How can I force my AI agent to always use a tool?

One thing to keep in mind is that the AI model is designed to determine when a tool is needed based on the overall context and its internal decision making. There isn’t an out‑of‑the‑box switch to force the AI agent to always use a tool for every request. Here are a few suggestions and considerations:

1. Refine Your Prompt and System Message:
   The way you describe the context and instruct the agent in the prompt or system message plays a big role. You can try to include very explicit instructions that “always use the tool” or “never answer directly,” but ultimately the model may still decide that the tool isn’t needed based on the conversation.

2. Use the Tools Agent Node:
   The Tools Agent node is built to interface with external tools via LangChain’s tool calling interface. It is designed to intelligently select a tool when it deems necessary. To bias the agent toward tool usage:

   • Use the “Require Specific Output Format” parameter to enforce a structured response that includes a tool call schema.
   • Lean on the system message to reinforce that every request must result in a tool call even if the answer exists in its internal knowledge base.

3. Post-Processing or Custom Logic:
   If the built‑in behavior does not consistently meet your needs, you might implement additional workflow logic. For instance, after receiving an answer, you can check whether a tool call was indicated and, if not, route the conversation to a dedicated “tool‑forcing” branch where you instruct the user (or even re‑invoke a tool node) to get the desired behavior.

4. Understand the AI Model Behavior:
   The current agents (both Tools Agent and Conversational Agent) are built to be flexible. That flexibility means that sometimes they might answer using internal capabilities (like a knowledge base) if they feel it’s sufficient. At this moment, there isn’t a built-in parameter to absolutely force every interaction to call an external tool.

In short, while you can fine‑tune instructions and prompt design to steer the agent towards using a tool, there isn’t a guaranteed way to force every communication to go through it. Combining refined guidance in your prompt/system message, using configurations like “Require Specific Output Format,” and adding custom logic in your workflow are your best bets.

Hope that helps clarify your options!