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Tools & connectors

Tools are what your agent can do. Ownware ships a built-in kit (filesystem, shell, web, browser, memory, sub-agents, …), and three connector types add more — each one line of config in agent.json, no code changes.

For AI agentscondensed build recipe

built-ins are selected by tools.preset (full/coding/readonly/none) filtered by allow/deny globs (deny wins). Add MCP servers under tools.mcp ({"<name>": {"transport":"stdio","command":"npx","args":[…]}} — url transport also supported); Composio via tools.composio {"toolkits":["github","notion"]} (requires COMPOSIO_API_KEY env before boot, otherwise silently disabled); custom tools via tools.custom [{"path":"tools/my-tool.ts"}] where the file exports defineTool({ name, description, inputSchema, execute }) from ownware. Restart the gateway after editing.

When to use which

You want Use
Files, shell, search on the host Built-in presets — already there
An existing tool server (filesystem, GitHub, databases…) MCP — any stdio or url server
SaaS apps (GitHub, Notion, Slack, 400+) with managed auth Composio
Your own logic in TypeScript Custom tools

Built-in tools

Selected by tools.preset, filtered by allow/deny globs — deny always wins:

json
"tools": { "preset": "full", "deny": ["shell_execute"] }

Presets: full (all built-ins — filesystem, shell, web, browser, memory, sub-agent, …) · coding (filesystem + shell) · readonly (read-only filesystem) · none. See Profile format.

Any MCP server

Verified: the agent gets the server's tools at startup.

json
"mcp": {
  "everything": {
    "transport": "stdio",
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-everything"]
  }
}

Both stdio and url transports are supported.

Composio — 400+ SaaS apps

Requires COMPOSIO_API_KEY in the environment before the gateway starts (get one at composio.dev). Without the key, Composio stays disabled and declared toolkits are ignored.

json
"composio": { "toolkits": ["github", "notion"] }

Your own tool

A TypeScript file in the profile folder:

profiles/my-agent/tools/my-tool.ts
import { defineTool } from 'ownware'

export const codeReview = defineTool({
  name: 'code_review',
  description: 'Run a code review on a file',
  inputSchema: {
    type: 'object',
    properties: { file: { type: 'string', description: 'File to review' } },
    required: ['file'],
  },
  async execute(input) {
    return { content: 'Review complete', isError: false }
  },
})
json
"custom": [{ "path": "tools/my-tool.ts" }]

How it works

At assembly time the kernel merges all four sources into one tool list, then the engine's security layers apply to every call equally — policy filters, input guards, zone classification, and human-in-the-loop permissions. A connector tool gets no special trust. See Thinking in Ownware § security.

Next steps