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title: "Automate Workflows with Tool Actions"
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Beyond extending a Model's capabilities, Airia allows you to integrate tools directly into an Agent's workflow as independent actions. This enables advanced, multi-step automation where API calls and external operations can be performed in-line with other agent components like LLMs and data sources.

![Actions Agent Example](../Images/Actions_Agent_Example.png)

## Prerequisites

Before adding a tool to an agent, ensure it's already configured in your project. If not, follow the setup instructions in the [Tools Setup Guide](../tools.mdx) to add and authenticate your desired tool.

## Add a Tool to an Agent

Once a tool has been added to your project and its authentication provided, you can integrate it into an agent workflow:

1.  Navigate to your **Agent Canvas**.
    ![Blank Agent](../Images/blank_agent_action.png)
2.  On the left-hand sidebar, you will see a list of your added **Tools**.
    ![Tools Navbar](../Images/tools_navbar.png)
3.  **Drag and drop** the desired tool from the sidebar onto the agent canvas. It will appear as a "Step" in your pipeline.
    ![Tools Drag Drop](../Images/tools_drag_drop.png)

## Connect a Tool in an Agent Workflow

Tools, when added as steps, can be connected using lines to define the flow of data and execution order within your agent pipeline.

*   **To connect a tool:** Click and drag a line from the output port of a preceding step (e.g., an LLM or Data Source) to the input port of your tool action. Similarly, you can connect the tool's output to subsequent steps.

![Tools Connection](../Images/tools_connections.png)

## Configure Tool Parameters

Select the tool action block on the canvas to configure its parameters in the right-hand sidebar. Here, you can define values for the tool's inputs.

### User-Defined Values

You can directly input static values for tool parameters. This is useful when a parameter's value is constant or known beforehand, regardless of previous agent steps.

*   **Type directly:** Simply type the desired value into the parameter field.

![Action Fixed Value](../Images/action_fixed_value.png)

### Agent Variables (Dynamic Values)

For dynamic workflows, you can map parameters to variables from previous steps. This allows the tool to use data generated by other components in your agent.

1.  **Select the dropdown:** Click the dropdown icon next to the parameter field to view available variables.
2.  **Choose a `stepResult`:** To retrieve a value from a specific preceding step, select the `stepResult` variable. This will expand to show a list of all available steps in your agent.
3.  **Select the source step:** Choose the step whose output you want to use as the parameter's input.
    ![Action Agent Values](../Images/action_agent_values.png)

Once saved, the variable reference will highlight in blue, indicating that it is valid and will dynamically fetch the value from that step during execution.

![Action Blue Value](../Images/action_blue_value.png)

> 💡 Example: You can create a multi-step flow where the output of multiple Models are fed into the same action, such as sending an email. Each parameter can have its own source step or a user-defined value.
> ![Action Multi-Step Flow](../Images/action_2_step_flow.png)

## Test the Tool Action

After configuring your agent, run it to test the tool action:

*   The output of the tool action will be displayed directly in the test results.
*   You can also feed this output to a subsequent LLM block to present a natural language summarization of the flow result.

![Action Result](../Images/action_result.png)

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By following these steps, you can effectively extend your Agents with powerful tool-based actions, enabling complex and automated workflows. If you have any queries, please refer to the respective tool documentation or reach out for support.
