Bot Default Tools

Bot platform adapters now ship in the praisonai-bot package. praisonai bot serve still works exactly as documented here; for a standalone install see praisonai-bot Migration.

Bot default tools provide instant superpowers to every bot deployment, automatically injecting 20+ safe and useful tools when agents have no explicit tool configuration.

from praisonaiagents import Agent

agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    instructions="Help users with files, web search, and scheduling.",
)

The user messages the bot with no custom tools= list; PraisonAI injects file, web, memory, and schedule tools automatically.

Injected Tools

Optional: browser (`--browser`)

Add a local Chromium via --browser — see Bot Browser Automation.

The browser tool is not in the auto-inject set (opt-in only) because it requires praisonai-browser[playwright] and downloads Chromium.

Quick Start

Zero-Config Bot

from praisonaiagents import Agent
from praisonai.bots import TelegramBot

agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    instructions="You help users. Use any tool you need."
)

# No tools= passed — bot auto-injects safe defaults
TelegramBot(token="YOUR_TOKEN", agent=agent).start()

Custom Tool Selection

from praisonaiagents import BotConfig

config = BotConfig(
    token="YOUR_TOKEN",
    default_tools=["search_web", "read_file", "todo_add"],  # override list
    auto_approve_tools=True,  # default True for bots
)

bot = TelegramBot(config=config, agent=agent)

How It Works

Smart defaults activate when:

Condition	Behavior	Result
Agent has no tools	Auto-inject defaults	Full 20+ tool suite
Agent has tools=[]	Respect explicit empty	No tools injected
Agent has tools=[…]	Keep existing tools	No injection
No workspace configured	Filter destructive tools	Safe subset only

Configuration Options

Complete Default Tools List

Tool	Category	Safe without workspace?	Notes
`search_web`	Web	✅	Search the internet
`web_crawl`	Web	✅	Crawl and extract web content
`store_memory`	Memory	✅	Store information in memory
`search_memory`	Memory	✅	Search stored memories
`store_learning`	Learning	✅	Store learned knowledge
`search_learning`	Learning	✅	Search learned knowledge
`schedule_add`	Scheduling	✅	Add scheduled tasks
`schedule_list`	Scheduling	✅	List scheduled tasks
`schedule_remove`	Scheduling	✅	Remove scheduled tasks
`clarify`	Clarification	✅	Ask clarifying questions
`read_file`	Files	✅ (read-only)	NEW — Read files from workspace
`write_file`	Files	⚠️ requires workspace	NEW — Write files to workspace
`edit_file`	Files	⚠️ requires workspace	NEW — Edit files with find/replace
`list_files`	Files	✅	NEW — List directory contents
`search_files`	Files	✅	NEW — Search for patterns in files
`todo_add`	Planning	✅	NEW — Add tasks to todo list
`todo_list`	Planning	✅	NEW — List todo items
`todo_update`	Planning	✅	NEW — Update todo status/content
`skills_list`	Skills	✅	NEW — List available skills
`skill_view`	Skills	✅	NEW — View skill details
`skill_manage`	Skills	⚠️ requires workspace	NEW — Create/edit/delete skills

On a bot turn, clarify delivers the question to the user. Choices render as native reply buttons via MessagePresentation.question(), and the agent ends its turn restating the question instead of guessing. See Clarify Tool → Bot Usage.

Opt-In Tools (not auto-injected)

These tools are functional but require explicit opt-in:

Tool	Reason	How to Enable
`delegate_task`	Spawns a sub-agent for a specific task — medium-risk, requires approval — opt in per bot	Add to `default_tools` manually, e.g. `default_tools=[..., "delegate_task"]`. See Delegate Task Tool.
`session_search`	Cross-session conversation recall — opt in per bot	Add to `default_tools` manually, e.g. `default_tools=[..., "session_search"]`. See Cross-Session Recall.

Smart Defaults Configuration

from praisonaiagents import BotConfig

# Disable auto-injection completely
config = BotConfig(
    token="YOUR_TOKEN",
    default_tools=[],  # explicit empty list
)

# Custom safe subset
config = BotConfig(
    token="YOUR_TOKEN", 
    default_tools=[
        "search_web", "store_memory", "todo_add",
        "read_file", "skills_list"
    ]
)

# Full suite (same as default when workspace configured)
config = BotConfig(
    token="YOUR_TOKEN",
    workspace_dir="./bot-workspace",  # enables destructive tools
    default_tools=None,  # use full defaults
)

Tool Approval Settings

# Auto-approve all tool calls (default for bots)
config = BotConfig(
    auto_approve_tools=True,  # ← Default: True for chat bots
)

# Require manual approval (useful for development)
config = BotConfig(
    auto_approve_tools=False,  # Agents show confirmation prompts
)

Setting channels.<platform>.allow_shell: true on a gateway channel additionally injects execute_command into the agent’s tool list, lifts the tool from the deny-list, and appends a one-line permission grant to agent.instructions. On shell-enabled channels with routing rules, routed agents inherit execute_command too — the shell setup is re-applied per routed agent, cloned and cached per (channel, agent). On externally-bound gateways or channels with a group_policy, auto_approve_shell: true is downgraded to require approval unless auto_approve_shell_acknowledge_exposed: true opts in — see Bot Shell Execution → Exposure-aware auto-approval.

Common Patterns

Workspace-Aware Filtering

# Without workspace: safe tools only
config = BotConfig(
    token="YOUR_TOKEN",
    # No workspace_dir set
    # Result: write_file, edit_file, skill_manage filtered out
)

# With workspace: full tool suite
config = BotConfig(
    token="YOUR_TOKEN",
    workspace_dir="./safe-sandbox",
    # Result: all 20+ tools available
)

Development vs Production

# Development: explicit tool control
agent = Agent(
    name="Dev Bot",
    tools=["search_web", "read_file"]  # explicit list prevents defaults
)

# Production: trust smart defaults  
agent = Agent(
    name="Prod Bot", 
    instructions="Help users with anything"
    # No tools= → auto-injection activates
)

Tool Categories by Use Case

# Minimal web assistant
config = BotConfig(default_tools=[
    "search_web", "web_crawl", "store_memory", "search_memory"
])

# File-focused assistant  
config = BotConfig(default_tools=[
    "read_file", "write_file", "edit_file", "list_files", "search_files"
])

# Learning assistant
config = BotConfig(default_tools=[
    "store_learning", "search_learning", "skills_list", "skill_view", "skill_manage"
])

# Gateway / long-lived assistant
config = BotConfig(default_tools=[
    "store_memory", "search_memory",
    "session_search",  # recall past conversations
])

Best Practices

Trust Smart Defaults

In most cases, let the bot auto-inject tools rather than specifying manually. Smart defaults adapt based on workspace configuration and provide the safest possible tool suite.

Workspace Security

Destructive file tools (write_file, edit_file, skill_manage) are automatically filtered out unless a workspace is configured. This ensures bots are safe by construction.

Development Testing

Use auto_approve_tools=False during development to see exactly which tools your bot is calling. Switch to auto_approve_tools=True for production deployments.

Explicit Override

To disable auto-injection, pass an explicit empty list: Agent(tools=[]). Passing no tools parameter triggers smart defaults.

Troubleshooting

My bot only has a few tools, not the 20+ listed here

If your bot is missing most default tools (only sees a small fallback set), upgrade to the version that includes PR #2004. A regression caused ToolResolver to be imported from the wrong module, which silently dropped the full default toolset and left only a small hardcoded fallback.Verify the fix is active by checking that imports resolve from praisonai.tool_resolver, not praisonaiagents.tools.

Workspace

How workspace containment enables safe file tools

BotOS

Multi-platform bot orchestration concepts

Getting Started

Install

Core Concepts

Guides

Features

Models

Databases

Observability

Memory

Telemetry & Analytics

Knowledge

RAG

Persistence

Tools

Other Features

Developers

Configuration

Best Practices

Getting Started (No Code)

Injected Tools

Optional: browser (`--browser`)

Quick Start

How It Works

Configuration Options

Complete Default Tools List

Opt-In Tools (not auto-injected)

Smart Defaults Configuration

Tool Approval Settings

Common Patterns

Workspace-Aware Filtering

Development vs Production

Tool Categories by Use Case

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Workspace

BotOS

​Injected Tools

​Optional: browser (--browser)

​Quick Start

​How It Works

​Configuration Options

​Complete Default Tools List

​Opt-In Tools (not auto-injected)

​Smart Defaults Configuration

​Tool Approval Settings

​Common Patterns

​Workspace-Aware Filtering

​Development vs Production

​Tool Categories by Use Case

​Best Practices

​Troubleshooting

​Related

Workspace

BotOS

Injected Tools

Optional: browser (`--browser`)

Quick Start

How It Works

Configuration Options

Complete Default Tools List

Opt-In Tools (not auto-injected)

Smart Defaults Configuration

Tool Approval Settings

Common Patterns

Workspace-Aware Filtering

Development vs Production

Tool Categories by Use Case

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Related