Glossary

External Actions

Also called: Tool Actions, External Tool Actions

Operations performed by an AI system that interact with external tools, services, APIs, or physical systems to retrieve information, modify state, or execute tasks beyond the model's internal reasoning.

Explore more about Tool Use

Related terms

Tool Invocation

The act of executing an external tool or function call with specified parameters as directed by an AI agent.

Function Calling

A capability that enables an AI model to identify when an external function or tool should be invoked, generate the required structured arguments, and incorporate the returned results into its workflow or response.

Action Execution

The process of carrying out a selected action or tool invocation as part of an agent's plan while tracking its outcome and execution state.

Signal, not noise.

Focused newsletter for builders and knowledge workers tracking how AI is changing real work. We surface what matters in practice, not every headline. Curated for practitioners, not spectators.

Subscribe to our newsletter