The One Thing That Separates a Chatbot From an Agent: Function Calling, Explained
Al_Grigor · x · 2026-09-10
AlGrigor explains the core distinction between chatbots and agents: function calling. Without tools, a model only generates text; with tools, it can propose calls like makejoke("Alexey") that your system executes and feeds back. Key point: the LLM never runs code itself — it only proposes calls. For coding agents, tools escalate to readfile() and similar powerful operations.
More from coding & agent
- Open-source TIDAL MCP server ships 112 tools for music discovery via Claude and Cursor — Fickle_Guitar7417 · 2026-09-10
- CommerceAgentBench hits 1,000 GitHub stars with 107 tasks to vet e-commerce agents — VibeMarketer_ · 2026-09-10
- 8 AI tools gaining tons of GitHub stars this week: Skills, Archify, MiniMind and more — Shruti_0810 · 2026-09-10
- mcp-x: 42 X API tools designed so the model can't burn your money — GoldBroccoli7073 · 2026-09-10
- Replace RPA with Doubao's browser record-and-replay: automate link submissions — lxfater · 2026-09-10
- DeepSeek's new open model beats GLM 5.3 and Kimi K3 at 4-10x lower price — deedydas · 2026-09-10