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Built-in Provider Tools#

AG2 includes built-in tools that map to server-side capabilities offered by LLM providers. These tools are executed by the provider's API — not locally — and require no function implementation on your side.

Tool Anthropic OpenAI Gemini
CodeExecutionTool ✓ ✓ ✓
WebSearchTool ✓ ✓ ✓
WebFetchTool ✓ ✗ ✓
ShellTool ✓ ✓ ✗
MCPServerTool ✓ ✓ ✗
ImageGenerationTool ✗ ✓ ✗
MemoryTool ✓ ✗ ✗

Gives the model access to real-time web search results.

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from autogen.beta import Agent
from autogen.beta.config import AnthropicConfig
from autogen.beta.tools import WebSearchTool, UserLocation

agent = Agent(
    "researcher",
    config=AnthropicConfig(model="claude-sonnet-4-6"),
    tools=[
        WebSearchTool(
            max_uses=5,
            user_location=UserLocation(country="US"),
            allowed_domains=["github.com", "pypi.org"],
            blocked_domains=["pinterest.com"],
        ),
    ],
)

Not all parameters are supported by every provider. Unsupported parameters are silently ignored.

Parameter Anthropic OpenAI Gemini
max_uses ✓ ✓ ✗
user_location ✓ ✓ ✗
search_context_size ✗ ✓ ✗
allowed_domains ✓ ✓ ✗
blocked_domains ✓ ✗ ✓

Web Fetch#

Fetches full content from specific URLs. Useful for reading documentation, articles, or PDFs.

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from autogen.beta import Agent
from autogen.beta.config import AnthropicConfig
from autogen.beta.tools import WebFetchTool

agent = Agent(
    "researcher",
    config=AnthropicConfig(model="claude-sonnet-4-6"),
    tools=[
        WebFetchTool(
            max_uses=3,
            max_content_tokens=50000,
            citations=True,
        ),
    ],
)
Parameter Anthropic Gemini
max_uses ✓ ✗
allowed_domains ✓ ✗
blocked_domains ✓ ✗
citations ✓ ✗
max_content_tokens ✓ ✗

Note

OpenAI does not support web fetch. Using WebFetchTool with an OpenAI config will raise an error.

Code Execution#

Lets the model write and run code inline during a conversation.

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from autogen.beta import Agent
from autogen.beta.config import AnthropicConfig
from autogen.beta.tools import CodeExecutionTool

agent = Agent(
    "analyst",
    config=AnthropicConfig(model="claude-sonnet-4-6"),
    tools=[CodeExecutionTool()],
)

The tool accepts a version parameter for provider version pinning:

CodeExecutionTool(version="code_execution_20250825")

Memory#

Enables Claude to store and retrieve information across conversations. Claude can create, read, update, and delete files in a /memories directory.

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from autogen.beta import Agent
from autogen.beta.config import AnthropicConfig
from autogen.beta.tools import MemoryTool

agent = Agent(
    "assistant",
    config=AnthropicConfig(model="claude-sonnet-4-6"),
    tools=[MemoryTool()],
)

Note

MemoryTool is currently only supported by Anthropic.

Shell#

Gives the model the ability to run shell commands. The execution environment depends on the provider.

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from autogen.beta import Agent
from autogen.beta.config import AnthropicConfig
from autogen.beta.tools import ShellTool

agent = Agent(
    "devops",
    config=AnthropicConfig(model="claude-sonnet-4-6"),
    tools=[ShellTool()],
)

OpenAI supports configuring the execution environment:

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from autogen.beta import Agent
from autogen.beta.config import OpenAIResponsesConfig
from autogen.beta.tools import ShellTool
from autogen.beta.tools.builtin.shell import ContainerAutoEnvironment, NetworkPolicy

agent = Agent(
    "devops",
    config=OpenAIResponsesConfig(model="gpt-4.1"),
    tools=[
        ShellTool(
            environment=ContainerAutoEnvironment(
                network_policy=NetworkPolicy(allowed_domains=["pypi.org"]),
            ),
        ),
    ],
)
Environment Description
ContainerAutoEnvironment Provider-managed container with optional network policy
ContainerReferenceEnvironment Reference an existing container by ID

Warning

ShellTool gives the model direct shell access. Use it only with trusted prompts and consider restricting the environment.

MCP Server#

Integrates external MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers, giving the model access to remote tools.

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from autogen.beta import Agent
from autogen.beta.config import AnthropicConfig
from autogen.beta.tools import MCPServerTool

agent = Agent(
    "assistant",
    config=AnthropicConfig(model="claude-sonnet-4-6"),
    tools=[
        MCPServerTool(
            server_url="https://mcp.example.com/sse",
            server_label="my-tools",
            allowed_tools=["search", "summarize"],
        ),
    ],
)
Parameter Anthropic OpenAI
server_url ✓ ✓
server_label ✓ ✓
authorization_token ✓ ✗
description ✓ ✗
allowed_tools ✓ ✓
blocked_tools ✓ ✗
headers ✗ ✓

Image Generation#

Instructs the model to generate images inline during a conversation. Generated images are returned via reply.images.

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from autogen.beta import Agent
from autogen.beta.config import OpenAIResponsesConfig
from autogen.beta.tools import ImageGenerationTool

agent = Agent(
    "designer",
    config=OpenAIResponsesConfig(model="gpt-4.1"),
    tools=[
        ImageGenerationTool(
            quality="high",
            size="1024x1024",
            output_format="png",
            background="transparent",
        ),
    ],
)

reply = await agent.ask("Generate a logo for a coffee shop.")
images: list[bytes] = reply.images
Parameter Description
quality "low", "medium", "high", or "auto"
size e.g. "1024x1024", "1536x1024", or "auto"
background "transparent", "opaque", or "auto"
output_format "png", "jpeg", or "webp"
output_compression 0–100, for jpeg/webp only
partial_images 1–3, number of partial images to stream

Note

ImageGenerationTool is only supported by OpenAI (Responses API). Using it with other providers will raise an error.

Anthropic Tool Versions#

Anthropic versions their server-side tools. Newer versions support dynamic filtering (Claude writes code to filter results before loading into context), but require Opus 4.6 or Sonnet 4.6.

Set the version on each built-in tool (defaults match the older Anthropic tool revisions):

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from autogen.beta.tools import WebFetchTool, WebSearchTool

tools = [
    WebSearchTool(version="web_search_20260209"),  # default: web_search_20250305
    WebFetchTool(version="web_fetch_20260209"),    # default: web_fetch_20250910
]

The default versions are compatible with all Claude models including Haiku.