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Tools
A tool is something Stoa can do beyond writing text. When an agent needs to look up a customer record, query a database, fetch a calendar, trigger a workflow, or call an internal system, it does it through a tool.
You usually don't pick tools yourself. Stoa decides when to call one based on your question. But it helps to know what's happening so you can read a chat clearly and nudge Stoa in the right direction when needed.
What tools look like in a chat
When Stoa calls a tool during a chat, you see it happen inline. A small panel appears under the assistant message with:
- The tool name (for example, "Customer Lookup" or "Search Project Database").
- The inputs Stoa sent to the tool.
- The result the tool returned.
The result feeds back into the answer. So if you ask "What's the status of project Atlas?" and Stoa calls a project database tool, you'll see the database query, the rows that came back, and then the written answer that uses those rows.
This visibility is intentional. You can always see what Stoa actually looked up, which is the difference between an answer you trust and an answer you guess at.
Tools that ask first
Some tools are set up to ask before they run rather than after, usually ones that change something rather than just look something up. When Stoa wants to call one of these, you'll see a prompt showing the tool, what it's about to send it, and Approve and Deny buttons. Nothing happens until you answer. This is separate from workflow approval gates, which park a whole run for someone else to sign off; this is a one-off check with you, the person in the conversation, before a single call goes ahead.
Common kinds of tools
What's available depends on your organization's setup. Typical tools include:
- Database lookups. Customer records, project status, inventory, employee directory.
- Document fetches. Pull a specific record, contract, or report by ID.
- Search inside other systems. Ticket system, CRM, ERP, electronic health record.
- Calculations. Currency conversion, date math, unit conversion, simple stats.
- Web fetches. Pull a page or feed from an approved external source.
- Workflow triggers. Kick off an automated process, create a task, send a notification.
Your admins decide which tools exist and which agents are allowed to use them.
Permissions on tools
You only see and use the tools you have permission for. If a tool is restricted (because it touches sensitive data or runs an action with side effects), Stoa simply won't offer it to you. You won't see a refusal, you'll just see Stoa working without that tool.
Two practical effects:
- A teammate may get a different answer to the same question because they have access to a tool you don't.
- If you expected a lookup to happen and it didn't, you may need extra access. Ask your administrator.
Nudging Stoa to use a tool
Most of the time you just ask your question and Stoa picks the right tool. But you can be explicit when you want to:
- "Look this up in the customer database."
- "Check the project tracker for the latest status."
- "Use the document store to fetch contract C-2041."
A direct instruction tells Stoa which tool to prefer. It still has to be allowed to use it, and the tool still has to return something useful, but the hint usually works.
When a tool is unavailable
Sometimes a tool fails. The system might be down, your query might return nothing, or the tool might not have permission to access the record you asked for.
When that happens you'll see the failure in the same panel where successful tool calls show up. Stoa explains what went wrong and tries to answer with what it has. You may see a note like "I couldn't reach the project database, here's what I know from documents instead."
If a tool fails repeatedly, tell your administrator.
Tools versus knowledge bases
It's worth keeping these separate in your head:
- A knowledge base is a document or source Stoa has indexed.
- A tool is a live call to another system.
If the answer is in a document your team has uploaded, Stoa uses a knowledge base. If the answer needs a fresh lookup from a live system, Stoa uses a tool. Many questions need both.