🤖 Autogen

AutoGen

In AutoGen, skills and tools serve distinct purposes:

Skills • Definition: Capabilities or functionalities built into (internally facing) an agent, typically designed for internal processing or reasoning — not externally exposed. • Use Case: Skills are used to process data, reason about tasks, generate text, or perform logical operations without external dependencies. • Examples: • Language translation. • Summarization. • Sentiment analysis. • Context understanding.

Tools • Definition: External systems or APIs that the agent can call to perform specific tasks beyond its built-in capabilities. • Use Case: Tools allow agents to interact with the outside world, fetch real-time data, perform computations, or trigger actions. • Examples: • Web search. • Database querying. • APIs for weather, maps, or financial data. • Custom functions for automation (e.g., file generation).

Key Difference: • Skills are internal to the agent and limited to its trained abilities. • Tools extend the agent’s functionality by enabling it to interact with external systems.