Built-in MeshAgent Toolkits

MeshAgent ships built-in tool capabilities that you can add to an agent from the CLI. Some flags map to different underlying tool implementations depending on the model. MeshAgent keeps the CLI surface stable so the same flag can work across OpenAI- and Anthropic-backed agents when the capability exists on both. This matters most for flags such as --web-search, --web-fetch, and --shell. You choose the capability once, and MeshAgent selects the provider-specific tool path that matches the model you are running.

Add built-in capabilities from the CLI

meshagent process join \
  --room my-room \
  --agent-name researcher \
  --channel chat \
  --model gpt-5.4 \
  --web-search \
  --mcp \
  --storage \
  --use-memory agents/researcher/memories

This command starts an agent that can use web search, MCP tools, storage, and room-backed memory tools. Most built-in capabilities now use one canonical CLI flag, such as --web-search, --storage, --shell, or --document-authoring. --require-toolkit is the exception for attaching an external toolkit by name. The tables below show the current CLI flags for each built-in capability. Run meshagent process join --help to see the current tool flags and related configuration options.

Built-in capabilities

Web and retrieval

Capability	Toolkit or tool	Flags	What it does
Web search	`WebSearchTool`	`--web-search`	Search the web
Web fetch	`WebFetchTool`	`--web-fetch`	Fetch and read web pages directly

Storage and memory

Capability	Toolkit or tool	Flags	What it does
Storage	`StorageToolkit`	`--storage`, `--read-only-storage`	Work with room or mounted storage
Memory	`MemoriesToolkit`	`--use-memory <name-or-path>`	Add, search, inspect, and delete room-backed memories
Dataset access	`DatasetToolkit`, `make_dataset_toolkit`	`--dataset-namespace`, `--table-read <table>`, `--table-write <table>`	Add table-specific dataset tools
UUID tools	`UUIDToolkit`	`--uuid`	Provide UUID generation helpers
Time tools	`DatetimeToolkit`	`--time`	Provide time and datetime tools

MCP and external tools

Capability	Toolkit or tool	Flags	What it does
MCP tools	room-provided MCP toolkits	`--mcp`	Use MCP tools available in the room on turns where MCP is enabled

For setup paths such as Powerboards installs, MCP URL auto-discovery, and OpenAI connector manifests, see MCP Servers. In the current meshagent process runtime, MCP is exposed through --mcp rather than as a required named toolkit.

Shell and execution

Capability	Toolkit or tool	Flags	What it does
Function shell	`ShellTool` or `ContainerShellTool`	`--shell`	Give the agent direct shell tool calling
Managed container shell	`ContainerToolkit`	`--advanced-shell`	Give the agent container start, list, stop, and run tools
Script tools	`get_script_tools(...)`	`--script-tool`, `--discover-script-tools`	Add script-based tools or discover script tools from the room

--advanced-shell is the right choice when the agent needs to manage a working container across several steps instead of treating each shell command as an isolated call. If the shell environment needs access to runtime metadata from the current room or service, add --shell-tool-config-mount <mount>. When the current runtime exposes MESHAGENT_SPEC_PATH or MESHAGENT_MEMBERS_PATH, MeshAgent mounts those runtime files into the shell container as spec.json and members.json under the target directory and points the env vars at the mounted paths.

Provider-native tools

Capability	Toolkit or tool	Flags	What it does
Image generation	`ImageGenerationTool`	`--image-generation <model>`	Use OpenAI-native image generation
Apply patch	`ApplyPatchTool`	`--apply-patch`	Use OpenAI-native patch editing
Computer use	`ComputerToolkit`	`--computer-use`, `--starting-url`, `--allow-goto-url`	Use browser and computer-interaction tools

Document and content tools

Capability	Toolkit or tool	Flags	What it does
Document authoring	`DocumentAuthoringToolkit`	`--document-authoring`	Create and modify MeshDocuments
Document type authoring	`DocumentTypeAuthoringToolkit`	`--document-authoring`	Add type-specific document tools for the built-in widget document type
MarkItDown	`MarkItDownToolkit`	no direct `meshagent process` flag	Convert PDFs and Office documents into LLM-friendly formats

Discovery

Capability	Toolkit or tool	Flags	What it does
Discovery tools	`DiscoveryToolkit`	`--discovery`	Discover agents and tools available in the room

If a built-in capability does not have a direct meshagent process flag, add it from the SDK or package it into your own service or custom toolkit.

Introduction

Rooms

Agents & Tools

Deploy & Manage

Projects

Product Interfaces

Developer Reference

Built-in MeshAgent Toolkits

Add built-in capabilities from the CLI

Built-in capabilities

Web and retrieval

Storage and memory

MCP and external tools

Shell and execution

Provider-native tools

Document and content tools

Discovery

​Add built-in capabilities from the CLI

​Built-in capabilities

​Web and retrieval

​Storage and memory

​MCP and external tools

​Shell and execution

​Provider-native tools

​Document and content tools

​Discovery

​Related guides

Add built-in capabilities from the CLI

Built-in capabilities

Web and retrieval

Storage and memory

MCP and external tools

Shell and execution

Provider-native tools

Document and content tools

Discovery

Related guides