Built-in Tools

Overview

ADK-TS includes a comprehensive library of pre-built tools organized into three categories:

Default Tools - File operations, web access, and shell execution
Common Tools - HTTP requests, user interaction, memory, and agent delegation
Memory Tools - Advanced memory management operations

Default Tools

These tools provide fundamental file system and web operations.

ReadTool

Read file contents from the filesystem.

import { ReadTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const readTool = new ReadTool();

// The agent can use this to read files
const agent = new AgentBuilder()
  .withTools([readTool])
  .buildLlm();

filePath

string

required

Path to the file to read

offset

number

Line number to start reading from (0-based)

limit

number

Number of lines to read

WriteTool

Write content to files.

import { WriteTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const writeTool = new WriteTool();

filePath

string

required

Path to the file to write

content

string

required

Content to write to the file

EditTool

Edit existing files with search and replace.

import { EditTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const editTool = new EditTool();

filePath

string

required

Path to the file to edit

oldString

string

required

Text to search for

newString

string

required

Text to replace with

replaceAll

boolean

Replace all occurrences (default: false)

GlobTool

Search for files matching patterns.

import { GlobTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const globTool = new GlobTool();

pattern

string

required

Glob pattern (e.g., ”/*.ts”, “src//*.js”)

path

string

Directory to search in (defaults to current directory)

GrepTool

Search file contents using regex patterns.

import { GrepTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const grepTool = new GrepTool();

pattern

string

required

Regex pattern to search for

path

string

Directory to search in

include

string

File pattern to include (e.g., “.js”, ”.”)

BashTool

Execute terminal commands with security restrictions.

Security Critical: BashTool is disabled by default. Only enable in trusted, sandboxed environments.

import { BashTool } from '@iqai/adk';

// Whitelist mode (recommended)
const bashTool = new BashTool({
  enabled: true,
  mode: 'whitelist',
  allowedCommands: ['ls', 'pwd', 'echo', 'cat', 'grep'],
  maxTimeout: 30000
});

// Sandboxed mode (Docker required)
const sandboxedBash = new BashTool({
  enabled: true,
  mode: 'sandboxed',
  dockerImage: 'alpine:latest',
  maxTimeout: 30000
});

// Unrestricted mode (DANGEROUS - dev only)
const unrestrictedBash = new BashTool({
  enabled: true,
  mode: 'unrestricted',  // Not recommended
  maxTimeout: 30000
});

Configuration Options:

enabled

boolean

required

Must be explicitly set to true

mode

string

required

Security mode: whitelist, sandboxed, or unrestricted

allowedCommands

string[]

Commands allowed in whitelist mode (defaults to safe commands)

dockerImage

string

Docker image for sandboxed mode (default: alpine:latest)

maxTimeout

number

Command timeout in milliseconds (default: 30000)

WebFetchTool

Fetch content from web URLs.

import { WebFetchTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const webFetchTool = new WebFetchTool();

url

string

required

URL to fetch

WebSearchTool

Perform web searches using Google.

import { WebSearchTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const webSearchTool = new WebSearchTool({
  apiKey: process.env.GOOGLE_API_KEY!,
  searchEngineId: process.env.GOOGLE_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID!
});

query

string

required

Search query

numResults

number

Number of results to return (default: 10)

Common Tools

Tools for HTTP requests, user interaction, and system operations.

HttpRequestTool

Make HTTP requests to external APIs.

import { HttpRequestTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const httpTool = new HttpRequestTool();

Parameters:

url

string

required

URL to send the request to

method

string

HTTP method: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD, OPTIONS (default: GET)

headers

object

Request headers

body

string

Request body (typically JSON string)

params

object

URL query parameters

timeout

number

Request timeout in milliseconds (default: 10000)

Example:

// Agent can make API calls
const response = await agent.ask(
  'Get the latest Bitcoin price from https://api.example.com/btc/price'
);

FileOperationsTool

Comprehensive file system operations.

import { FileOperationsTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const fileOpsTool = new FileOperationsTool({
  basePath: process.cwd()  // Restrict operations to this directory
});

Parameters:

operation

string

required

Operation: read, write, append, delete, exists, list, mkdir

filepath

string

required

Path to file or directory

content

string

Content for write/append operations

encoding

string

File encoding (default: utf8)

Example:

// Agent can perform various file operations
const agent = new AgentBuilder()
  .withTools([fileOpsTool])
  .buildLlm();

await agent.ask('List all files in the current directory');
await agent.ask('Create a new directory called "output"');
await agent.ask('Write "Hello World" to output/test.txt');

UserInteractionTool

Prompt users for input during agent execution.

import { UserInteractionTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const userTool = new UserInteractionTool();

message

string

required

Message to display to the user

type

string

Input type: text, confirmation, choice

GetUserChoiceTool

Present multiple choice options to users.

import { GetUserChoiceTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const choiceTool = new GetUserChoiceTool();

message

string

required

Question to ask the user

choices

string[]

required

Available options

GoogleSearchTool

Google search with grounding (requires Google AI).

import { GoogleSearchTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const googleSearch = new GoogleSearchTool();

RecallMemoryTool

Recall information from conversation memory.

import { RecallMemoryTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const recallTool = new RecallMemoryTool();

query

string

required

Search query for memory recall

PreloadMemoryTool

Preload memory context at the start of a conversation.

import { PreloadMemoryTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const preloadTool = new PreloadMemoryTool();

LoadArtifactsTool

Load files attached to the session.

import { LoadArtifactsTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const artifactsTool = new LoadArtifactsTool();

filename

string

required

Name of the artifact to load

AgentTool

Delegate tasks to other agents.

import { AgentTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const specialistAgent = new AgentBuilder()
  .withName('specialist')
  .withModel('gpt-4')
  .buildLlm();

const agentTool = new AgentTool({
  agent: specialistAgent,
  name: 'consult_specialist',
  description: 'Consult a specialist agent for complex queries'
});

TransferToAgentTool

Transfer conversation control to another agent.

import { TransferToAgentTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const transferTool = new TransferToAgentTool({
  targetAgent: specialistAgent,
  transferMessage: 'Transferring to specialist...'
});

ExitLoopTool

Exit from loop agent iterations.

import { ExitLoopTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const exitTool = new ExitLoopTool();

Memory Tools

Advanced memory management for agents.

WriteMemoryTool

Store information in long-term memory.

import { WriteMemoryTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const writeMemoryTool = new WriteMemoryTool();

content

string

required

Content to store in memory

metadata

object

Additional metadata for the memory entry

ForgetMemoryTool

Remove information from memory.

import { ForgetMemoryTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const forgetTool = new ForgetMemoryTool();

query

string

required

Query to identify memories to forget

GetSessionDetailsTool

Retrieve current session information.

import { GetSessionDetailsTool } from '@iqai/adk';

const sessionTool = new GetSessionDetailsTool();

Returns:

Session ID
User ID
App name
Creation time
Last activity
Session metadata

Using Multiple Tools

Combine tools for powerful agent capabilities:

import {
  AgentBuilder,
  ReadTool,
  WriteTool,
  EditTool,
  HttpRequestTool,
  RecallMemoryTool,
  WriteMemoryTool
} from '@iqai/adk';

const agent = new AgentBuilder()
  .withName('multi_tool_agent')
  .withModel('gpt-4')
  .withTools([
    // File operations
    new ReadTool(),
    new WriteTool(),
    new EditTool(),
    
    // HTTP requests
    new HttpRequestTool(),
    
    // Memory management
    new RecallMemoryTool(),
    new WriteMemoryTool()
  ])
  .withInstruction(`
    You are a helpful assistant with access to file operations,
    HTTP requests, and memory management. Use tools as needed to
    accomplish user requests.
  `)
  .buildLlm();

const response = await agent.ask(
  'Read package.json, fetch latest version from npm API, and update the version field'
);

Tool Security Considerations

Always validate tool inputs and restrict file system access to trusted directories.

File System Tools

Use basePath option in FileOperationsTool to restrict access
Never expose tools with unrestricted file system access to untrusted users
Validate file paths to prevent directory traversal attacks

Bash Tool

Never use unrestricted mode in production
Prefer whitelist mode with minimal command set
Use sandboxed mode for untrusted operations (requires Docker)
Set appropriate timeouts to prevent resource exhaustion

HTTP Tools

Validate URLs before making requests
Set reasonable timeouts
Be cautious with user-provided URLs
Consider rate limiting for external API calls

Next Steps

Creating Tools

Learn how to create custom tools

MCP Integration

Connect to external MCP servers

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Agents

Models & Providers

Tools

Memory & State

Advanced Features

CLI Tool

Examples

​Overview

​Default Tools

​ReadTool

​WriteTool

​EditTool

​GlobTool

​GrepTool

​BashTool

​WebFetchTool

​WebSearchTool

​Common Tools

​HttpRequestTool

​FileOperationsTool

​UserInteractionTool

​GetUserChoiceTool

​GoogleSearchTool

​RecallMemoryTool

​PreloadMemoryTool

​LoadArtifactsTool

​AgentTool

​TransferToAgentTool

​ExitLoopTool

​Memory Tools

​WriteMemoryTool

​ForgetMemoryTool

​GetSessionDetailsTool

​Using Multiple Tools

​Tool Security Considerations

​File System Tools

​Bash Tool

​HTTP Tools

​Next Steps

Creating Tools

MCP Integration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Default Tools

ReadTool

WriteTool

EditTool

GlobTool

GrepTool

BashTool

WebFetchTool

WebSearchTool

Common Tools

HttpRequestTool

FileOperationsTool

UserInteractionTool

GetUserChoiceTool

GoogleSearchTool

RecallMemoryTool

PreloadMemoryTool

LoadArtifactsTool

AgentTool

TransferToAgentTool

ExitLoopTool

Memory Tools

WriteMemoryTool

ForgetMemoryTool

GetSessionDetailsTool

Using Multiple Tools

Tool Security Considerations

File System Tools

Bash Tool

HTTP Tools

Next Steps