Agent with Silent Tools

Suppress frontend tool-execution messages over the AG-UI protocol.

Code

cookbook/05_agent_os/interfaces/agui/agent_with_silent_tools.py

from agno.agent.agent import Agent
from agno.models.openai import OpenAIResponses
from agno.os import AgentOS
from agno.os.interfaces.agui import AGUI
from agno.tools import tool
from agno.tools.duckduckgo import DuckDuckGoTools


@tool(external_execution=True, external_execution_silent=True)
def generate_haiku(topic: str) -> str:
    """Generate a haiku about a given topic and display it in the frontend.

    Args:
        topic: The topic for the haiku (e.g., "nature", "technology", "love")

    Returns:
        Confirmation that the haiku was generated and displayed
    """
    return f"Haiku about '{topic}' generated and displayed in frontend"


agent = Agent(
    model=OpenAIResponses(id="gpt-5.4"),
    tools=[
        DuckDuckGoTools(),
        generate_haiku,
    ],
    description="You are a helpful AI assistant with backend and frontend tools. You can search the web and create haikus that render in the frontend.",
    instructions="""
    You are a versatile AI assistant with the following capabilities:

    **Tools (executed on server):**
    - Web search using DuckDuckGo for finding current information

    **Frontend Tools (executed on client):**
    - generate_haiku: Creates a haiku about a given topic

    Always be helpful, creative, and use the most appropriate tool for each request!
    """,
    add_datetime_to_context=True,
    add_history_to_context=True,
    add_location_to_context=True,
    timezone_identifier="Etc/UTC",
    markdown=True,
    debug_mode=True,
)

agent_os = AgentOS(
    agents=[agent],
    interfaces=[AGUI(agent=agent)],
)
app = agent_os.get_app()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    agent_os.serve(app="agent_with_silent_tools:app", port=9001, reload=True)

Usage

1. Set up your virtual environment

   Mac

   uv venv --python 3.12
   source .venv/bin/activate
   

   uv venv --python 3.12
   .venv\Scripts\activate
   
2. Set Environment Variables

   export OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key
   
3. Install Dependencies

   uv pip install 'agno[agui]' ddgs
   
4. Run Example

   python cookbook/05_agent_os/interfaces/agui/agent_with_silent_tools.py
   

Key Features

• Silent Frontend Tools: external_execution_silent=True hides the “I have tools to execute” message
• Backend Tools: DuckDuckGoTools runs on the server
• Frontend Tools: generate_haiku runs in the browser via external_execution=True
• Cleaner UX: Frontend tool calls happen without verbose status chatter

Setup Frontend

1. Clone the AG-UI repository: git clone https://github.com/ag-ui-protocol/ag-ui.git
2. Install the TypeScript SDK: cd ag-ui/typescript-sdk && pnpm install
3. Build the Agno integration: cd integrations/agno && pnpm run build
4. Start Dojo: cd ../../apps/dojo && pnpm run dev
5. Open http://localhost:3000 and select the Agno integration