TAI42 — the OS for AI tools

Enable the standard toolbox — the shipped default tools and their wrapper and transformer extensions — from a manifest. The standard toolbox is a batteries-included default set of generic tools and tool extensions. Nothing loads automatically — you opt in per module by naming it in the manifest, exactly like your own code. The tools are self-contained utilities; the extensions are the live demonstration of the clip-on-powers model — memoize, batch, proxy, chain, and meter any tool.

When to reach for it

A tool from the toolbox gives you a ready-made capability — the current time as a structured object, a random UUID, an HTTP request, embedding vectors.
An extension from the toolbox clips a power onto an existing tool without changing it — cache memoizes results, batch fans one tool over many inputs, chain pipes one tool’s output into another, output_schema forces a tool’s output to a JSON Schema, proxy routes its connections through a forward proxy, prometheus_metrics meters it.

Enable the modules

Load a tool module under tools[].module and an extension module under extensions_modules. Import paths are the module names; the base install stays light, and each heavier module is gated behind an optional dependency that fails loudly at import if missing.

manifest.yml

tools:
  - title: time
    module: tai42_toolbox.tools.current_time_info
  - title: ids
    module: tai42_toolbox.tools.generate_uuid

extensions_modules:
  - tai42_toolbox.extensions.cache
  - tai42_toolbox.extensions.batch

With an extension loaded, attach it to a tool through that tool’s extensions map or tai tools apply — see Apply an extension.

Run a tool with `--kw`

Run any registered tool synchronously with tai tools run <name>. Pass its arguments as repeatable --kw key=value pairs — each value is parsed as JSON, falling back to the literal string — or as one JSON object with --kwargs:

examples/toolbox/run_tool_kw.sh

# Run a registered tool, passing its arguments as repeatable --kw key=value pairs
# (each value parsed as JSON, falling back to the literal string) or as one JSON
# object with --kwargs.
tai tools run --help

The tools that take no arguments run bare:

tai tools run current_time_info
tai tools run generate_uuid

The rest take their arguments by name — inspect any tool’s exact input schema with tai tools schema <name>:

# Pad an embedding vector out to a fixed width
tai tools run pad_embeddings --kw embeddings='[0.12, 0.34]' --kw target_dim=8

# Embed a string (or a JSON list of strings)
tai tools run generate_embeddings --kw texts='"the quick brown fox"'

# Make an HTTP request through the curl-backed session
tai tools run request --kw url=https://api.example.com/status --kw method=GET

The standard set

The tools and extensions the toolbox ships. This table is generated from the ecosystem catalog, so it never drifts from the package.

Name	Kind	Summary
`current_time_info`	Tool	Return the current time as a structured object.
`generate_embeddings`	Tool	Generate embeddings for a single string or a list of strings.
`generate_uuid`	Tool	Generate a random UUID (version 4).
`pad_embeddings`	Tool	Pad each embedding vector with zeros up to a target dimension.
`request`	Tool	Execute an HTTP request through a curl-backed session.
`batch`	Extension	Branch a tool into a variant that runs many instances at once.
`cache`	Extension	Branch a tool into a variant that memoizes results by call arguments.
`chain`	Extension	Branch a tool into a variant that transforms its output and calls a next tool.
`output_schema`	Extension	Branch a tool into a variant that forces its output to a caller-supplied JSON Schema and validates results against it.
`prometheus_metrics`	Extension	Branch a tool into a variant that records a Prometheus call metric.
`proxy`	Extension	Branch a tool into a variant that runs the wrapped tool through a proxy.

Confirm what loaded

tai tools list
tai extensions list

The full, always-current list of toolbox tools and extensions — names, kinds, and the optional dependency each needs — lives in the ecosystem catalog. Per-tool specifics (formats, session behavior, the extras to install) live in the toolbox package’s README, linked from the catalog.

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The standard toolbox

When to reach for it

Enable the modules

Run a tool with `--kw`

The standard set

Confirm what loaded

See also

​When to reach for it

​Enable the modules

​Run a tool with --kw

​The standard set

​Confirm what loaded

​See also

When to reach for it

Enable the modules

Run a tool with `--kw`

The standard set

Confirm what loaded

See also