To expand the capabilities of AI agents and AI actions, connect tools that allow them to retrieve information from external sources, process data, and perform actions.
Important: The steps described in this article are based on features available in BRIX AI Enterprise edition. If you are using another edition, some tools may be unavailable. For details, see Available BRIX AI editions.
Add a tool for an AI agent or AI action
To add a tool:
- In the settings of the AI agent or AI action, go to the Tools tab.
- Click + Tool. If tools have already been added to the AI agent or AI‑action, click + Add tools.
- Select the tool type from the list, then click Next to configure it:
- MCP server. Configure additional functions for an AI agent or AI action using an MCP server, for example, to send requests to an external system. For instance, you can set up your own tools to interact with BRIX by creating a module that acts as an MCP server.
In the window that opens, specify the settings:
- Select the server type: SSE or Streamable.
- Specify the server address.
- Select the authentication type. When using a BRIX module as an MCP server, configure a company connection.
- Add HTTP headers containing authentication data or service information.
- Date/Time. Allows an AI action to get the current date and time, for example, to display requests submitted during a specific period.
- Smart search. Connect a configured smart search project so that an AI action can search for information in its database.
- Content by URL. Gives an AI action access to read web pages, for example, to fetch content from a link. In the window that opens, specify:
- The maximum length of returned content. If the limit is exceeded, the AI action decides whether to load the next part of the page.
- The page load timeout. This helps speed up response generation if a page becomes unavailable.
- A list of domains that the AI action can access. If left empty, all websites will be accessible.
- BRIX: Basic set. Provides an agent or action with a set of predefined tools for working with BRIX. With these tools, it can analyze information from an open app item form and its activity stream, read text from files, describe images, view current user data, perform task actions, and retrieve approval and review sheets.
In the window that opens:
- Select a connection to a BRIX company to link the toolset to a company and define access permissions for retrieving data and performing system actions.
- Enter a unique prefix for the toolset so that the AI agent or AI action can distinguish between different BRIX toolsets and address them correctly.
- Activate the required tools. On the Apps, Files, Users, Tasks, and Document Management tabs, enable the tools relevant to the tasks of your AI agent or AI action, such as tools for fetching app item data, current user details, etc.
- On the Apps tab, configure how information is retrieved from the app item activity stream—choose to fetch message content or only the message count.
- On the Apps and Files tabs, limit the amount of data loaded from the item stream and files. If the specified limit is exceeded, the AI agent or AI‑action decides whether to load the next portion of data.
- On the Files tab, select a dedicated language model for image description and, if necessary, add custom instructions for generating descriptions.
- BRIX: Configuration. Allows an AI agent or AI action to use a custom BRIX toolset that executes configured actions within specific apps and business processes, such as creating items in selected apps, assigning tasks to users, and more.
In the window that opens:
- Select a toolset. The connection to a BRIX company will be detected automatically.
- Specify a unique prefix for the toolset, just as you would for the BRIX: Basic set type.
- Files and images: Allows an agent or action to create files in .docx, .md, and .txt formats, extract text from documents, and describe images. In the window that opens:
- Activate tools: Enable tools relevant to the tasks of your AI agent or AI action, such as file generation, image description, etc.
- Limit the amount of text retrieved from a file. If the specified limit is exceeded, the AI agent or AI action decides whether to load the next portion of the document.
- Select a language model for describing images and, if necessary, add custom instructions for generating descriptions.
- Agent: Specify a child AI agent or AI action that the current component can call to handle specialized tasks. Such a component has narrower functionality, allowing for more precise results. In the configuration window, describe when to use the child component.
Please note that when an AI agent or AI action is used as a tool, it does not get access to the context of the entire conversation or previous responses from the main AI agent or AI action. Actions are performed based on the data provided, and the result is returned. To delegate tasks with access to full conversation context, use managed agents.
- Click Save.
The AI agent or AI action will automatically identify and use the appropriate tools to generate a response or complete an action.
Configure connection to BRIX company
When adding tools that interact with BRIX, you need to configure a company connection. It ensures:
- Data exchange.
- Permission checks: The BRIX AI component will be able to retrieve data that the user has permission to view, as well as perform actions available to the employee.
These tool types include BRIX: Basic set and BRIX: Configuration. A connection is also required for the MCP server type if a BRIX module is used as the server.
To set up a connection:
- When adding a tool, click Configure connections under the Connection field.
- In the bottom-right corner, click + Add connection.
- Fill in the fields:
- Name. Enter a name for the connection.
- BRIX address. Paste the URL of your BRIX company.
- Authentication type. Select the authentication method for the tool:
- API key. In the field that appears, paste the token created in BRIX. All tool actions will be executed with the permissions of the user specified during token setup, such as an administrator.
- OAuth 2.0. Specify an OAuth 2.0 client for user authentication, for example, the one created during the initial setup of the BRIX AI integration module. Actions will be performed with the permissions of the current user. To use the chat with an AI agent, the user must grant access to their data.
- Click Test connection to verify your settings.
- Click Add.
You can then select this connection when adding or editing tools for AI agents and AI actions.