Amplifier Smart Tools
Expertise, built
into the tool.
A format for packaging domain expertise into tools with their own AI capability. Built as libraries. Usable from any agent, application, or terminal.
Every capability is available to code, with a thin CLI for agents and scripts.
The tool carries the context and model-backed methods its domain needs.
Deterministic operations run without model credentials.
What is an Amplifier Smart Tool?
A familiar interface.
A capable tool.
An Amplifier Smart Tool is a self-contained library and command-line tool that ships with its own AI capability. It accepts arguments and returns results, just like other software you already use.
For model-backed work, the tool manages the domain context, instructions, and execution. The caller supplies the intent and inputs. Expertise stays with the tool, and the result comes back to the caller.
Alongside those capabilities, ordinary code handles deterministic work. A caller using only those paths never needs to configure a model provider.
How it fits together
One library. Several ways in.
The library owns the capability. Each adapter exposes it in the form a caller needs.
The library is the tool
Domain expertise and capabilities
No capability belongs only to a wrapper. Removing an optional interface must leave the library and CLI usable.
The distinction
The tool brings
its own intelligence.
Skills give an agent instructions. MCP provides a way to expose and call capabilities. An Amplifier Smart Tool packages a capability that can invoke a model itself, with the domain knowledge needed to do the work.
These fit together. A tool can use skills internally, expose an optional MCP adapter, or be discovered through a skill. Its intelligence lives behind the library boundary, so the caller does not have to recreate its domain workflow.
The caller can also be an application, a script, or a scheduled job. Using an Amplifier Smart Tool does not require adopting a particular agent.
Build an Amplifier Smart Tool
Package what
you know.
Start with a domain capability worth sharing. The specification defines how to make it discoverable, callable, and installable.
Put the capability in a library.
Expose every useful operation through the library. Add genuine model-backed work alongside deterministic paths that load and run without a provider.
Library structureDescribe it where the code lives.
Ship one SMART_TOOL.md manifest with the name, purpose, platforms, and prerequisites. Add library-owned usage guidance and capability help.
Manifest formatAdd the CLI and package it.
Keep argument parsing and I/O in a thin CLI. Support installation from Git, and provide a smart-tool.json descriptor at the distribution root.
Packaging and installationCheck the format. Prove the work.
Run the conformance kit against the distribution. Test the actual capabilities separately, then follow the catalog contribution guide to make the tool discoverable.
Conformance kit
A small, explicit contract
Make the entry
points easy to find.
The descriptor points to the manifest and tells a caller how to launch the CLI. The manifest carries the tool's identity and requirements.
This example assumes the package installs a my-smart-tool executable with a provider-free manifest command.
{
"manifest": "src/my_smart_tool/SMART_TOOL.md",
"cli_argv": [
"my-smart-tool"
],
"deterministic_smoke": [
"manifest"
]
}uv run conformance/run.py path/to/your-smart-tool
Conformance checks the format and reports checks it cannot perform. It does not certify output quality or replace product tests.
The Amplifier Smart Tools catalog
Find a tool for your work.
The catalog is the place to explore available tools, inspect their requirements, and install the shared discovery skill for your coding agent.