on it for 10 turns, the requirement is lifted so customers never get stuck.
Tips
Name and describe every tool as if you were briefing a new colleague. Vague descriptions lead to tools being used at the wrong moment, or never.
Start with few tools and add more as you see real conversations.