> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.stackone.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tool Search & Execute

> Reduce token and agent context overload. Discover the right action by natural language, then run it.

<Note>
  StackOne [actions](/gateway/concepts/actions) are exposed to agents as **tools** — an action in the catalog becomes a tool in your agent's hands. The two terms describe the same operation from either side.
</Note>

There is a real problem when an agent is exposed to hundreds of tools. Loading them all into the model's context:

* **Burns tokens** — every tool definition consumes context before the agent does any work
* **Hurts accuracy** — LLMs make worse tool selections as the candidate set grows; more tools without structure become noise
* **Hits provider caps** — OpenAI caps function definitions at \~128 per request

To help solve this issue, StackOne offers **Search & Execute**. This replaces a long list of tools with two:

1. **Search** - finds actions by natural language
2. **Execute** - runs the action returned by **Search**.

## Key features

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Scales to thousands of tools" icon="chart-line">
    Search returns only the relevant actions for each query, however large the catalog.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Improves accuracy" icon="bullseye">
    Only relevant tools exposed per request, reducing misfires and hallucinations.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Account-aware" icon="shield-check">
    Filters results to tools available for configured account IDs, respecting authentication boundaries.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Framework-ready" icon="puzzle-piece">
    Returns a Tools collection with converters for OpenAI, LangChain, Vercel AI SDK, and more.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What it saves

Loading every tool definition scales with your catalog — hundreds of actions can run to hundreds of thousands of tokens before the agent does any work. Search & Execute keeps that footprint flat: two tools, whatever the catalog size.

<div style={{ margin: "1.5rem 0", display: "flex", flexDirection: "column", gap: "1.25rem" }}>
  <div>
    <div style={{ fontSize: "0.875rem", fontWeight: 600, marginBottom: "0.4rem" }}>Individual tools — 500 tools loaded · \~150,000 tokens</div>

    <div style={{ height: "1.25rem", width: "100%", background: "#f87171", borderRadius: "6px" }} />
  </div>

  <div>
    <div style={{ fontSize: "0.875rem", fontWeight: 600, marginBottom: "0.4rem" }}>Search & Execute — 2 tools · \~900 tokens</div>

    <div style={{ height: "1.25rem", width: "0.6%", minWidth: "10px", background: "#34d399", borderRadius: "6px" }} />
  </div>
</div>

<Note>
  Illustrative — exact counts depend on the actions enabled and the model.
</Note>

## Example flows

| Linked connector | User prompt                              | Search tool finds                                                                 | Execute tool runs                            |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| *Any*            | A description of the task                | Ranked actions with IDs and descriptions — only from the connectors you've linked | The chosen `action_id` with its params       |
| HiBob            | "Request time off for Alice next Friday" | `hibob_create_time_off_request`                                                   | Creates the time-off request in HiBob        |
| Jira             | "Look up ticket ABC-123"                 | `jira_get_issue`                                                                  | Returns the issue details from Jira          |
| Google Drive     | "Find training docs on GDPR"             | `googledrive_list_files`                                                          | Searches the linked drive for matching files |

## When to use it

Use Search & Execute when your agent spans many SaaS systems — dozens to thousands of tools — or targets models with limited context windows. For a small, focused action set where you want the model to see every tool, use individual tools instead.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Agent Setup" icon="robot" href="/connect/agent-setup/overview">
    Turn it on in your agent's client — ready-to-paste configs for ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and more.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Tool Discovery" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/features/tool-discovery">
    Embedding StackOne into your own code? Implement Search & Execute and the other discovery methods.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>