> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.cohere.com/v2/docs/tools/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.

> Cohere's API documentation helps developers easily integrate natural language processing and generation into their products.

## Docs

- [Basic usage of tool use (function calling)](https://docs.cohere.com/v2/docs/tool-use-overview.md): An overview of using Cohere's tool use capabilities, enabling developers to build agentic workflows (API v2).
- [Usage patterns for tool use (function calling)](https://docs.cohere.com/v2/docs/tool-use-usage-patterns.md): Guide on implementing various tool use patterns with the Cohere Chat endpoint such as parallel tool calling, multi-step tool use, and more (API v2).
- [Parameter types for tool use (function calling)](https://docs.cohere.com/v2/docs/tool-use-parameter-types.md): Guide on using structured outputs with tool parameters in the Cohere Chat API. Includes guide on supported parameter types and usage examples (API v2).
- [Streaming for tool use (function calling)](https://docs.cohere.com/v2/docs/tool-use-streaming.md): Guide on implementing streaming for tool use in Cohere's platform and details on the events stream (API v2).
- [Citations for tool use (function calling)](https://docs.cohere.com/v2/docs/tool-use-citations.md): Guide on accessing and utilizing citations generated by the Cohere Chat endpoint for tool use. It covers both non-streaming and streaming modes (API v2).