Adding Tools to Agents with Strands
Extend your agent with tools using the Strands framework.
Learn how to give AI agents real capabilities using the Strands framework. Create tools, integrate them with agents, and see how agents automatically decide when and how to use them.
This tutorial teaches you how to extend AI agents with tools using the Strands framework — functions that enable agents to perform actions beyond just generating text.
By the end, you'll understand what tools are, how to create them, and how agents use them to accomplish tasks.
What you'll learn:
- Understand what tools are and why agents need them
- Create a tool using the Strands
@tooldecorator - Add tools to a Strands agent
- See how agents automatically decide when to use tools
- Test tools with different types of questions
Why Strands?
Strands is a lightweight, modern framework for building AI agents. It offers a clean API, simple tool integration, and full control over agent behavior with minimal boilerplate.
Prerequisites: Completed Tutorial 01 (AI Agents). Basic Python knowledge.
What you'll learn
Getting Started
Welcome — learn to extend agents with tools using the Strands framework.
Introduction
Without tools, an agent can only generate text. With tools, it becomes an active problem-solver.
What Are Tools?
Tools are regular Python functions that agents can call to interact with their environment.
Agent-Tool Integration
Pass your tools to the Strands agent at creation time — the rest is automatic.
Add Tools to Your Agent
Follow along with the notebook to build a tool-powered Strands agent.
Next Steps
Your agent can now act, not just talk. Here's what comes next.
Quiz
Test your knowledge of tools and Strands agent integration.
Free
Free access. No payment required.
- Lifetime access to all modules
- All future updates included
- Access to weekly Zoom webinars
- Private community access