Tool components in Langflow
Tools are typically connected to agent components at the Tools port. Agents use LLMs as a reasoning engine to decide which of the connected tool components to use to solve a problem.
Tools in agentic functions are, essentially, functions that the agent can call to perform tasks or access external resources.
A function is wrapped as a Tool
object, with a common interface the agent understands.
Agents become aware of tools through tool registration, where the agent is provided a list of available tools, typically at agent initialization. The Tool
object's description tells the agent what the tool can do.
The agent then uses a connected LLM to reason through the problem to decide which tool is best for the job.
Use a tool in a flow
Tools are typically connected to agent components at the Tools port.
The simple agent starter project uses URL and Calculator tools connected to an agent component to answer a user's questions. The OpenAI LLM acts as a brain for the agent to decide which tool to use.
To make a component into a tool that an agent can use, enable Tool mode in the component. Enabling Tool mode modifies a component input to accept calls from an agent. If the component you want to connect to an agent doesn't have a Tool mode option, you can modify the component's inputs to become a tool. For an example, see Make any component a tool.
arXiv
This component searches and retrieves papers from arXiv.org.
Inputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
search_query | Search Query | The search query for arXiv papers (for example, quantum computing ) |
search_type | Search Field | The field to search in |
max_results | Max Results | Maximum number of results to return |
Outputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
papers | Papers | List of retrieved arXiv papers |
Astra DB Tool
The Astra DB Tool
allows agents to connect to and query data from Astra DB collections.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
Tool Name | String | The name used to reference the tool in the agent's prompt. |
Tool Description | String | A brief description of the tool. This helps the model decide when to use it. |
Collection Name | String | The name of the Astra DB collection to query. |
Token | SecretString | The authentication token for accessing Astra DB. |
API Endpoint | String | The Astra DB API endpoint. |
Projection Fields | String | The attributes to return, separated by commas. Default: "*". |
Tool Parameters | Dict | Parameters the model needs to fill to execute the tool. For required parameters, use an exclamation mark (for example, !customer_id ). |
Static Filters | Dict | Attribute-value pairs used to filter query results. |
Limit | String | The number of documents to return. |
Outputs
The Data output is primarily used when directly querying Astra DB, while the Tool output is used when integrating with LangChain agents or chains.
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
Data | List[Data ] | A list of Data objects containing the query results from Astra DB. Each Data object contains the document fields specified by the projection attributes. Limited by the number_of_results parameter. |
Tool | StructuredTool | A LangChain StructuredTool object that can be used in agent workflows. Contains the tool name, description, argument schema based on tool parameters, and the query function. |
Astra DB CQL Tool
The Astra DB CQL Tool
allows agents to query data from CQL tables in Astra DB.
The main difference between this tool and the Astra DB Tool is that this tool is specifically designed for CQL tables and requires partition keys for querying, while also supporting clustering keys for more specific queries.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
Tool Name | String | The name used to reference the tool in the agent's prompt. |
Tool Description | String | A brief description of the tool to guide the model in using it. |
Keyspace | String | The name of the keyspace. |
Table Name | String | The name of the Astra DB CQL table to query. |
Token | SecretString | The authentication token for Astra DB. |
API Endpoint | String | The Astra DB API endpoint. |
Projection Fields | String | The attributes to return, separated by commas. Default: "*". |
Partition Keys | Dict | Required parameters that the model must fill to query the tool. |
Clustering Keys | Dict | Optional parameters the model can fill to refine the query. Required parameters should be marked with an exclamation mark (for example, !customer_id ). |
Static Filters | Dict | Attribute-value pairs used to filter query results. |
Limit | String | The number of records to return. |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
Data | List[Data] | A list of Data objects containing the query results from the Astra DB CQL table. Each Data object contains the document fields specified by the projection fields. Limited by the number_of_results parameter. |
Tool | StructuredTool | A LangChain StructuredTool object that can be used in agent workflows. Contains the tool name, description, argument schema based on partition and clustering keys, and the query function. |
Bing Search API
This component allows you to call the Bing Search API.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
bing_subscription_key | SecretString | Bing API subscription key |
input_value | String | Search query input |
bing_search_url | String | Custom Bing Search URL (optional) |
k | Integer | Number of search results to return |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
results | List[Data] | List of search results |
tool | Tool | Bing Search tool for use in LangChain |
Calculator Tool
This component creates a tool for performing basic arithmetic operations on a given expression.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
expression | String | The arithmetic expression to evaluate (for example, 4*4*(33/22)+12-20 ). |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
result | Tool | Calculator tool for use in LangChain |
This component allows you to evaluate basic arithmetic expressions. It supports addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and exponentiation. The tool uses a secure evaluation method that prevents the execution of arbitrary Python code.
Combinatorial Reasoner
This component runs Icosa's Combinatorial Reasoning (CR) pipeline on an input to create an optimized prompt with embedded reasons. Sign up for access here: https://forms.gle/oWNv2NKjBNaqqvCx6
Inputs
Name | Display Name | Description |
---|---|---|
prompt | Prompt | Input to run CR on |
openai_api_key | OpenAI API Key | OpenAI API key for authentication |
username | Username | Username for Icosa API authentication |
password | Password | Password for Icosa API authentication |
model_name | Model Name | OpenAI LLM to use for reason generation |
Outputs
Name | Display Name | Description |
---|---|---|
optimized_prompt | Optimized Prompt | A message object containing the optimized prompt |
reasons | Selected Reasons | A list of the selected reasons that are embedded in the optimized prompt |
DuckDuckGo search
This component performs web searches using the DuckDuckGo search engine with result-limiting capabilities.
Inputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
input_value | Search Query | The search query to execute with DuckDuckGo. |
max_results | Max Results | The maximum number of search results to return. Default: 5 . |
max_snippet_length | Max Snippet Length | The maximum length of each result snippet. Default: 100 . |
Outputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
data | Data | List of search results as Data objects containing snippets and full content. |
text | Text | Search results formatted as a single text string. |
Exa Search
This component provides an [https://exa.ai/](Exa Search) toolkit for search and content retrieval.
Inputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
metaphor_api_key | Exa Search API Key | API key for Exa Search (entered as a password) |
use_autoprompt | Use Autoprompt | Whether to use autoprompt feature (default: true) |
search_num_results | Search Number of Results | Number of results to return for search (default: 5) |
similar_num_results | Similar Number of Results | Number of similar results to return (default: 5) |
Outputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
tools | Tools | List of search tools provided by the toolkit |
Glean Search API
This component allows you to call the Glean Search API.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
glean_api_url | String | URL of the Glean API |
glean_access_token | SecretString | Access token for Glean API authentication |
query | String | Search query input |
page_size | Integer | Number of results per page (default: 10) |
request_options | Dict | Additional options for the API request (optional) |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
results | List[Data] | List of search results |
tool | Tool | Glean Search tool for use in LangChain |
Google Search API
This component is in Legacy, which means it is no longer in active development as of Langflow version 1.3.
This component allows you to call the Google Search API.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
google_api_key | SecretString | Google API key for authentication |
google_cse_id | SecretString | Google Custom Search Engine ID |
input_value | String | Search query input |
k | Integer | Number of search results to return |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
results | List[Data] | List of search results |
tool | Tool | Google Search tool for use in LangChain |
Google Serper API
This component allows you to call the Serper.dev Google Search API.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
serper_api_key | SecretString | API key for Serper.dev authentication |
input_value | String | Search query input |
k | Integer | Number of search results to return |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
results | List[Data] | List of search results |
tool | Tool | Google Serper search tool for use in LangChain |
MCP server
This component connects to a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server and exposes the MCP server's tools as tools.
In addition to being an MCP client that can leverage MCP servers, Langflow is also an MCP server that exposes flows as tools through the /api/v1/mcp/sse
API endpoint. For more information, see MCP integrations.
To use the MCP server component with an agent component, follow these steps:
- Add the MCP server component to your workflow.
- In the MCP server component, in the MCP Command field, enter the command to start your MCP server. For example, to start a Fetch server, the command is:
_10uvx mcp-server-fetch
uvx
is included with uv
in the Langflow package.
To use npx
server commands, you must first install an LTS release of Node.js.
For an example of starting npx
MCP servers, see Connect an Astra DB MCP server to Langflow.
- Click to get the server's list of Tools.
- In the Tool field, select the server tool you want the component to use. The available fields change based on the selected tool. For information on the parameters, see the MCP server's documentation.
- In the MCP server component, enable Tool mode. Connect the MCP server component's Toolset port to an Agent component's Tools port.
The flow looks similar to this:
- Open the Playground.
Ask the agent to summarize recent tech news. The agent calls the MCP server function
fetch
and returns the summary. This confirms the MCP server is connected, and its tools are being used in Langflow.
For more information, see MCP integrations.
MCP Server-Sent Events (SSE) mode
- In the MCP Server component, select SSE. A default address appears in the MCP SSE URL field.
- In the MCP SSE URL field, modify the default address to point at the SSE endpoint of the Langflow server you're currently running.
The default value is
http://localhost:7860/api/v1/mcp/sse
. - In the MCP Server component, click to retrieve the server's list of Tools.
- Click the Tools field. All of your flows are listed as tools.
- Enable Tool Mode, and then connect the MCP Server component to an agent component's tool port.
The flow looks like this:
- Open the Playground and chat with your tool. The agent chooses the correct tool based on your query.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
command | String | MCP command (default: uvx mcp-sse-shim@latest ) |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
tools | List[Tool] | List of tools exposed by the MCP server |
MCP Tools (stdio)
This component is deprecated as of Langflow version 1.3. Instead, use the MCP server component
MCP Tools (SSE)
This component is deprecated as of Langflow version 1.3. Instead, use the MCP server component
Python Code Structured Tool
This component creates a structured tool from Python code using a dataclass.
The component dynamically updates its configuration based on the provided Python code, allowing for custom function arguments and descriptions.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
tool_code | String | Python code for the tool's dataclass |
tool_name | String | Name of the tool |
tool_description | String | Description of the tool |
return_direct | Boolean | Whether to return the function output directly |
tool_function | String | Selected function for the tool |
global_variables | Dict | Global variables or data for the tool |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
result_tool | Tool │ Structured tool created from the Python code |
Python REPL Tool
This component is in Legacy, which means it is no longer in active development as of Langflow version 1.3.
This component creates a Python REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) tool for executing Python code.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
name | String | The name of the tool (default: "python_repl") |
description | String | A description of the tool's functionality |
global_imports | List[String] | List of modules to import globally (default: ["math"]) |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
tool | Tool | Python REPL tool for use in LangChain |
Retriever Tool
This component creates a tool for interacting with a retriever in LangChain.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
retriever | BaseRetriever | The retriever to interact with |
name | String | The name of the tool |
description | String | A description of the tool's functionality |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
tool | Tool | Retriever tool for use in LangChain |
SearXNG Search Tool
This component creates a tool for searching using SearXNG, a metasearch engine.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
url | String | The URL of the SearXNG instance |
max_results | Integer | Maximum number of results to return |
categories | List[String] | Categories to search in |
language | String | Language for the search results |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
result_tool | Tool | SearXNG search tool for use in LangChain |
Search API
This component is in Legacy, which means it is no longer in active development as of Langflow version 1.3.
This component calls the searchapi.io
API. It can be used to search the web for information.
For more information, see the SearchAPI documentation.
Inputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
engine | Engine | The search engine to use (default: "google") |
api_key | SearchAPI API Key | The API key for authenticating with SearchAPI |
input_value | Input | The search query or input for the API call |
search_params | Search parameters | Additional parameters for customizing the search |
Outputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
data | Search Results | List of Data objects containing search results |
tool | Search API Tool | A Tool object for use in LangChain workflows |
Serp Search API
This component creates a tool for searching using the Serp API.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
serpapi_api_key | SecretString | API key for Serp API authentication |
input_value | String | Search query input |
search_params | Dict | Additional search parameters (optional) |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
results | List[Data] | List of search results |
tool | Tool | Serp API search tool for use in LangChain |
Tavily AI Search
This component performs searches using the Tavily AI search engine, which is optimized for LLMs and RAG applications.
Inputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
api_key | Tavily API Key | Your Tavily API Key. |
query | Search Query | The search query you want to execute with Tavily. |
search_depth | Search Depth | The depth of the search. |
topic | Search Topic | The category of the search. |
max_results | Max Results | The maximum number of search results to return. |
include_images | Include Images | Include a list of query-related images in the response. |
include_answer | Include Answer | Include a short answer to original query. |
Outputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
data | Data | The search results as a list of Data objects. |
text | Text | The search results formatted as a text string. |
Wikidata
This component is in Legacy, which means it is no longer in active development as of Langflow version 1.3.
This component performs a search using the Wikidata API.
Inputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
query | Query | The text query for similarity search on Wikidata. |
Outputs
Name | Display Name | Info |
---|---|---|
data | Data | The search results from Wikidata API as a list of Data objects. |
text | Message | The search results formatted as a text message. |
Wikipedia API
This component is in Legacy, which means it is no longer in active development as of Langflow version 1.3.
This component creates a tool for searching and retrieving information from Wikipedia.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
input_value | String | Search query input |
lang | String | Language code for Wikipedia (default: "en") |
k | Integer | Number of results to return |
load_all_available_meta | Boolean | Whether to load all available metadata (advanced) |
doc_content_chars_max | Integer | Maximum number of characters for document content (advanced) |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
results | List[Data] | List of Wikipedia search results |
tool | Tool | Wikipedia search tool for use in LangChain |
Wolfram Alpha API
This component creates a tool for querying the Wolfram Alpha API.
Inputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
input_value | String | Query input for Wolfram Alpha |
app_id | SecretString | Wolfram Alpha API App ID |
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
results | List[Data] | List containing the Wolfram Alpha API response |
tool | Tool | Wolfram Alpha API tool for use in LangChain |
Yahoo Finance News Tool
This component creates a tool for retrieving news from Yahoo Finance.
Inputs
This component does not have any input parameters.
Outputs
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
tool | Tool | Yahoo Finance News tool for use in LangChain |