tools.md

Built-in Tools

OpenWhale registers 40+ tools that the AI can use autonomously. You don't need to configure anything — they work out of the box.

All tools are implemented in src/tools/ and registered in src/tools/index.ts.

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System & Execution

Tool	File	What It Does
exec	exec.ts	Run any shell command on your machine
code_exec	code-exec.ts	Run Python/JavaScript/TypeScript code in a sandbox
system_info	system-info.ts	System diagnostics and monitoring
clipboard	clipboard.ts	Read/write system clipboard
shortcuts	apple-shortcuts.ts	Run Apple Shortcuts (macOS)
location	location.ts	Get current geolocation data

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Files & Data

Tool	File	What It Does
file	file.ts	Read, write, list files and directories
git	git.ts	Repository management, commits, branches, PRs
zip	zip.ts	Compress and extract archives
codebase	codebase.ts	Codebase search and analysis
db_query	db-query.ts	SQL database queries (SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL)

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Document Creation

Tool	File	What It Does
pdf	pdf.ts	Create, read, merge PDFs with text/images/tables
slides	slides.ts	Generate PowerPoint/PDF presentations
spreadsheet	spreadsheet.ts	Create and edit Excel/CSV files

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Web & Browser

Tool	File	What It Does
browser	browser.ts	Full web automation via Playwright — navigate, click, type, screenshot
browser_os	browser-os.ts	BrowserOS integration — control your real browser with extensions and logins
web_fetch	web-fetch.ts	Fetch any URL, parse APIs and web pages

See Browser Automation for a detailed comparison of Playwright vs BrowserOS.

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Media & Vision

Tool	File	What It Does
screenshot	screenshot.ts	Capture your screen, AI analyzes what it sees
camera	camera.ts	Take photos/video from connected cameras
canvas	canvas.ts	Generate and manipulate images
image	image.ts	Analyze and process images with vision
tts	tts.ts	Text-to-speech (AI speaks out loud)
screen_record	screen-record-tool.ts	Record screen activity
qr_code	qr-code.ts	Generate QR codes

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Communication

Tool	File	What It Does
email_send	email-send.ts	Send emails via Gmail API
imessage	imessage.ts	Read and send iMessages on macOS
calendar_event	calendar-event.ts	Create calendar events (.ics)

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Infrastructure

Tool	File	What It Does
docker	docker.ts	Container management and orchestration
ssh	ssh.ts	Remote server connections and commands

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Memory & Planning

Tool	File	What It Does
memory	memory.ts	Remember things across conversations forever
nodes	nodes.ts	Structured data and knowledge graphs
planning	planning-tool.ts	Multi-step task planning
logs	logs.ts	View and search system logs

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Automation

Tool	File	What It Does
cron	cron.ts	Schedule tasks to run at specific times
extend	extend.ts	Create self-extensions for automated workflows
skill_creator	skill-creator.ts	Create custom Markdown skills

See Extensions for more on the self-extension system.

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Multi-Agent Coordination

These tools are used by the orchestrator during fan-out operations:

Tool	File	What It Does
agents_list	agents-list-tool.ts	List all registered agents
sessions_list	sessions-list-tool.ts	List active sessions
sessions_send	sessions-send-tool.ts	Send messages between sessions
sessions_history	sessions-history-tool.ts	View session message history
sessions_fanout	sessions-fanout-tool.ts	Spawn parallel agent sessions
shared_context_write	shared-context-tools.ts	Write to inter-agent shared context
shared_context_read	shared-context-tools.ts	Read from inter-agent shared context
shared_context_delete	shared-context-tools.ts	Delete from inter-agent shared context
file_lock	conflict-tools.ts	Acquire/release advisory file locks
conflicts	conflict-tools.ts	View and resolve file conflicts

See Multi-Agent Orchestration for details on how these coordination tools work together.