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Manage Tools

⏱ 15 minutes intermediate
📜CoreOpal

Why tool management matters

Section titled “Why tool management matters”

Tools are how Opal takes action. Each tool performs a specific task — creating a campaign, uploading a file, generating an image, or querying analytics data. When you send a natural language request, Opal analyzes your intent and selects the appropriate tool automatically. You do not call tools directly.

Managing tools ensures your team has access to the capabilities they need while keeping irrelevant or sensitive tools disabled. Each Opal instance supports up to 128 enabled tools, so curation matters.

Tool types

Section titled “Tool types”

Opal offers three categories of tools:

TypeSourceManagement
System toolsBuilt and maintained by OptimizelyToggle on/off; cannot delete
Connector toolsSystem tools that integrate with third-party servicesToggle on/off; sync from registries
Custom toolsBuilt and maintained by your organizationFull create/edit/delete control

How tools work

Section titled “How tools work”

In Opal Chat

Section titled “In Opal Chat”

Users never call tools directly. Opal analyzes the natural language request to identify the appropriate tool:

  • “Create a campaign for Q4 marketing” triggers the create_campaign tool
  • “What is the current date?” triggers the get_today tool
  • “Find images of product packaging” triggers the search_web tool

If no matching tool exists, Opal asks clarifying questions or indicates the request cannot be fulfilled.

In agents

Section titled “In agents”

Specialized agents can call specific tools that you assign to them. The agent’s configuration determines which tools it can access, following the principle of least privilege.

Access the tools interface

Section titled “Access the tools interface”
  1. Log into Optimizely at home.optimizely.com
  2. Select your organization
  3. Click Opal
  4. Click Tools

You see two sub-pages: Tools (individual tool management) and Registries (registry-level management).

Activate or deactivate a tool

Section titled “Activate or deactivate a tool”

When toggled on, a tool is available across the platform — usable in Opal Chat and by agents. When off, the tool is unavailable everywhere.

  1. Navigate to Tools > Tools
  2. Search by name or description in the search field
  3. (Optional) Filter using the Provider, Active Status, and Enabled in Chat dropdowns
  4. Toggle Active on or off for individual tools

You can also toggle an entire registry on or off, which affects all tools within it.

Enable or disable tools in Opal Chat

Section titled “Enable or disable tools in Opal Chat”

The “Enabled in Chat” setting controls whether Opal Chat can select a tool. When off, the tool remains available to agents but not to Chat.

  1. Navigate to Tools > Tools
  2. Search or filter to find the tool
  3. Toggle Enabled in Chat on or off

This is useful when you want agents to use a tool but do not want Chat users triggering it with general requests.

Manage registries

Section titled “Manage registries”

Registries group related tools together. Optimizely-managed registries contain system and connector tools. Your organization can have custom registries for tools you build.

View registry details

Section titled “View registry details”

Navigate to Tools > Registries to see:

  • Registry names and tool counts
  • Discovery URLs and ownership details
  • Last synchronization dates
  • Available tools within each registry

Sync a registry

Section titled “Sync a registry”

Optimizely periodically updates connector tools with new capabilities. To pull in new tools:

  1. Navigate to Tools > Registries
  2. Find the registry you want to update
  3. Click Actions (…) > Sync

New tools from the registry become available (but inactive by default) after syncing.

Delete a registry

Section titled “Delete a registry”

Only custom registries can be deleted. Optimizely-managed registries are protected.

  1. Navigate to Tools > Registries
  2. Click Actions (…) > Delete on the custom registry
  3. Confirm the deletion

Deleting a registry removes all its tools from your Opal instance.

Tools page interface

Section titled “Tools page interface”

The Tools page provides several features for efficient management:

  • Search — Find tools by name or description
  • Filter — Narrow results by provider, active status, or chat enablement
  • Toggle controls — Individual and registry-level activation switches
  • Preview indicators — Beta tools display a preview badge
  • Authentication indicators — Tools requiring external authentication show a lock icon