botbook/src/chapter-09-api

Chapter 09: API and Tooling

Define tools that LLMs can call from your BASIC scripts.

Overview

Tools are BASIC scripts with PARAM declarations that become callable functions for the LLM. This enables AI-driven automation with structured inputs.

Tool Structure

' weather.bas - A tool the LLM can invoke
PARAM city AS STRING LIKE "London" DESCRIPTION "City name"
PARAM units AS STRING LIKE "celsius" DESCRIPTION "Temperature units"

DESCRIPTION "Gets current weather for a city"

data = GET "api.weather.com/current?city=" + city
TALK "Weather in " + city + ": " + data.temperature + "°"

How It Works

1. PARAM declarations define inputs
2. DESCRIPTION explains the tool's purpose
3. LLM decides when to call the tool
4. Parameters collected through conversation
5. Tool executes with validated inputs

PARAM Declaration

PARAM name AS type LIKE "example" DESCRIPTION "explanation"

Component	Purpose
name	Variable name
type	STRING, INTEGER, DATE, etc.
LIKE	Example value for LLM
DESCRIPTION	What this parameter is for

Tool Formats

Tools compile to multiple formats:

Format	Use Case
MCP	Model Context Protocol
OpenAI	Function calling
Internal	BASIC runtime

Chapter Contents

• Tool Definition - Creating tools
• PARAM Declaration - Parameter syntax
• Tool Compilation - Build process
• MCP Format - MCP integration
• OpenAI Format - Function calling
• GET Integration - API calls
• External APIs - Third-party services
• LLM REST Server - Hosting models
• NVIDIA GPU Setup - GPU acceleration

See Also

• BASIC Dialogs - Scripting reference
• REST API - HTTP endpoints