Tools

caution

Tools are under active development, and the details in this documentation may frequently change.

Introduction

branchly introduces tools as an innovative feature within the Navigator's chat functionality. These tools operate on an "agentic RAG" model, where the agent, powered by a large language model, leverages various tools to fulfill user requests and answer questions effectively.

One of the primary advantages of this approach is the elimination of complex workflow builders. Instead, capabilities are defined in natural language, allowing the agent to select the most appropriate tool to complete the task.

The default tool, the knowledge base tool, is a transformation of our standard RAG process into a tool format. This tool harnesses semantic search and reranking to identify the most relevant content within the knowledge base for generating accurate responses.

By defining the retrieval from the knowledge base as a tool, it enables usage of additional tools for different purposes than knowledge retrieval and increases the capabilities of the generative AI chat into the realm process automation. Tools can also carry out actions and respond to events, such as fetching live information from a REST API, initiating background events, or executing specific actions.

Please note that while tools are primarily designed for Chat Interfaces (Chat Widget, Chat Navigator, WhatsApp), we are working to make specific tools compatible with the Search Navigator, including contact options, forms, and OpenAPI integrations.

Tool executions and outcomes can be monitored via Monitoring (both Tableau-based Analytics and Interactions).

Available Tools

General Parameters

Tools must be activated for use in the Navigator Settings.

It is possible to create and utilize multiple tools of the same type within your Navigator. Each tool must be uniquely named and should serve a distinct purpose or application context.

• Name: The name of the tool should be carefully chosen to reflect its function, without spaces, and is limited to a maximum of 64 characters. Each tool name must be distinct across all tools.
• Active: This boolean parameter indicates if the tool is currently active and available for use by the agent.
• Description: This should provide a clear explanation of the scenarios in which the tool should be employed. The accuracy and specificity of the description are crucial for the agent to recognize and select the tool appropriately.

Knowledge Base

This tool adapts our existing RAG process into a tool that can be configured to tailor the retrieval process to your specific needs. All parameters are optional.

• Retrieval method: Choose between default and parent_context retrieval methods.
  • default: Our default semantic search.
  • parent_context: Use semantic search and then rerank results to find the most relevant parent documents and returns those, instead of individual chunks.
• Rerank: A boolean value indicating whether the reranker should be utilized to improve search result relevance.
• Document Limit (Rerank): Specifies the maximum number of documents to return when the reranker is in use.
• Document Limit (default): Determines the limit for returned documents when not using the reranker.
• Nodes Filter: A list of node identifiers to refine search results.
• Labels Filter: A list of labels to filter nodes by, which can be useful for excluding certain types of nodes, such as contact nodes that you may want to handle with a different tool.
• Sources Filter: Filters the search results by specific sources.

Form

A form is perfect to capture structured information from your users. The form tool can be configured to work for all our User Interface.

To start building your form, navigate to the Form Tool section in your dashboard. Here, you can create a new form and begin adding fields based on your needs.

Form Options

• Form Title: Set a title for your form that appears at the top.
• Submit Button: Customize the text on the submit button.
• Submission Message: Write a thank-you message or confirmation note that users will see after submitting the form.
• Data Privacy: If your form collects sensitive information, you can add a data privacy text that the users needs to accept in able to submit the form. Simply toggle this option and provide the necessary text and a checkbox is added automatically to the form.
• Notification Email: Enter an email address to receive notifications whenever someone submits the form. Leave it blank if you prefer not to receive email notifications.

Field Types

Here's a quick overview of the field types you can add to your form:

• Text Field
  • Use this for gathering general text input, such as names or comments.
  • Options: Choose from text, email, or phone formats.
• Text Area Field
  • Use this for capturing detailed descriptions or comments from the user.
• Checkbox
  • Use this for yes/no questions or to confirm terms and conditions.
• Dropdown Menu
  • Perfect for offering a list of predefined choices.
  • Options: Add as many options as you need for users to select from.
• Number Field
  • Ideal for collecting numeric data like age or quantity.
  • Options: Set a minimum value if needed.
• Date Picker
  • Let users select a date, useful for bookings or appointments.
• Time Picker
  • Let users select a time, useful for booking or appointments.

Monitoring

Track the execution and outcomes of forms via our Conversations view.

Use with the Search Navigator

In order to use forms with the Search Navigator, you are required to create a new node in the knowledge base of type tool and link the configured form to this tool node. Note that entered arguments by the user and not prefilled in the form (as this would require the AI agent).

Send Email

When a user expresses the desire to be contacted via email, this tool is triggered to facilitate that communication. It requires the user's email address as part of the messages to initiate the process.

• Sender Email (required): Your chosen email address with which you want to communicate with the user.

Weather

Use this tool to get up-to-date information about current future weather for a specific location. The location is inferred by the user or can be fixed using the tool description (i.e. if you only want to provide this capability for specific location).

Web Search

This tool enables the agent to search the web based on terms provided by the user or inferred by the agent.

• Limit (optional): Sets the maximum number of search results, up to 5. You may opt for a lower limit if desired.

Web Page Reader

The Web Page Reader tool is designed for accessing specific web pages, particularly when you wish to avoid comprehensive integrations like openAPI. A use case is accessing content from dynamic web pages.

• URL (required): The exact URL of the web page the tool should access and read.
• Target Selector (optional): Only return elements within this CSS selector. Used for focussing on a specific part of the page.
• Wait for Selector (optional): Wait for a specific element (defined with CSS selector) to appear before result is returned.

openAPI / REST API (in beta)

The configuration for this tool aligns with the settings used for the openAPI data source, allowing for integration with external APIs.

BayernCloud (in beta)

Use the https://bayerncloud.digital/ API to access POI information. For tourism companies.

Parcel Tracking (planned)

Look up the current status of a parcel by using the tracking id provided by the user as part of a message.

Tools and User Interfaces Availability

As some tool’s job is it to fetch data dynamically, these only make sense in a setting where an AI agent can infer the filter criteria to fetch the specific data.

Tool	User Interfaces
Knowledge Base	Chat, Chat Widget
Form	Chat, Chat Widget, Search Navigator
Send Email	Chat, Chat Widget
Weather	Chat, Chat Widget
Web Search	Chat, Chat Widget
Web Page Reader	Chat, Chat Widget
openAPI	Chat, Chat Widget