Provide Tools for Agents in a Network

Network tools and resources are shared once at the network level and become available to every agent on that network. Register a database, an API, a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, or a shared secret once, and you do not have to repeat it in each agent.

You manage them from the Network Tools & Resources section of the network detail page.

Add a Tool or Resource

  1. Open the Act tab, then Networks, and select your network.

  2. In the Network Tools & Resources section, select Add Tool or Resource.

  3. Fill in the modal:

    • Name (required): The name agents and the deploy wizard match against.

    • Type: See the types below.

    • Treat as secret: Toggle on for sensitive values such as API keys and passwords. The platform then handles the value as a secret and does not show it in plain text.

    • Value: The value to store. For an environment-variable reference, the deploy wizard offers this value as the default for any matching reference in a template.

    • Description (optional).

  4. Click Add Tool.

The tool becomes available to agents on the network.

Tool and Resource Types

Type What it Provides

Environment Variable

A named value (for example an API key or endpoint). The deploy wizard offers it as a default for matching environment-variable references in a template.

MCP Server

Tools and resources from a Model Context Protocol server.

Database

A shared database connection.

API

A shared REST API endpoint.

MQTT Broker

A shared MQTT broker connection. It can also serve as the network’s agent bus. See below.

Long-Term Storage

Persistent storage that gives agents memory across cycles and restarts. See below.

Environment Variables and the Deploy Wizard

A template can reference values that you must supply at deploy time. When you register an Environment Variable tool whose name matches a reference in a template, the deploy wizard uses its value as the default for that reference. The value then applies to every agent on the network, so you do not enter it by hand each time. Turn on Treat as secret for keys and passwords.

If a template needs a value that you did not declare as a template parameter, and that no matching network tool provides, the agent can fail at deploy time with a missing-value error. See Deploy an Agent.

Long-Term Storage for Agent Memory

A Long-Term Storage tool gives every agent on the network persistent memory: learned patterns and state survive between cycles and across restarts. Agents write to it from their Reflect stage. For how an agent uses memory, see Reflect on Agent Execution.

MQTT Broker as the Agent Bus

Agents on a network communicate over a built-in agent bus by default. To use your own broker instead, register an MQTT Broker tool. It can serve as the agent-bus override for the network. See Agent-to-Agent Communication.

Remove a Tool or Resource

In the Network Tools & Resources section, find the tool and remove it. Agents on the network can no longer use it. When you remove a tool, the platform does not delete any data the tool itself holds. For example, data already stored in a long-term storage backend remains until you remove it at the source.