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A capability is a feature or integration that your agent can use to accomplish tasks. Each agent starts with a basic set of commonly used capabilities, and you can add more as needed. Some capabilities also have configuration options that can be adjusted to match your needs.
Capability card showing toggle and configuration options

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Types of capabilities

To see all available capabilities, go to the All Capabilities tab in the agent’s capabilities page.
  • Some capabilities represent Platform features - such as the ability to generate images, execute code, edit documents, etc.
  • Other capabilities represent external integrations—such as Slack, Google Drive, HubSpot, and GitHub. You can also add your own integrations using MCP servers. Learn more about integrations in the integrations overview.

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Managing capabilities

Capabilities are an important part of managing the behavior of your agent.
  • If your agent has too few capabilities, it might not be able to do the task you asked it to do.
  • If your agent has too many capabilities, or capabilities that it doesn’t need, it might get confused about when to use which capability.
Agents can combine capabilities in powerful ways. For example, if an agent has Web Search, Edit documents, Generate PDF, and Send Email capabilities, it can:
  • Use Web Search to do a daily scan of potential investment prospects, use Edit documents to create and manage a database of the information, use Generate PDF to generate a weekly report, and Send Email to send the report to your team.
  • If you also enable Receive Email and Receive SMS capabilities, then team members can ask followup questions via email or SMS, or request further research on specific prospects.
Start with minimal capabilities and add more as needed. This lets you get started faster.

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On-demand capabilities

You don’t need to configure all capabilities upfront. If you ask the agent to do something that requires a capability that isn’t enabled, it will automatically request it by showing a capability card in the conversation.
Agent requesting a capability with a capability card

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Capabilities vs Tools vs MCP Servers

What is the difference between a capability and a tool, and how does this relate to MCP servers?
  • A tool is a lower-level technical function exposed to an LLM. For example, postSlackMessage is a tool that can be used to post a message to a Slack channel.
  • A capability is a higher level concept that groups related tools together.
    • For example, the Slack capability includes the ability to post messages, list channels, and read threads.
    • Capabilities are toggled on or off by the user, and in some cases also require configuration or authentication.
    • When a capability is toggled on, the associated tools become available to the agent.
  • An MCP Server is an external service that exposes a set of tools to an LLM.
    • When you add an MCP server to your agent, you are adding a capability that allows the agent to use the tools exposed by that MCP server.
    • You can also toggle which tools within an MCP server that should be made available to the agent.
    • See MCP Servers for more information.