Tool use
Also called: function calling
By HubAI editorial team · Source checked: 24 October 2026What does it mean?
A model proposing calls to functions or services that an application makes available. The surrounding application normally executes the call and returns the result.
Picture this
An assistant asks to look up a delivery. The app checks access, calls the order system and returns the status; the model then explains it to the user.
Where you’ll come across it
Search, calendars, databases and other actions beyond generating text. Keep read-only and write permissions separate, especially for sending, spending or deleting.
What it doesn’t mean
A proposed tool call is not permission. Validate arguments, authenticate the user and require approval for consequential actions outside the model.
Draw the permission boundary
A short exercise · use fictional or non-sensitive material.
- Sketch a simple assistant that drafts a reply but cannot send it. Use invented recipients.
- Mark which tools it can read from, which it could write to and where approval is required.
- Try an instruction inside a sample document asking it to ignore those limits. Check that actual permissions still block the action.
Which safeguard is enforced by the application rather than a polite instruction?
Did that make it clearer?
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Written and explained by HubAI. The reference below lets you go deeper; it is not an endorsement of a particular product.
Technical reference: huggingface.co ↗