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

PARAM declarations define inputs
DESCRIPTION explains the tool's purpose
LLM decides when to call the tool
Parameters collected through conversation
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

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