FAQ
How can I deploy or run Toolbox?
Gen AI Toolbox for Databases is open-source and can be ran or deployed to a multitude of environments. For convenience, we release compiled binaries and docker images (but you can always compile yourself as well!).
For detailed instructions, check our these resources:
Do I need a Google Cloud account/project to get started with Toolbox?
Nope! While some of the sources Toolbox connects to may require GCP credentials, Toolbox doesn’t require them and can connect to a bunch of different resources that don’t.
Does Toolbox take contributions from external users?
Absolutely! Please check out our DEVELOPER.md for instructions on how to get started developing on Toolbox instead of with it, and the CONTRIBUTING.md for instructions on completing the CLA and getting a PR accepted.
Can Toolbox support a feature to let me do $FOO?
Maybe? The best place to start is by opening an issue for discussion (or seeing if there is already one open), so we can better understand your use case and the best way to solve it. Generally we aim to prioritize the most popular issues, so make sure to +1 ones you are the most interested in.
Can Toolbox be used for non-database tools?
Currently, Toolbox is primarily focused on making it easier to create and develop tools focused on interacting with Databases. We believe that there are a lot of unique problems when interacting with Databases for Gen AI use cases, and want to prioritize solving those first.
However, we’ve also received feedback that supporting more generic HTTP or GRPC tools might be helpful in assisting with migrating to Toolbox or in accomplishing more complicated workflows. We’re looking into what that might best look like in Toolbox.
Can I use $BAR orchestration framework to use tools from Toolbox?
Currently, Toolbox only supports a limited number of client SDKs at our initial launch. We are investigating support for more frameworks as well as more general approaches for users without a framework – look forward to seeing an update soon.
Why does Toolbox use a server-client architecture pattern?
Toolbox’s server-client architecture allows us to more easily support a wide variety of languages and frameworks with a centralized implementation. It also allows us to tackle problems like connection pooling, auth, or caching more completely than entirely client-side solutions.
Why was Toolbox written in Go?
While a large part of the Gen AI Ecosystem is predominately Python, we opted to use Go. We chose Go because it’s still easy and simple to use, but also easier to write fast, efficient, and concurrent servers. Additionally, given the server-client architecture, we can still meet many developers where they are with clients in their preferred language. As Gen AI matures, we want developers to be able to use Toolbox on the serving path of mission critical applications. It’s easier to build the needed robustness, performance and scalability in Go than in Python.
Is Toolbox compatible with Model Context Protocol (MCP)?
Toolbox currently uses it’s own custom protocol for server-client communication. Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) launched towards the end of Toolbox’s development, and is currently missing functionality to support some of our features. We’re currently exploring how best to bring Toolbox’s functionality to the wider MCP ecosystem.