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Tools

Tools give your agents the ability to take actions beyond generating text — call APIs, query databases, interact with external services, and more. GenKitKraft supports two types of tools: HTTP Tools and MCP Servers.

HTTP Tools​

HTTP tools are simple, single-endpoint tools. Each tool makes one HTTP request and returns the response to the agent.

Creating an HTTP Tool​

  1. Navigate to Tools in the sidebar.
  2. On the HTTP Tools tab, click Create HTTP Tool.
  3. Fill in the form:
    • Name — A descriptive name (e.g., "Get Weather").
    • Description — Explain what the tool does. The LLM reads this to decide when to use it.
    • Method — HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH).
    • URL — The full endpoint URL.
    • Headers (optional) — Add request headers as key-value pairs (e.g., Authorization: Bearer ...).
    • Body (optional) — Request body for POST/PUT/PATCH methods.
    • Input Schema (optional) — A JSON Schema describing the parameters the LLM should provide. When specified, the LLM will fill in parameters according to this schema and they will be included in the request.
  4. Click Save.

Editing and Deleting​

  • Click the edit icon on a tool card to modify it.
  • Click delete to remove a tool. Any agents using this tool will lose access to it.
Docker networking

If your HTTP tool targets a service running on your host machine (e.g., localhost:9090), and GenKitKraft runs inside Docker, use host.docker.internal instead of localhost or 127.0.0.1. Docker containers can't reach the host's localhost directly.

MCP Servers​

Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers expose collections of tools over a standardized protocol. A single MCP server can provide many tools. GenKitKraft connects to remote MCP servers and discovers their tools automatically.

Transport Modes​

MCP servers communicate over one of two transports:

TransportDescription
SSEServer-Sent Events — the original MCP transport. Uses a long-lived HTTP connection for bidirectional messaging.
Streamable HTTPThe newer transport (March 2025 spec). Uses standard HTTP POST requests. This is the recommended transport for new servers.

GenKitKraft supports both transports and includes automatic fallback — if the configured transport fails, it tries the other one.

Adding an MCP Server​

  1. Navigate to Tools in the sidebar.
  2. Switch to the MCP Servers tab.
  3. Click Add MCP Server.
  4. Fill in the form:
    • Name — A descriptive name (e.g., "Todo Server", "GitHub Tools").
    • Transport — Select SSE or Streamable HTTP.
    • URL — The MCP server endpoint URL.
    • Headers (optional) — Add custom headers as key-value pairs (e.g., for authentication).
  5. Click Save.

Discovering Tools​

After adding an MCP server, you can view the tools it provides:

  • Click Discover Tools on the MCP server card.
  • GenKitKraft connects to the server and lists all available tools with their names, descriptions, and input schemas.
  • This is the same list you'll see when configuring tools for an agent.
Docker networking

The same Docker networking rules apply to MCP servers. Use host.docker.internal for services running on the host machine.

Agent Tool Configuration​

Once you've defined HTTP tools and MCP servers, you can assign specific tools to each agent.

Tools Tab​

  1. Open an agent for editing.
  2. Click the Tools tab.
  3. You'll see two sections:

Adding HTTP Tools​

  1. Click Add HTTP Tool.
  2. A modal shows all available HTTP tools.
  3. Select one or more tools to add.
  4. Click Add — the selected tools appear in the HTTP Tools section.

Adding MCP Server Tools​

  1. Click Add MCP Server.
  2. A modal shows all configured MCP servers.
  3. Select a server — GenKitKraft connects to it and discovers its tools.
  4. Each MCP server gets its own section listing all tools from that server.
  5. Use checkboxes to select specific tools, or use Select All to include every tool.
  6. You can add multiple MCP servers, each in its own section.

Saving​

Click Save Tools to persist the tool configuration. The agent will have access to only the tools you've selected when used in the playground or via the API.

Removing​

  • Remove individual HTTP tools or entire MCP server sections using the delete icon.
  • Uncheck individual MCP tools to exclude them while keeping the server connected.

Playground Tool Overrides​

The playground lets you temporarily override an agent's tool configuration without modifying the saved agent.

Using Tool Overrides​

  1. Open an agent in the playground.
  2. Click the Tools icon in the config bar (next to the configuration button).
  3. A panel opens showing:
    • HTTP Tools — All available HTTP tools with checkboxes. Tools saved in the agent's config are pre-selected.
    • MCP Servers — All configured MCP servers. Select a server to see its tools. Tools saved in the agent's config are pre-selected.
  4. Check or uncheck tools to customize what the agent can use for this session.
  5. The config bar shows a modified indicator when tool overrides differ from the saved config.

Saving Overrides​

Tool overrides are temporary by default. To persist them:

  1. Click Save Config in the playground.
  2. The save modal includes both configuration overrides (provider, model, parameters) and tool overrides.
  3. Save to update the agent's configuration.
note

Tool overrides in the playground do not automatically save. This lets you experiment freely without accidentally modifying the agent's production configuration.