← Concept IndexDEFINITION WHY IT MATTERS COMMONLY CONFUSED WITH
Tool-augmented reasoning
Also called: calling a calculator, function calling for reasoning
Letting a model offload steps it's unreliable at — arithmetic, lookups, code execution — to an actual tool, then reasoning over the trusted result instead of guessing it.
It targets a real weakness: models are fluent but shaky at exact calculation and current facts. A calculator or search tool turns a confident guess into a checked value, often the difference between usable and wrong.
The model 'just knowing' the answer. Here the model decides to use a tool and interprets its output; the tool, not the model's memory, supplies the exact result.