Charles JonesA tool surface is small. Three or four things an assistant can do, each mapping to something the site already does for a person.
For a business that takes appointments, that is usually:
| tool | what it answers | what it already is on your site |
|---|---|---|
list_services |
what you offer, and what it costs | the services section |
check_availability |
whether a given day is open | the booking form’s date logic |
book_appointment |
make the booking, return a reference | the form submission |
Each tool reads the same data the page shows
This is the rule that keeps a tool surface honest. list_services returns the services block the
page already renders — not a separate list that can drift out of date. If the two ever disagree,
the tool is wrong by definition.
Refusing is a valid answer
check_availability on a day you are closed should refuse, clearly. An assistant that receives a
clean refusal tells the customer you are closed on Sundays. An assistant that receives a vague
success books them for a Sunday.
The same discipline applies everywhere else on this site: an instrument that answers when it does not know is worse than one that declines.
What we have and have not built
The tools above are the shape we design toward. We do not currently run a public demonstration of them, and this page will link one when it exists rather than describing one that does not.