Tools in xpander.ai are operations provided by interfaces (LinkedIn, Reddit, Weather, etc.) that allow agents to interact with external systems and data sources.
If you want to control how your agent uses these tools in a hierarchical structure, check out the Agent Graph System guide.
xpander.ai provides a rich library of pre-built interfaces that your agents can leverage without any development work. These interfaces span across various domains and services to help your agents accomplish a wide range of tasks.
The interface library includes connections to popular services across multiple categories:
Professional Networks: LinkedIn, Crunchbase
Content Platforms: Reddit, HackerNews
Productivity Tools: Gmail, Google Workspace
Data Services: Market Insights, Live Sports Data
Research Resources: arXiv
Developer Tools: GitHub, GitLab, Confluence
Project Management: Asana, Airtable, Figma
Marketing Tools: Google Analytics, Google Ads
And many more…
Interfaces marked with “xpander built-in auth” are pre-authenticated and ready to use, while those showing “Auth required” need account credentials to be configured before use.
Beyond the pre-built interfaces, xpander.ai enables you to create custom interfaces to connect to your own APIs or services:
Click the “New Custom Interface” button
Provide an interface name and description
Specify the web interface URL
Upload an OpenAPI specification file or Postman collection
xpander.ai’s Agentic Connector Generator will automatically analyze your API specifications and generate AI-ready interfaces with properly configured operations. This transforms any API into tools your agents can use without writing code.
This capability allows you to connect agents to:
Internal company systems
Custom databases
Proprietary services
Legacy systems
Any API with OpenAPI/Swagger documentation
xpander.ai provides a comprehensive authentication layer that simplifies connecting to various services:
Managed Authentication: Many interfaces (marked “xpander built-in auth”) come with pre-configured authentication, allowing immediate use without setup
Custom Authentication: For services requiring your credentials, xpander.ai offers a streamlined authentication flow
Multiple Auth Methods: Support for OAuth2, API keys, and other authentication protocols
Granular Scope Control: Configure exactly what permissions your agent needs for each service
Secure Credential Storage: All authentication details are securely stored and managed
Beyond authentication, xpander.ai includes a full API management portal that helps you:
Browse available operations grouped by functionality
View detailed API documentation for each endpoint
Configure operation-specific parameters
Monitor API usage and rate limits
Test endpoints directly from the interface
This comprehensive API management layer eliminates the need to build and maintain your own API integrations, saving significant development time.
You can add tools to your agents using either the visual UI or programmatically with the SDK.
xpander.ai’s visual interface makes adding tools intuitive without writing code:
1
Access the Interfaces Panel
Navigate to your agent and click the “Interfaces” button in the top-right corner
2
Browse Available Tools
Explore interfaces like LinkedIn, Reddit, and more
3
Select Operations
Choose the specific operations you want to add to your agent
4
Configure Settings
Adjust any operation-specific settings if needed
5
Add to Agent
Click “Add” to attach the operations to your agent
After adding operations:
Click the “Graph” tab to see all operations
Drag operations to rearrange them
Draw connections to create dependencies
Test directly from the interface
This visual approach makes it easier to understand how your agent’s tools relate to each other.
The UI provides multiple testing options:
Chat: Test in a conversational interface
Task: Run specific tasks with detailed logs
Webhook: Configure webhook integrations
SDK: Generate SDK integration code
These options appear at the top of the agent interface.
For detailed analysis of your agent’s execution, check the Activity view, which provides full visibility into operations, API calls, and LLM responses.
Once you’ve added tools to your agent, it’s ready to use. Here’s how to create and execute a task:
# Create a taskagent.add_task("""Find details about David Twizer the founder of xpander.ai""")# Initialize the agent's memoryagent.memory.init_messages(input=agent.execution.input_message, instructions=agent.instructions)# Run the agentwhilenot agent.is_finished(): response = openai_client.chat.completions.create( model="gpt-4o", messages=agent.messages, tools=agent.get_tools(), tool_choice=agent.tool_choice, temperature=0.0)# Add messages from the LLM response agent.add_messages(response.model_dump())# Extract and run tool calls tool_calls = XpanderClient.extract_tool_calls(llm_response=response.model_dump()) agent.run_tools(tool_calls=tool_calls)# Get the execution resultexecution_result = agent.retrieve_execution_result()print("Status:", execution_result.status)print("Result:", execution_result.result)
The agent will:
Search for the requested information on LinkedIn
Retrieve detailed profile data
Return a comprehensive report with professional details
When working with tools, you might encounter various issues that prevent your agent from accessing or properly using them. Here are common problems and their solutions:
Solution: Check your API key validity and ensure it hasn’t expired. Regenerate your API key in the interface settings if needed.
Missing Credentials:
Unable to list projects due to an authentication error (invalid signature). Please check your credentials and try again.
Solution: Verify that you’ve correctly configured the authentication for the interface. For interfaces requiring OAuth, ensure you’ve completed the authorization flow.
Token Expired:
Solution: Re-authenticate the interface by going to Interface Settings and clicking “Reconnect” for the specific interface.
Use the Activity View to inspect the full request and response for each tool call
Test operations directly from the interface page before attaching them to agents
For SDK usage, implement detailed logging to capture all interactions:
