Tools
The Tools screen is where you decide which actions agents may perform — look something up, draft a post, change a setting, and so on. Agents only use the tools you allow. Higher-risk actions still follow Approvals and your safety settings.
Basic mode is three safety profiles. The full tool-by-tool list, category tabs, search, and risk filters live in Advanced mode on this same page.
Overview
Open Agent Builder → Tools in wp-admin. At the top you’ll see:
- The Tools heading
- A short description (it changes with the mode)
- A Basic / Advanced toggle (this page only). The ? next to it: Only changes this screen. Other screens and your site-wide default (Settings → Interface) are unaffected.
Basic description: Pick a simple safety profile. We turn tools on or off to match — no need to manage hundreds of tools one by one.
Advanced description: Enable or disable tools agents can use. Group by category using the tabs.
Safety Center summarizes the same inventory (enabled/disabled counts and highest enabled risk) and links back here.
Tools sections
Basic mode (ability profiles)
The panel title is What may agents do?
Copy under it: these profiles control which tools every agent may use; Approvals still apply for riskier actions. Switch to Advanced (top right) for the full tool-by-tool list.
If tools were toggled one-by-one in Advanced, a warning reads: Tools were customized outside a profile. Choose a card below to reset to a simple safety level.
Three cards (clicking a card applies it immediately):
| Card | Summary | What it turns on | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browse & answer | Safest — read-only help | Agents can look things up and answer questions. They cannot change posts, settings, or your site. | low risk |
| Help with drafts | Balanced — create drafts with care | Read plus everyday writing (drafts and light edits). Riskier changes still ask for confirmation. | medium risk |
| Manage my site | Full productivity — approvals for big changes | Most tools on, including significant updates. High-risk actions go through the Approvals queue. Extreme tools stay off. | high risk |
The active card shows a Current badge.
Success notice: Profile applied: {n} tools on, {m} tools off. Failure: Could not apply profile.
A line under the cards reports the live inventory: Right now: {n} tools on, {m} off · highest enabled risk: {level}.
There is no per-tool table, search, or category tab in Basic mode.
Advanced mode (full tool list)
The panel title is All tools, or the category name when a category tab is selected. A line under the tabs reminds you: You are in Advanced view (full tool list).
Category tabs
All ({count}) first, then every non-empty category A–Z, each with a count. Examples of labels you may see: Agents, AI Visibility, Analytics, Caching, CLI, Communication, Content, CRM, Database, DataForSEO, Ecommerce, Email, Files, Forms, Google Business, Git, Search Marketing, Google Workspace, Maintenance, Media, Orchestration, Plugins, Security, SEO, Site Audit, Site Health, Themes, Users, Utility, Web, WordPress. Unknown categories show as title-cased slugs.
Bookmarks that used ?category= still work; they open the matching tab. The default tab is All.
Search and risk filters
- Search tools… — matches name, description, category, id, and risk
- A count of the filtered list (1 tool / {n} tools)
- Filter by risk: All risks, None, Low, Medium, High, Extreme (each with a count). Empty levels are hidden unless they are the active filter
No matches: No tools match this search or risk filter.
Empty category: No tools in this category.
Table
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Enabled | On/off switch (Enabled: {tool} for screen readers) |
| Tool | The tool’s identifier (for example db_create_post) and a truncated description |
| Category | On the All tab only — links to that category tab |
| Risk | none, low, medium, high, or extreme, plus a ? with the meaning below |
| Source | Where the tool was registered (commonly core) |
Risk ? text:
| Risk | Meaning |
|---|---|
| none | Safe to run automatically — read-only, no approval needed. |
| low | Runs automatically by default; may read data that includes personal information. |
| medium | Changes something — agents pause for your in-chat confirmation first. |
| high | A significant or bulk change — waits in the Approvals queue for you to allow it. |
| extreme | Too risky to allow at all — hidden from agents entirely, cannot be enabled. |
Toggling is optimistic (the switch flips without reloading). A failure rolls it back and shows Toggle failed. Turning any tool on or off by hand marks the Basic profile as custom — you’ll see the yellow warning when you switch back to Basic.
Enabling a high-risk or extreme tool
Turning on a high or extreme tool does not flip immediately. A modal asks first.
High — title Enable high-risk tool?
- {name} can make a significant change to your site.
- Why this is high-risk: a specific reason when the plugin has one (for example installs code on your site, can affect account access, moves money, can permanently remove data, changes the deployed codebase), otherwise the high-risk sentence above
- If an agent uses this tool later, the action will still wait for human review in the Approvals queue before it runs
- Enabling this tool makes it available to eligible agents. It does not run the tool immediately
- Cancel or Enable tool
Extreme — title This tool cannot be enabled
- {name} is marked Extreme Risk
- Extreme-risk tools are hidden from agents entirely and blocked from running, because they are too risky for normal use
- Close only — there is no enable button. The server also refuses the same change
Turning a tool off never shows this modal.
Common tasks
Picking a simple safety level
- Open Tools in Basic mode
- Click Browse & answer, Help with drafts, or Manage my site
- Wait for Profile applied: {n} tools on, {m} tools off.
- Check the Right now line if you want the new counts and highest enabled risk
Turning one tool off or on
- Set this screen to Advanced
- Find the tool (category tab, Search tools…, or a risk filter)
- Flip Enabled
- For a high-risk tool turning on, read the modal and click Enable tool — or Cancel
- Extreme-risk tools cannot be enabled; Close the modal
Checking why a tool is high-risk
- Open Tools in Advanced
- Filter High (or search the identifier)
- Read the Risk badge ?
- If you enable it, the modal repeats a more specific reason when one is on file
Or open Safety Center → Highest-risk tools currently enabled / Per-agent tool scopes.
Resetting a custom mix back to a profile
- After toggling tools in Advanced, switch back to Basic
- Read the warning that tools were customized outside a profile
- Click a profile card to replace that mix
FAQ
Where did the long tool list go?
It’s in Advanced mode. Click Advanced at the top right of this page (not the site-wide switch in the header). Basic mode is the three profile cards only.
Does a profile apply to every agent?
Yes. Profiles turn tools on or off site-wide. They do not hide the Approvals queue — medium-risk changes still pause in chat, high-risk changes still wait on Approvals, and extreme tools stay off even on Manage my site.
I enabled a high-risk tool and nothing happened.
Enabling only makes the tool available. The next time an agent wants to use it, the action still waits in Approvals for you to allow it. The modal says this before you confirm.
Why can’t I switch an Extreme tool on?
Extreme-risk tools are hard-blocked — hidden from agents and refused by the server. That is not a default you can override from this screen (or from Safety Center).
What’s the difference between this page’s Basic / Advanced and the site-wide switch?
This page’s toggle changes only Tools (profiles vs the full list) and is remembered per user. The site-wide switch in the admin header is the default for every Agent Builder screen. The ? on this toggle says so.
The tool name looks like a code id.
The Advanced table lists the registry identifier (what the executor and audit log use), not a marketing label. The description under it is the plain-language hint.
Who can open this page?
Administrators, and anyone granted permission to manage tools.