Built-in tools | Admin guide

Table of contents

  • 1. Overview
  • 2. The built-in tools page
  • 3. Enabling and disabling tools
  • 4. Controlling access with access profiles
  • 5. Types of tools
    • Batch processing tools
    • Code and HTML generation tools
    • Supporting tools
  • 6. Dependency: Jobs setting

1. Overview

Built-in tools are AI capabilities built directly into Theta Assist — features such as batch file processing, code generation, and HTML generation. Unlike MCP servers, which connect to external services, built-in tools run entirely within the platform.

All built-in tools are disabled by default. An administrator must explicitly enable each tool before it becomes available to users. This page is where you do that.

2. The built-in tools page

Navigate to Admin > Tools > Built-in to see the full list of Theta Assist's built-in tools.

 

Built-in tools page showing enabled and disabled tools

 

Each row in the table shows:

Column Description
Function name The internal identifier used by the AI, for example async_start_process_files
Tool name A human-readable display name shown to users
Description What the tool does — shown when users configure their assistant
Access profile Which users can add this tool to their assistant. See section 4.
Status Whether the tool is currently Enabled or Disabled
Actions Toggle button to enable or disable the tool

Changes made here take effect immediately platform-wide.

3. Enabling and disabling tools

Click the toggle in the Actions column to enable or disable a tool.

  • Disabled (default): Users cannot add the tool to an assistant. If the tool is already added to an assistant, it cannot be used.
  • Enabled: Users can add the tool to an assistant, subject to any access profile restrictions.

Note: Disabling a tool does not remove it from assistants that already have it. If the assistant tries to use the tool, it is blocked and the user sees this message: “This tool has been disabled by an administrator. You can remove it from this assistant, but you cannot re-enable it.”

There is no bulk enable or disable option. You must update each tool individually.

4. Controlling access with access profiles

The Access Profile dropdown on each tool lets you restrict which users are allowed to add that tool to their assistants.

  • Anyone (No Restriction) — Any authenticated user can add the tool to their assistant.
  • A specific Access Profile — Only users who are members of that profile can see and add the tool when configuring their assistant.

This controls configuration access only — it determines who can add the tool to an assistant. It does not restrict who can use an assistant that already has the tool configured.

For a full explanation of how access profiles work, see Access Profiles — Admin Guide.

5. Types of tools

Batch processing tools

These tools allow an assistant to process large volumes of data or files asynchronously as a background job. Theta Assist currently supports 3 batch processing tools. They require the Jobs setting to be enabled — see section 6.

Tool name Function name What it processes
Batch Process Files async_start_process_files Files (PDF, Word, Excel, text) uploaded to the assistant
Batch Process Data File async_start_process_data_file Rows or records from CSV, JSON, or XML files
Batch Process Tool Results async_start_process_tool_results Arrays returned from MCP tool calls

Detailed guidance on configuring and using batch processing tools.

Code and HTML generation tools

These tools allow an assistant to generate or revise code and HTML pages, using specialised AI models with real-time streaming output. They run as background jobs.

Tool name Function name Purpose
Code Generator async_start_code_generation Generate code in any language using a selected AI model
HTML Generator async_start_html_generation Generate complete, standalone HTML pages with CSS and JavaScript
HTML Revision async_start_html_revision Revise and improve a previously generated HTML page

Detailed guidance on these tools will be covered in a separate article.

Supporting tools

These tools provide read-only information to the assistant and do not run as background jobs.

Tool name Function name Purpose
List Available Models list_available_models Returns the AI models the current user can access
List Assistants list_assistants Returns the assistants the current user has access to, with their IDs and names

list_available_models helps users discover which models they can pass to batch processing tools.

6. Dependency: Jobs setting

The three batch processing tools and the three code and HTML generation tools all depend on the Jobs background processing feature being enabled in Theta Assist.

If Jobs is not enabled:

  • The tools can still be enabled on this page and added to an assistant's configuration.
  • However, when a user tries to invoke one, the assistant configuration UI will show: "This tool requires the 'Jobs' setting to be enabled. Contact your administrator."

To enable Jobs, navigate to the relevant application settings. Ensure Jobs is enabled before enabling any of the async_start_* tools, otherwise users will see an error when attempting to use them.