Agent as Tool

In this tutorial, we are going to take a look at how to leverage other flows as tools to a parent Agent. This approach allows you to create a parent agent that can delegate specific tasks to specialized child agents

Overview

1. Receives user input through a parent agent
2. Agent decides to retrieve data from document store, or call the Agentflow Tool.

Step 1: Setting Up the Start Node

Begin by adding a Start node to your canvas. This serves as the entry point for your agent system.

Step 2: Creating the Parent Agent

Add an Agent node and connect it to the Start node.

Step 3: Configuring the Agent Tool

The key feature of this flow is configuring another agent as a tool. In the Parent Agent’s Tools section:

Tool Configuration:

• Tool: Select “Agent As Tool”

Agent Tool Settings:

• Selected Agentflow: Choose your child agentflow
• Name: Name for the agentflow
• Description: Describe when this agentflow is useful. Example:

Useful for searching user availability, scheduling meetings and email related query

Step 4: Adding Knowledge Sources

Configure the Knowledge (Document Stores) section to give your parent agent access to relevant information. This is the same as RAG tutorial.

Document Store Configuration:

• Document Store: Select your pre-configured document store (e.g., “AI-Paper”)
• Describe Knowledge: Describe what the knowledge is about

Example Interactions

Sample Queries and Expected Behavior:

Scheduling Query:

• User: “Can you check my availability for next Tuesday?”
• Flow: Parent agent → personal_assistant tool → specialized scheduling response

Technical Query:

• User: “What is AIGC and how does it work?”
• Flow: Parent agent → AI-Paper knowledge base → technical explanation with sources

General Query:

• User: “Hello how are you?”
• Flow: Parent agent → direct response (no tools needed)

Complex Query:

• User: “Schedule a meeting about AIGC implementation next Tuesday, extract key insights and the talking points”
• Flow: Parent agent → both personal_assistant tool AND AI-Paper knowledge → coordinated response

Best Practices

Design Guidelines:

1. Clear Tool Descriptions: Make tool name and descriptions specific and actionable
2. Appropriate Delegation: Better system prompt for parent agent to delegate effectively

Common Use Cases:

• Customer Service: Parent agent with specialized tools for billing, technical support, and general inquiries
• Research Assistant: Parent with tools for different research domains (legal, technical, market research)
• Project Management: Parent with tools for scheduling, resource allocation, and progress tracking
• Content Creation: Parent with tools for writing, editing, research, and formatting