Enable Programmatic Tool Calling

Mark a tool as callable from Claude's code execution environment.

Usage

claude_tool_programmatic(tool)

Arguments

tool

A tool object from claude_tool().

Value

The tool with allowed_callers attribute set.

Details

Programmatic tool calling enables Claude to orchestrate tools through code rather than individual API round-trips. Claude writes Python code that calls multiple tools, processes outputs, and controls what enters context.

Requirements:

• Beta header: beta_headers$BETA_ADVANCED_TOOLS

• Code execution tool must be enabled

Benefits:

• 37%+ reduction in token consumption

• Batch processing of tool calls

• Filtered/aggregated results

API Reference: https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/tool-use/programmatic-tool-calling

See also

Other claude-tools: beta_headers, claude-tools, claude_code_exec(), claude_context_edit(), claude_memory(), claude_text_editor(), claude_tool(), claude_tool_defer(), claude_web_fetch(), claude_web_search()

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# Create programmatic search tool
search_tool <- claude_tool_programmatic(claude_tool(
  fn = function(query) paste("Results for:", query),
  name = "search",
  desc = "Search the database",
  query = ellmer::type_string("Search query")
))

chat <- claude_new(
  tools = list(search_tool, claude_code_exec(type = "python")),
  beta = c(beta_headers$BETA_ADVANCED_TOOLS, beta_headers$BETA_CODE_EXEC_PYTHON)
)
chat$chat("Search for 'impressionism', 'baroque', and 'renaissance' and combine results")
# Claude writes Python to call search 3 times and aggregate
} # }