Provider Tools

Most providers expose native tools beyond user-defined function calls: web search, code execution, computer use, hosted retrieval, and more. TanStack AI exports each provider's native tools from a dedicated /tools subpath per adapter package.

You have an adapter already wired up. You want to give the model access to a provider-native capability (e.g. Anthropic web search) and be sure you never pair a tool with a model that doesn't support it. By the end of this page, you'll have imported the factory, added it to chat({ tools: [...] }), and understood the compile-time guard that will catch unsupported combinations.

Import#

Every adapter ships provider tools on a /tools subpath:

import { webSearchTool } from '@tanstack/ai-anthropic/tools'
import { codeInterpreterTool } from '@tanstack/ai-openai/tools'
import { googleSearchTool } from '@tanstack/ai-gemini/tools'

Use in chat({ tools })#

import { chat } from '@tanstack/ai'
import { anthropicText } from '@tanstack/ai-anthropic'
import { webSearchTool } from '@tanstack/ai-anthropic/tools'

const stream = chat({
  adapter: anthropicText('claude-opus-4.8'),
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: "Summarize today's AI news." }],
  tools: [
    webSearchTool({
      name: 'web_search',
      type: 'web_search_20250305',
      max_uses: 3,
    }),
  ],
})

Type-level guard#

Every provider-specific tool factory (e.g. webSearchTool, computerUseTool) returns a ProviderTool<TProvider, TKind> brand. The adapter's toolCapabilities (derived from each model's supports.tools list) gates which brands are assignable to tools.

Paste a computerUseTool(...) into a model that doesn't expose it, and TypeScript reports an error on that array element — not on the factory call, not at runtime. User-defined toolDefinition() tools stay unbranded and always assignable. The customTool factories exported from ai-anthropic and ai-openai also return a plain Tool (not a ProviderTool brand) and are therefore universally accepted by any chat model, just like toolDefinition().

Available tools#

Which models support which tools?#

Each adapter's supports.tools array is the source of truth. The comparison matrix is maintained alongside model-meta.ts and reflected here:

• Anthropic: every current model except claude-3-haiku (web_search only) and claude-3-5-haiku (web tools only).

• OpenAI: GPT-5 family and reasoning models (O-series) support the full superset. GPT-4-series supports web/file/image/code/mcp but not preview/shell variants. GPT-3.5 and audio-focused models: none.

• Gemini: 3.x Pro/Flash models support the full tool set. Lite and image/video variants have narrower support.

• OpenRouter: every chat model supports webSearchTool and webFetchTool via the gateway.

  For the exact per-model list, open the adapter page or read the model's supports.tools array directly from model-meta.ts.

Provider Skills#

Anthropic and OpenAI support hosted, provider-managed skill bundles that run inside the provider's server-side sandbox. Skills attach to an execution tool (codeExecutionTool for Anthropic, shellTool for OpenAI) and are referenced by ID — the provider handles installation and execution.

See Provider Skills for full setup steps and examples.

Migrating from earlier versions#

If you were using createWebSearchTool from @tanstack/ai-openrouter, see Migration Guide §6.