Tool Call Tracking

Real-time tool call tracking and display in PraisonAI CLI

The PraisonAI CLI automatically tracks and displays tool calls made by agents, providing visibility into what actions the AI is taking.

Overview

!Tool Tracking Shows Which Tools Used

When you run a prompt, the CLI:

Loads 5 built-in tools by default
Tracks all tool calls made during execution
Displays a summary of tools used after completion

Default Tools

Every CLI prompt has access to these 5 built-in tools:

Tool	Description	Example Use
`read_file`	Read file contents	“Read README.md”
`write_file`	Write to files	“Create a hello.py file”
`list_files`	List directory contents	“List files here”
`execute_command`	Run shell commands	“Run ls -la”
`internet_search`	Search the web	“Search for Python tutorials”

Usage Examples

Basic Tool Tracking

bash

# Agent automatically uses list_files
praisonai "List all files in current directory"

Output:

Tools used: list_files
- file1.py
- file2.py
- README.md
...

Multiple Tools

bash

# Agent uses multiple tools to complete the task
praisonai "Read the README.md file and summarize it"

Output:

Tools used: list_files, read_file
This project is about...

Verbose Mode

For detailed tool call information, use verbose mode:

bash

praisonai "List files" -v

Output:

╭─ Agent Info ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│                                                                              │
│  👤 Agent: DirectAgent                                                       │
│  Role: Assistant                                                             │
│  Tools: read_file, write_file, list_files, execute_command, internet_search │
│                                                                              │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

╭───────── Tool Call ──────────╮
│ Calling function: list_files │
╰──────────────────────────────╯
Arguments: {'directory': '.'}
╭───────────────────────────────── Tool Call ──────────────────────────────────╮
│ Function list_files returned: [{"name": "file1.py", ...}]                    │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Response generated in 2.5s
╭──────────────────────────────────── Task ────────────────────────────────────╮
│ List files                                                                   │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭────────────────────────────────── Response ──────────────────────────────────╮
│ - file1.py                                                                   │
│ - file2.py                                                                   │
│ - README.md                                                                  │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Adding Custom Tools

You can add additional tools using the --tools flag:

bash

# Load tools from a Python file
praisonai "Analyze data" --tools my_tools.py

my_tools.py:

python

def analyze_csv(filepath: str) -> dict:
    """Analyze a CSV file and return statistics."""
    import pandas as pd
    df = pd.read_csv(filepath)
    return {
        "rows": len(df),
        "columns": list(df.columns),
        "summary": df.describe().to_dict()
    }

Callback System

The tool tracking uses a callback system that can be extended programmatically:

python

from praisonaiagents import register_display_callback

def my_tool_callback(message):
    """Custom callback for tool calls."""
    print(f"🔧 Tool activity: {message}")

# Register the callback
register_display_callback('tool_call', my_tool_callback)

Comparison: Default vs Verbose

Feature	Default Mode	Verbose Mode (`-v`)
Tool summary	✅ “Tools used: X, Y”	✅ Full panels
Arguments	❌ Hidden	✅ Shown
Return values	❌ Hidden	✅ Shown (truncated)
Agent info	❌ Hidden	✅ Full panel
Response time	❌ Hidden	✅ Shown

Best Practices

Related Features

Interactive Mode

Full interactive TUI with tool support

Tools Management

Discover and manage available tools

Cost Tracking

Track token usage and costs

Verbose Output

Detailed output options