> This page is for version v2 API (default).
> For other versions, use one of these documentation indexes:
> - v2 API (default): https://docs.cohere.com/v2/llms.txt
> - v1 API: https://docs.cohere.com/v1/llms.txt

> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.cohere.com/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.cohere.com/_mcp/server.

# An Overview of Tool Use with Cohere

> Learn when to use leverage multi-step tool use in your workflows.

Here, you'll find context on using tools with Cohere models:

* The [basic usage](https://docs.cohere.com/docs/tool-use-overview) discusses 'function calling,' including how to define and create the tool, how to give it a schema, and how to incorporate it into common workflows.
* [Usage patterns](https://docs.cohere.com/docs/tool-use-usage-patterns) builds on this, covering parallel execution, state management, and more.
* [Parameter types](https://docs.cohere.com/docs/tool-use-parameter-types) talks about structured output in the context of tool use.
* As its name implies, [Streaming](https://docs.cohere.com/docs/tool-use-streaming) explains how to deal with tools when output must be streamed.
* It's often important to double-check model output, which is made much easier with [citations](https://docs.cohere.com/docs/tool-use-citations).

These should help you leverage Cohere's tool use functionality to get the most out of our models.