Tools and context

Tools and Context

Gives Tambo access to data and capabilities through tools, MCP servers, and context.

Quick Start

// Custom tool Tambo can call
const fetchUserTool = defineTool({
  name: "fetchUser",
  description: "Fetch user by ID",
  inputSchema: z.object({ userId: z.string() }),
  tool: async ({ userId }) => fetchUser(userId),
});

<TamboProvider tools={[fetchUserTool]}>
  <App />
</TamboProvider>;

Custom Tools

Register JavaScript functions Tambo can call:

import { defineTool, TamboProvider } from "@tambo-ai/react";
import { z } from "zod";

const fetchUserTool = defineTool({
  name: "fetchUser",
  description: "Fetch a user by ID",
  inputSchema: z.object({
    userId: z.string().describe("The user ID to fetch"),
  }),
  outputSchema: z.object({
    name: z.string(),
    email: z.string(),
  }),
  tool: async ({ userId }) => {
    const user = await fetchUser(userId);
    return user;
  },
});

<TamboProvider tools={[fetchUserTool]} components={components}>
  <App />
</TamboProvider>;

Tool Key Points

• inputSchema: Zod object for parameters, use .describe() on fields
• outputSchema: Zod schema for return value (optional)
• tool: Function receives single object with input params
• transformToContent: Enable rich content responses (images, formatted text)

MCP Servers

Connect to external MCP servers for tools, resources, prompts:

Feature	Server-side	Client-side
Performance	Fast (direct)	Slower (browser proxies)
Auth	OAuth + API keys	Browser session only
Local servers	No	Yes (localhost)
Config	Tambo dashboard	React code

Server-Side Setup

1. Go to project dashboard
2. Click "Add MCP Server"
3. Enter URL and server type (StreamableHTTP or SSE)
4. Complete OAuth if required

Client-Side Setup

npm install @modelcontextprotocol/sdk@^1.24.0 zod@^4.0.0 zod-to-json-schema@^3.25.0

import { TamboProvider } from "@tambo-ai/react";
import { MCPTransport } from "@tambo-ai/react/mcp";

<TamboProvider
  mcpServers={[
    {
      url: "http://localhost:8123/",
      serverKey: "local",
      transport: MCPTransport.HTTP,
    },
  ]}
>
  <App />
</TamboProvider>;

Context Helpers

Provide dynamic context on every message:

<TamboProvider
  contextHelpers={{
    currentPage: () => ({ url: window.location.href }),
    currentTime: () => ({ time: new Date().toISOString() }),
    selectedItems: () => selectedItems.map((i) => i.name),
  }}
>
  <App />
</TamboProvider>

Dynamic Context Helpers

Add/remove helpers at runtime:

const { addContextHelper, removeContextHelper } = useTamboContextHelpers();

useEffect(() => {
  addContextHelper("project", () => ({ projectId, projectName }));
  return () => removeContextHelper("project");
}, [projectId, projectName, addContextHelper, removeContextHelper]);

Context Attachments

One-time context for the next message (cleared after sending):

const { addContextAttachment, attachments, removeContextAttachment } =
  useTamboContextAttachment();

function handleSelectFile(file) {
  addContextAttachment({
    context: file.content,
    displayName: file.name,
    type: "file",
  });
}

Local Resources

Register @ mentionable resources users can reference in messages:

Static Resources

import { TamboProvider, ListResourceItem } from "@tambo-ai/react";

const resources: ListResourceItem[] = [
  { uri: "docs://api", name: "API Reference", mimeType: "text/plain" },
  { uri: "docs://faq", name: "FAQ", mimeType: "text/plain" },
];

const getResource = async (uri: string) => {
  const content = await fetchDoc(uri);
  return { contents: [{ uri, mimeType: "text/plain", text: content }] };
};

<TamboProvider resources={resources} getResource={getResource}>
  <App />
</TamboProvider>;

Dynamic Resources

const listResources = async (search?: string) => {
  const docs = await fetchDocs();
  return docs
    .filter((d) => !search || d.name.includes(search))
    .map((d) => ({
      uri: `docs://${d.id}`,
      name: d.title,
      mimeType: "text/plain",
    }));
};

const getResource = async (uri: string) => {
  const doc = await fetchDocument(uri);
  return { contents: [{ uri, mimeType: "text/plain", text: doc.content }] };
};

// Both listResources and getResource must be provided together
<TamboProvider listResources={listResources} getResource={getResource}>
  <App />
</TamboProvider>;

Programmatic Registration

const { registerResource, registerResources } = useTamboRegistry();

// Single resource
registerResource({
  uri: "user://file.txt",
  name: "File",
  mimeType: "text/plain",
});

// Batch registration
registerResources(
  docs.map((d) => ({
    uri: `docs://${d.id}`,
    name: d.title,
    mimeType: "text/plain",
  })),
);

Context Types Summary

Type	When Called	Use Case
Context Helpers	Every message	Ambient state (current page, time)
Context Attachments	Next message only	User-selected files, selections
Resources	When @ mentioned	Documentation, searchable data