assistant-ui Tools
Always consult assistant-ui.com/llms.txt for latest API.
Tools let LLMs trigger actions with custom UI rendering.
References ./references/make-tool.md -- makeAssistantTool/useAssistantTool ./references/tool-ui.md -- makeAssistantToolUI rendering ./references/human-in-loop.md -- Confirmation patterns Tool Types Where does the tool execute? ├─ Backend (LLM calls API) → AI SDK tool() │ └─ Want custom UI? → makeAssistantToolUI └─ Frontend (browser-only) → makeAssistantTool └─ Want custom UI? → makeAssistantToolUI
Backend Tool with UI // Backend (app/api/chat/route.ts) import { tool, stepCountIs } from "ai"; import { z } from "zod";
const tools = { get_weather: tool({ description: "Get weather for a city", inputSchema: z.object({ city: z.string() }), execute: async ({ city }) => ({ temp: 22, city }), }), };
const result = streamText({ model: openai("gpt-4o"), messages, tools, stopWhen: stepCountIs(5), });
// Frontend import { makeAssistantToolUI } from "@assistant-ui/react";
const WeatherToolUI = makeAssistantToolUI({ toolName: "get_weather", render: ({ args, result, status }) => { if (status === "running") return
// Register in app
Frontend-Only Tool import { makeAssistantTool } from "@assistant-ui/react"; import { z } from "zod";
const CopyTool = makeAssistantTool({ toolName: "copy_to_clipboard", parameters: z.object({ text: z.string() }), execute: async ({ text }) => { await navigator.clipboard.writeText(text); return { success: true }; }, });
API Reference
// makeAssistantToolUI props
interface ToolUIProps {
toolCallId: string;
toolName: string;
args: Record
Human-in-the-Loop const DeleteToolUI = makeAssistantToolUI({ toolName: "delete_file", render: ({ args, status, submitResult }) => { if (status === "requires-action") { return (
Delete {args.path}?
Common Gotchas
Tool UI not rendering
toolName must match exactly (case-sensitive) Register UI inside AssistantRuntimeProvider
Tool not being called
Check tool description is clear Use stopWhen: stepCountIs(n) to allow multi-step
Result not showing
Tool must return a value Check status === "complete" before accessing result