Introduction

CrewAI tools empower agents with capabilities ranging from web searching and data analysis to collaboration and delegating tasks among coworkers. This documentation outlines how to create, integrate, and leverage these tools within the CrewAI framework, including a new focus on collaboration tools.

What is a Tool?

A tool in CrewAI is a skill or function that agents can utilize to perform various actions. This includes tools from the CrewAI Toolkit and LangChain Tools, enabling everything from simple searches to complex interactions and effective teamwork among agents.

Key Characteristics of Tools

  • Utility: Crafted for tasks such as web searching, data analysis, content generation, and agent collaboration.
  • Integration: Boosts agent capabilities by seamlessly integrating tools into their workflow.
  • Customizability: Provides the flexibility to develop custom tools or utilize existing ones, catering to the specific needs of agents.
  • Error Handling: Incorporates robust error handling mechanisms to ensure smooth operation.
  • Caching Mechanism: Features intelligent caching to optimize performance and reduce redundant operations.

Using CrewAI Tools

To enhance your agents’ capabilities with crewAI tools, begin by installing our extra tools package:

pip install 'crewai[tools]'

Here’s an example demonstrating their use:

Code
import os
from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew
# Importing crewAI tools
from crewai_tools import (
    DirectoryReadTool,
    FileReadTool,
    SerperDevTool,
    WebsiteSearchTool
)

# Set up API keys
os.environ["SERPER_API_KEY"] = "Your Key" # serper.dev API key
os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"] = "Your Key"

# Instantiate tools
docs_tool = DirectoryReadTool(directory='./blog-posts')
file_tool = FileReadTool()
search_tool = SerperDevTool()
web_rag_tool = WebsiteSearchTool()

# Create agents
researcher = Agent(
    role='Market Research Analyst',
    goal='Provide up-to-date market analysis of the AI industry',
    backstory='An expert analyst with a keen eye for market trends.',
    tools=[search_tool, web_rag_tool],
    verbose=True
)

writer = Agent(
    role='Content Writer',
    goal='Craft engaging blog posts about the AI industry',
    backstory='A skilled writer with a passion for technology.',
    tools=[docs_tool, file_tool],
    verbose=True
)

# Define tasks
research = Task(
    description='Research the latest trends in the AI industry and provide a summary.',
    expected_output='A summary of the top 3 trending developments in the AI industry with a unique perspective on their significance.',
    agent=researcher
)

write = Task(
    description='Write an engaging blog post about the AI industry, based on the research analyst’s summary. Draw inspiration from the latest blog posts in the directory.',
    expected_output='A 4-paragraph blog post formatted in markdown with engaging, informative, and accessible content, avoiding complex jargon.',
    agent=writer,
    output_file='blog-posts/new_post.md'  # The final blog post will be saved here
)

# Assemble a crew with planning enabled
crew = Crew(
    agents=[researcher, writer],
    tasks=[research, write],
    verbose=True,
    planning=True,  # Enable planning feature
)

# Execute tasks
crew.kickoff()

Available CrewAI Tools

  • Error Handling: All tools are built with error handling capabilities, allowing agents to gracefully manage exceptions and continue their tasks.
  • Caching Mechanism: All tools support caching, enabling agents to efficiently reuse previously obtained results, reducing the load on external resources and speeding up the execution time. You can also define finer control over the caching mechanism using the cache_function attribute on the tool.

Here is a list of the available tools and their descriptions:

ToolDescription
BrowserbaseLoadToolA tool for interacting with and extracting data from web browsers.
CodeDocsSearchToolA RAG tool optimized for searching through code documentation and related technical documents.
CodeInterpreterToolA tool for interpreting python code.
ComposioToolEnables use of Composio tools.
CSVSearchToolA RAG tool designed for searching within CSV files, tailored to handle structured data.
DALL-E ToolA tool for generating images using the DALL-E API.
DirectorySearchToolA RAG tool for searching within directories, useful for navigating through file systems.
DOCXSearchToolA RAG tool aimed at searching within DOCX documents, ideal for processing Word files.
DirectoryReadToolFacilitates reading and processing of directory structures and their contents.
EXASearchToolA tool designed for performing exhaustive searches across various data sources.
FileReadToolEnables reading and extracting data from files, supporting various file formats.
FirecrawlSearchToolA tool to search webpages using Firecrawl and return the results.
FirecrawlCrawlWebsiteToolA tool for crawling webpages using Firecrawl.
FirecrawlScrapeWebsiteToolA tool for scraping webpages URL using Firecrawl and returning its contents.
GithubSearchToolA RAG tool for searching within GitHub repositories, useful for code and documentation search.
SerperDevToolA specialized tool for development purposes, with specific functionalities under development.
TXTSearchToolA RAG tool focused on searching within text (.txt) files, suitable for unstructured data.
JSONSearchToolA RAG tool designed for searching within JSON files, catering to structured data handling.
LlamaIndexToolEnables the use of LlamaIndex tools.
MDXSearchToolA RAG tool tailored for searching within Markdown (MDX) files, useful for documentation.
PDFSearchToolA RAG tool aimed at searching within PDF documents, ideal for processing scanned documents.
PGSearchToolA RAG tool optimized for searching within PostgreSQL databases, suitable for database queries.
Vision ToolA tool for generating images using the DALL-E API.
RagToolA general-purpose RAG tool capable of handling various data sources and types.
ScrapeElementFromWebsiteToolEnables scraping specific elements from websites, useful for targeted data extraction.
ScrapeWebsiteToolFacilitates scraping entire websites, ideal for comprehensive data collection.
WebsiteSearchToolA RAG tool for searching website content, optimized for web data extraction.
XMLSearchToolA RAG tool designed for searching within XML files, suitable for structured data formats.
YoutubeChannelSearchToolA RAG tool for searching within YouTube channels, useful for video content analysis.
YoutubeVideoSearchToolA RAG tool aimed at searching within YouTube videos, ideal for video data extraction.

Creating your own Tools

Developers can craft custom tools tailored for their agent’s needs or utilize pre-built options.

There are two main ways for one to create a CrewAI tool:

Subclassing BaseTool

Code
from crewai.tools import BaseTool


class MyCustomTool(BaseTool):
    name: str = "Name of my tool"
    description: str = "Clear description for what this tool is useful for, your agent will need this information to use it."

    def _run(self, argument: str) -> str:
        # Implementation goes here
        return "Result from custom tool"

Utilizing the tool Decorator

Code
from crewai.tools import tool
@tool("Name of my tool")
def my_tool(question: str) -> str:
    """Clear description for what this tool is useful for, your agent will need this information to use it."""
    # Function logic here
    return "Result from your custom tool"

Structured Tools

The StructuredTool class wraps functions as tools, providing flexibility and validation while reducing boilerplate. It supports custom schemas and dynamic logic for seamless integration of complex functionalities.

Example:

Using StructuredTool.from_function, you can wrap a function that interacts with an external API or system, providing a structured interface. This enables robust validation and consistent execution, making it easier to integrate complex functionalities into your applications as demonstrated in the following example:

from crewai.tools.structured_tool import CrewStructuredTool
from pydantic import BaseModel

# Define the schema for the tool's input using Pydantic
class APICallInput(BaseModel):
    endpoint: str
    parameters: dict

# Wrapper function to execute the API call
def tool_wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
    # Here, you would typically call the API using the parameters
    # For demonstration, we'll return a placeholder string
    return f"Call the API at {kwargs['endpoint']} with parameters {kwargs['parameters']}"

# Create and return the structured tool
def create_structured_tool():
    return CrewStructuredTool.from_function(
        name='Wrapper API',
        description="A tool to wrap API calls with structured input.",
        args_schema=APICallInput,
        func=tool_wrapper,
    )

# Example usage
structured_tool = create_structured_tool()

# Execute the tool with structured input
result = structured_tool._run(**{
    "endpoint": "https://example.com/api",
    "parameters": {"key1": "value1", "key2": "value2"}
})
print(result)  # Output: Call the API at https://example.com/api with parameters {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2'}

Custom Caching Mechanism

Tools can optionally implement a cache_function to fine-tune caching behavior. This function determines when to cache results based on specific conditions, offering granular control over caching logic.

Code
from crewai.tools import tool

@tool
def multiplication_tool(first_number: int, second_number: int) -> str:
    """Useful for when you need to multiply two numbers together."""
    return first_number * second_number

def cache_func(args, result):
    # In this case, we only cache the result if it's a multiple of 2
    cache = result % 2 == 0
    return cache

multiplication_tool.cache_function = cache_func

writer1 = Agent(
        role="Writer",
        goal="You write lessons of math for kids.",
        backstory="You're an expert in writing and you love to teach kids but you know nothing of math.",
        tools=[multiplication_tool],
        allow_delegation=False,
    )
    #...

Conclusion

Tools are pivotal in extending the capabilities of CrewAI agents, enabling them to undertake a broad spectrum of tasks and collaborate effectively. When building solutions with CrewAI, leverage both custom and existing tools to empower your agents and enhance the AI ecosystem. Consider utilizing error handling, caching mechanisms, and the flexibility of tool arguments to optimize your agents’ performance and capabilities.