Create & Manage Tools

This guide covers everything you need to create, browse, inspect, and manage tools in the Nexla Platform. Whether you are generating a single tool from the Tool Generator wizard, bulk-creating tools from multiple Nexsets, or managing the lifecycle of existing tools, the instructions below walk you through each workflow.

Creating Tools

There are three ways to create tools: the Tool Generator wizard in the UI, bulk generation from the Nexsets browser, and the REST API.

Using the Tool Generator

The Tool Generator is a guided wizard that walks you through creating a tool from a single Nexset.

1. Navigate to the AI tab in the Nexla Platform and open the Tools section.

2. Click Create Tool to launch the Tool Generator wizard.

3. Complete the following steps:

   Step 1 -- Select Nexset. Choose the Nexset you want to generate a tool from. Use the search bar or browse by category to find the right Nexset. The wizard displays the Nexset's schema and sample data so you can confirm it is the correct source.

   Step 2 -- Review Configuration. Review the auto-generated tool name, description, and input/output schema. You can edit the tool name and description to provide clearer context for AI agents. Optionally, toggle the Publish immediately option to activate the tool as soon as generation completes. If you leave this off, the tool is created in init (draft) status.

   Step 3 -- Generating. Nexla generates the tool definition, configures execution bindings, and registers the tool. This step progresses automatically -- no action is required.

   Step 4 -- Success. The tool has been created. The confirmation screen displays the tool's key, ID, and version (e.g., 1.0.0). Take note of the tool key if you plan to reference it via the API.

   Step 5 -- Add to ToolSet. Optionally, add the new tool to an existing ToolSet immediately. You can also skip this step and add the tool to a ToolSet later from the ToolSets page.

tip

Write clear, specific tool descriptions. AI agents use the description to decide when to invoke a tool, so a vague description like "Gets data" is far less effective than "Retrieves the latest inventory counts for all warehouse locations, filtered by region and product category."

Bulk Generation from Nexsets

When you need to create tools for multiple Nexsets at once, use bulk generation.

1. Navigate to the AI tab and open the Nexsets browser.
2. Select multiple Nexsets by checking the boxes next to each one.
3. Click Generate Tools from Selected.
4. Nexla creates one tool per selected Nexset. Each tool inherits its name and schema from the corresponding Nexset.

Bulk-generated tools are created in init (draft) status by default. You can activate them individually or in bulk from the Tools Registry.

Via API

You can also create tools programmatically using the REST API. Send a POST request to the /v1/tools:from_nexset endpoint with the target Nexset ID.

For full details, parameters, and response examples, see the Tools API reference.

Tools Registry

The Tools Registry is the central view for browsing and managing all tools in your organization. Access it from the AI tab by clicking Tools.

The registry supports two view modes:

• Grid view -- Displays tools as cards with key metadata at a glance. Useful for visual browsing.
• Table view -- Displays tools in a sortable, dense table format. Useful for managing large numbers of tools.

Search and Filters

Use the search bar to find tools by name or description. You can also apply filters to narrow the list:

Filter	Options
Status	active, paused, init
Kind	nexset_read, nexset_action, custom_tool
Tags	Any tags assigned to tools
Date range	Filter by creation or last-updated date

Filters can be combined. For example, you can view all active tools of kind nexset_read that have the tag "sales."

Viewing Tool Details

Click on any tool in the registry to open the tool detail view. The detail view has three tabs:

Details Tab

The Details tab displays the tool's core metadata:

• Name and description
• Kind (nexset_read, nexset_action, or custom_tool)
• Status (init, active, or paused)
• Version (current semantic version, e.g., 1.2.0)
• Associated Nexset -- The source Nexset the tool was generated from, with a link to the Nexset in the data platform
• Owner -- The user who created the tool
• Tags -- Organizational labels applied to the tool
• Created and Updated timestamps

Contract Tab

The Contract tab shows the full JSON tool definition. This is the complete contract that describes the tool's behavior, including:

• Input schema -- The JSON Schema defining what parameters an AI agent must provide when calling the tool
• Record schema -- The JSON Schema for a single data record returned by the tool
• Output schema -- The full response envelope schema
• Execution bindings -- The protocol, HTTP method, URI template, and timeout for invoking the tool
• Semantics -- Operation type, side effects, result shape, and performance hints
• Auth and governance -- Authentication requirements, access policies, and audit configuration

The contract is read-only in the UI. It is auto-generated from the source Nexset and updated automatically when the Nexset schema changes.

History Tab

The History tab shows a chronological changelog of every change to the tool. Each entry includes:

• Event type -- created, definition_updated, metadata_updated, status_changed, or deleted
• Timestamp -- When the change occurred
• Actor -- Who or what triggered the change (user, system, or API)
• Details -- A summary of what changed (e.g., "status changed from init to active" or "version bumped from 1.0.0 to 1.1.0 -- new optional field added")

The changelog provides a complete audit trail for compliance and debugging. All entries are immutable.

Editing Tool Metadata

To update a tool's metadata:

1. Open the tool from the Tools Registry.
2. On the Details tab, click Edit.
3. Update the name, description, or tags as needed.
4. Click Save to apply the changes.

note

You can only edit a tool's metadata (name, description, and tags). The tool definition itself -- including its input schema, output schema, and execution bindings -- is auto-generated from the source Nexset and cannot be manually edited. To change the tool's schema, update the underlying Nexset; the tool definition will be regenerated automatically with a new version.

Tool Lifecycle Management

Managing a tool's lifecycle means controlling its status -- whether it is a draft, published and available for use, or temporarily disabled.

Activating a Tool

Activating a tool changes its status from init or paused to active. This publishes the tool, making it available for:

• Inclusion in ToolSets
• Deployment via MCP Servers
• Execution by AI agents

To activate a tool, open it from the Tools Registry and click Activate. You can also activate multiple tools at once from the registry using bulk actions.

Pausing a Tool

Pausing a tool changes its status from active to paused. A paused tool:

• Remains registered in the system and visible in the Tools Registry
• Stays listed in any ToolSets that include it
• Will not execute when an AI agent attempts to call it

Pausing is useful for temporary situations such as data source maintenance, schema migration, or incident response. To resume the tool, activate it again.

To pause a tool, open it from the Tools Registry and click Pause.

Deleting a Tool

Deleting a tool performs a soft delete. The tool is removed from active use and can no longer be added to ToolSets or invoked by agents. However, the tool record and its full changelog are preserved for audit and compliance purposes.

To delete a tool, open it from the Tools Registry and click Delete. Confirm the deletion in the dialog.

warning

Deleting a tool affects all ToolSets that include it. Before deleting, check which ToolSets reference the tool by reviewing the tool's usage information. Consider pausing the tool first if you are unsure whether it is still needed.

Viewing Tool Usage

To see which ToolSets include a given tool:

1. Open the tool from the Tools Registry.
2. Navigate to the Details tab.
3. Review the Usage section, which lists all ToolSets that reference this tool.

This information helps you understand the downstream impact of pausing, deleting, or modifying a tool. If a tool is included in multiple ToolSets, changes to its status or definition will affect all of them.

Next Steps

• Tools Overview -- Review the concepts behind tool kinds, versioning, and the tool definition structure.
• ToolSets -- Organize your tools into ToolSets for deployment.
• Deploy an MCP Server -- Deploy a ToolSet as an MCP Server that AI agents can connect to.
• Tools API -- Manage tools programmatically via the REST API.