Toolkits

Toolkits are cohesive collections of tools that provide domain-specific capabilities. They encapsulate related functionality and provide consistent interfaces for agents to interact with external services, APIs, and systems.

Core Principles

Encapsulation and Abstraction

Toolkits encapsulate complex operations behind clean interfaces:

  • Hide implementation details
  • Provide consistent error handling
  • Manage authentication and configuration
  • Abstract service-specific complexities

Cohesive Functionality

Each toolkit focuses on a specific domain or service:

  • Related operations grouped together
  • Shared configuration and state
  • Common error handling patterns
  • Consistent interface patterns

Reusability and Composition

Toolkits are designed for reuse across different contexts:

  • Independent of specific agents or tasks
  • Composable with other toolkits
  • Configurable for different use cases
  • Maintainable as separate units

Toolkit Architecture

A toolkit typically consists of:

  1. Base Configuration

    • Service authentication
    • Common settings
    • Shared resources
  2. Core Operations

    • Primary functionality
    • Standard interfaces
    • Error handling
  3. Type Definitions

    • Input/output schemas
    • Validation rules
    • Type safety

Design Principles

When creating toolkits:

  1. Single Responsibility

    • Focus on one domain or service
    • Clear boundaries of functionality
    • Cohesive operations
  2. Robust Error Handling

    • Graceful failure modes
    • Clear error messages
    • Recovery mechanisms
  3. Clean Interfaces

    • Well-defined methods
    • Clear documentation
    • Type safety
  4. Configuration Management

    • Secure credential handling
    • Flexible settings
    • Environment awareness

Implementation Patterns

Toolkits follow common patterns:

  1. Service Client Wrapper

    class ServiceAPI:
        def __init__(self, api_key: str | None = None):
            self.client = ServiceClient(api_key or settings.get_key())
    
  2. Operation Methods

    async def operation(
        self,
        input: str,
        options: Dict[str, Any],
    ) -> Result:
        try:
            return await self.client.execute(input, options)
        except ServiceError as e:
            handle_error(e)
    
  3. Type Safety

    from typing import Dict, Any
    
    class OperationInput:
        field: str
        options: Dict[str, Any]
    

Next Steps

  • Learn about Tasks that use toolkits
  • Explore Flows for orchestration
  • Understand Agents that leverage toolkits

Was this page helpful?