🔧Tools

Browse, configure, and assign MCP tools to agents

Connect agents to 400+ integrations via MCP protocol

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📖 Table of Contents

1. Overview

2. Quick Start

3. Tools Dashboard

4. Tool Categories

5. Tool Modals

6. Common Tasks

7. Tips & Best Practices

8. Troubleshooting

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Overview

What are MCP Tools?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) Tools are external integrations that agents can use during task execution - like GitHub, Slack, databases, cloud services, and 400+ other integrations.

Access: Navigate to Tools from the sidebar

Tools Overview

What Can You Do Here?

• ✅ Browse 400+ tools organized by category

• ✅ Assign tools to agents with custom permissions

• ✅ Configure tool settings and credentials

• ✅ Test connections before use

• ✅ Monitor tool usage and performance

• ✅ Create custom tools (advanced)

Key Concepts

Tool: External service integration (e.g., GitHub MCP)

Credential: Authentication info for tool (API key, OAuth token)

Assignment: Linking tool to agent with permissions

Permission: What agent can do (read/write/execute)

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Quick Start

Assign Your First Tool (3 Minutes)

Goal: Give an agent GitHub access

Steps:

1. Go to Tools page

2. Find "GitHub" tool (search or browse Developer Tools)

3. Click "Assign to Agent"

4. Select your agent

5. Choose credential (or create new)

6. Set permissions: ✅ Read ✅ Write

7. Click "Assign Tool"

⏱️ Time: 3 minutes 🎯 Result: Agent can use GitHub

See detailed walkthrough →

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Tools Dashboard

Statistics Cards

🔧 Available Tools 💡 Tooltip: "Total tools in registry. 400+ integrations available."

• Count of all available tools

• New tools this month

• Example: "417 tools"

✅ Active Assignments 💡 Tooltip: "Tool-agent connections currently active. Shows integration usage."

• Count of active assignments

• Total possible assignments

• Example: "23 active"

📂 Tool Categories 💡 Tooltip: "Tools organized by type (Developer, Cloud, Communication, etc.)"

• Number of categories

• Tools per category

• Example: "12 categories"

📊 Usage This Week 💡 Tooltip: "Tool calls made by agents this week"

• Total tool calls

• Trend vs last week

• Example: "1,247 calls"

Tools Stats

Search and Filter

Search Bar 💡 Tooltip: "Search tools by name, description, or provider"

• Find tools quickly

• Search by name: "Slack"

• Search by capability: "notifications"

• Real-time results

Category Filter 💡 Tooltip: "Filter by tool category"

• All Categories

• Developer Tools

• Communication

• Cloud Services

• Databases

• AI Services

• Monitoring

• etc.

Status Filter:

• All Tools

• Active (assigned to agents)

• Available (not yet assigned)

• Inactive (disabled)

Tools Filters

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Tool Categories

Developer Tools 💻

GitHub 💡 Tooltip: "Interact with GitHub repos, PRs, issues, commits"

• Read repos, create PRs, comment on issues

• Requires: GitHub Personal Access Token

• Use cases: Code review, PR automation

GitLab

• Similar to GitHub for GitLab

• Merge requests, pipelines, issues

Bitbucket

• Bitbucket Cloud/Server support

• Repository management

Jira

• Create/update issues

• Project management

• Sprint tracking

Developer Tools

Communication Tools 💬

Slack 💡 Tooltip: "Send messages, create channels, manage users"

• Send notifications

• Post workflow results

• Channel management

• Requires: Slack Bot Token

Discord

• Discord webhooks

• Channel messages

• Server management

Email (SendGrid, SMTP)

• Send automated emails

• Email templates

• Delivery tracking

Microsoft Teams

• Teams messages

• Channel posts

• Adaptive cards

Communication Tools

Cloud Services ☁️

AWS 💡 Tooltip: "Interact with AWS services (S3, Lambda, EC2, etc.)"

• S3: File storage

• Lambda: Function execution

• EC2: Instance management

• Requires: AWS Access Key + Secret

Google Cloud

• GCS: Storage

• Compute Engine

• Cloud Functions

Microsoft Azure

• Blob Storage

• Virtual Machines

• Functions

DigitalOcean

• Droplets

• Spaces

• Kubernetes

Cloud Tools

Database Tools 🗄️

PostgreSQL 💡 Tooltip: "Execute queries, manage tables, run migrations"

• Query execution

• Schema management

• Data export

• Requires: Database credentials

MySQL / MariaDB

• Similar to PostgreSQL

MongoDB

• NoSQL database operations

• Document queries

• Aggregation pipelines

Redis

• Cache operations

• Key-value storage

• Pub/sub

Elasticsearch

• Full-text search

• Index management

• Query DSL

Database Tools

AI Services 🤖

OpenAI 💡 Tooltip: "Additional OpenAI capabilities beyond agent models"

• Image generation (DALL-E)

• Embeddings

• Fine-tuning management

Anthropic

• Claude API access

• Vision capabilities

HuggingFace

• Model inference

• Dataset access

• Model management

AI Tools

Utilities 🛠️

File Operations 💡 Tooltip: "Read, write, list files. Essential for most agents."

• Read files

• Write files

• List directories

• File permissions

• Built-in, always available

Shell Commands 💡 Tooltip: "Execute shell commands. ⚠️ Security risk - restrict carefully."

• Run bash/shell commands

• Environment variables

• Command output capture

• ⚠️ Requires explicit enablement

HTTP Client

• Make HTTP requests

• REST API calls

• Webhook triggers

Date/Time

• Current time

• Date formatting

• Timezone conversions

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Tool Modals

Create Tool Modal

How to open: Click "Create Custom Tool" button

💡 Tooltip: "Define custom tool integration for services not in the registry"

Create Tool Modal

Fields:

Tool Name (required) 💡 Tooltip: "Unique identifier for this tool"

Provider (required) 💡 Tooltip: "Company or service providing this integration"

Description 💡 Tooltip: "Explain what this tool does and when agents should use it"

MCP Server URL 💡 Tooltip: "WebSocket URL for MCP server. Format: ws://host:port or wss://host:port"

Capabilities (JSON) 💡 Tooltip: "Define what methods this tool exposes"

Example:

{
  "methods": [
    {
      "name": "sendNotification",
      "description": "Send notification to users",
      "parameters": {
        "message": "string",
        "channel": "string"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Credentials Schema (JSON) 💡 Tooltip: "Define what credentials this tool needs"

Example:

{
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "api_key",
      "type": "string",
      "required": true,
      "secure": true
    },
    {
      "name": "base_url",
      "type": "string",
      "default": "https://api.example.com"
    }
  ]
}

Category:

• Select category or create custom

Icon (emoji):

• Choose emoji for visual identification

Tags:

• Add tags for organization

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Tool Details Modal

How to open: Click tool card or "View Details" button

💡 Tooltip: "Complete tool information and usage statistics"

Tool Details Modal

Displays:

Tool Information:

• Name, provider, version

• Description and capabilities

• Category and tags

• Status (active/inactive)

Credentials Required:

• Lists required credentials

• Shows credential type

• Link to create credential

Methods Available:

• All callable methods

• Method parameters

• Return types

• Usage examples

Usage Statistics:

• Total calls: All-time

• Calls this week

• Success rate

• Average latency

• Errors encountered

Assigned To:

• Which agents have this tool

• Permission levels

• Last used timestamp

Actions:

• Configure tool

• Test connection

• View usage logs

• Assign to agent

• Disable/Enable

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Tool Configuration Modal

How to open: Click "⚙️ Configure" on tool card

💡 Tooltip: "Modify tool settings and test configuration"

Tool Config Modal

Configuration Fields:

Tool Settings:

• Tool name

• Provider

• Version

• Status (active/inactive)

Connection Settings:

• MCP server URL

• Timeout settings

• Retry configuration

• Rate limits

Default Credentials 💡 Tooltip: "Default credential used when assigning to new agents. Can be overridden per agent."

• Select from available credentials

• Or leave blank for per-agent selection

Performance Settings:

• Cache results: Enable/disable

• Cache TTL: Duration

• Max concurrent calls

• Circuit breaker threshold

Test Connection:

• Click "Test Connection" button

• Verifies MCP server accessible

• Tests with default credential

• Shows test results

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Agent Tool Assignment Modal

How to open: Click "Assign to Agent" on tool card

💡 Tooltip: "Connect tool to agent with specific permissions and configuration"

Assign Tool Modal

Assignment Fields:

Select Agent (required) 💡 Tooltip: "Which agent gets access to this tool"

• Dropdown of all agents

• Shows agent type and status

• Filter by agent type

Select Credential (required for most tools) 💡 Tooltip: "Which credential to use for authentication. Must be configured in Settings."

• Dropdown of available credentials

• Shows credential environment (prod/dev)

• Create new credential link

• ⚠️ Must exist first

Permissions (checkboxes) 💡 Tooltip: "Control what operations agent can perform with this tool"

• ✅ Read: Query data, retrieve information

• ✅ Write: Create, update, delete data

• ✅ Execute: Run commands, trigger actions

Example Permissions:

• GitHub: ✅ Read (view repos) ✅ Write (create PRs) ❌ Execute (no admin)

• Database: ✅ Read (SELECT) ✅ Write (INSERT/UPDATE) ❌ Execute (no DROP)

• Slack: ✅ Read (read messages) ✅ Write (send messages) ❌ Execute (no admin)

Enable Tool 💡 Tooltip: "Tool assignment can be active or inactive without deleting"

• ✅ Enabled: Agent can use immediately

• ❌ Disabled: Assignment exists but inactive

Configuration (JSON, optional) 💡 Tooltip: "Tool-specific settings for this agent. Overrides defaults."

Example for GitHub:

{
  "default_repo": "myorg/myapp",
  "auto_assign_prs": true,
  "pr_template": "default"
}

Test Assignment:

• Test before saving

• Verifies credential works

• Tests permissions

• Shows test result

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Common Tasks

Task 1: Assigning GitHub to Agent

Scenario: Agent needs to read repos and create PRs

Prerequisites:

• GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT)

• PAT with repo scope

Steps:

1. First: Create credential (if not exists)

   • Go to Settings → Credentials

   • Create "GitHub" credential

   • Paste PAT

   • Test connection

2. Assign to agent:

   • Tools page → Find "GitHub"

   • Click "Assign to Agent"

   • Select agent: "CodeReviewer Pro"

   • Select credential: "GitHub Production"

   • Permissions: ✅ Read ✅ Write ❌ Execute

   • Click "Assign"

3. Verify:

   • Assignment appears in agent's tools list

   • Test with simple task: "List repositories"

⏱️ Time: 5 minutes 🎯 Result: Agent can use GitHub

Task 2: Testing Tool Connection

Scenario: Verify Slack tool works before assigning

Steps:

1. Tools page → Find "Slack"

2. Click tool card → "View Details"

3. Click "Test Connection" button

4. Select credential to test

5. Test executes:

   • Connects to Slack API

   • Sends test message (if configured)

   • Returns result

6. ✅ Success: Tool ready to assign

7. ❌ Failure: Fix credential or configuration

⏱️ Time: 1 minute 🎯 Result: Verified working tool

Task 3: Viewing Tool Usage

Scenario: See which agents use which tools

Steps:

1. Tools page → Select a tool

2. Click "View Details"

3. Usage Statistics section shows:

   • Total calls made

   • Calls by agent

   • Success rate

   • Most used methods

4. Identify heavy users

5. Optimize if needed

⏱️ Time: 2 minutes 🎯 Result: Tool usage understanding

Task 4: Removing Tool from Agent

Scenario: Agent no longer needs a tool

Steps:

1. Agents page → Select agent

2. Configuration tab → Edit Configuration

3. Tools section

4. Find tool to remove

5. Click "✕ Remove"

6. Confirm removal

7. Tool unassigned

⏱️ Time: 1 minute 🎯 Result: Tool removed safely

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Advanced Features

Custom MCP Tools

🔧 Advanced

Create custom tools for internal services.

Requirements:

• MCP server implementation

• Server accessible to Automatos

• Credential schema defined

• Method capabilities documented

See Developer Guide for MCP server development →

Tool Rate Limiting

Configure rate limits to prevent API exhaustion:

Per-Tool Limits:

• Calls per minute

• Calls per hour

• Calls per day

• Concurrent call limit

Per-Agent Limits:

• Override tool defaults

• Agent-specific rate limits

Tool Monitoring

Real-Time Monitoring:

• Active tool calls

• Response times

• Error rates

• Queue depth

Alerts:

• Tool failures

• Rate limit approaches

• Slow responses

• Connection errors

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Tips & Best Practices

Tool Selection

💡 Best Practices:

1. Assign only needed tools: Don't give agents unnecessary access

2. Use least privilege: Minimal permissions required

3. Test before production: Always test tool assignments

4. Monitor usage: Remove unused tools

5. Rotate credentials: Regular credential updates

Credential Management

Security:

• Store credentials in Settings → Credentials (encrypted)

• Never hardcode credentials

• Use different credentials for dev/prod

• Test credentials before tool assignment

• Rotate periodically

See Settings Guide →

Permission Levels

Guidelines:

Tool Type	Read	Write	Execute
GitHub	✅ Always	✅ For automation	❌ Admin not needed
Database	✅ Always	⚠️ Careful	❌ Never (DDL)
Slack	✅ If needed	✅ For notifications	❌ Admin not needed
Cloud	✅ Always	⚠️ Cost risk	❌ Dangerous

💡 Tip: Start with Read only, add Write when needed, avoid Execute.

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Troubleshooting

Tool Assignment Failed

Symptom: "Failed to assign tool to agent"

Solutions:

1. Check credential exists:

   • Settings → Credentials

   • Credential must exist first

   • Create if missing

2. Verify credential works:

   • Test credential connection

   • Update if expired

3. Check agent status:

   • Agent must be active

   • Inactive agents can't receive tools

Tool Connection Failed

Symptom: "Connection test failed"

Solutions:

1. Check credential:

   • Verify API key is correct

   • Check for typos

   • Regenerate if needed

2. Check MCP server:

   • Server must be running

   • URL must be accessible

   • Check firewall rules

3. Check permissions:

   • Credential may lack required scopes

   • GitHub: needs repo scope

   • Slack: needs chat:write scope

Tool Not Working in Workflow

Symptom: Agent has tool but can't use it

Solutions:

1. Check permissions:

   • Agent may need Write permission

   • Review assignment permissions

2. Check credential:

   • May have expired

   • Test connection

   • Update if needed

3. Check tool status:

   • Tool must be active/enabled

   • Check in Tool Details

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Related Guides

• Agents Guide: Assign tools to agents

• Settings Guide: Manage credentials

• Workflows Guide: Use tools in workflows

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FAQ

How many tools can I assign to one agent?

No hard limit, but recommendations:

• 3-7 tools: Optimal for focused agents

• 10+ tools: Generalist agents

• 20+ tools: Rarely needed, may confuse agent

💡 Tip: Assign tools based on actual need, not "just in case".

Do tools cost extra?

Tool usage may incur costs:

• API calls to third-party services (their pricing)

• Token usage for tool responses

• Automatos doesn't charge extra for tools

Examples:

• GitHub API: Free (rate limited)

• AWS S3: AWS pricing

• OpenAI API: OpenAI pricing

Can tools access my data?

Yes, with credentials:

• Tools use your provided credentials

• Access what credential allows

• Subject to permission restrictions

• All access logged in audit trail

Security:

• Credentials encrypted in database

• Access logged

• Permissions enforced

• Can revoke anytime

What's MCP?

MCP = Model Context Protocol

Standard protocol for tool integrations:

• Defined by Anthropic/community

• Language-agnostic

• Supports streaming

• Bi-directional communication

Learn more →

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Next: Playbooks Guide →

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