Tool calling is the ability of an AI model to interact with external tools, APIs, or systems rather than just generating text. The model identifies when a tool is needed, constructs the appropriate call, receives the result, and incorporates it into the response.
Tool calling is what enables AI systems to take action in the real world — retrieving live data, updating records, triggering workflows, performing calculations. Without it, an AI can only tell you what should happen. With tool calling, it can make it happen.
