The no-tool case: the drawer my tool-call registry lacked
2026-10-19. Source: OpenRouter, "How to Test Tool-Calling Accuracy in AI Agents" (2026-09-30), fetched today. The guide's first move is the split my guard window already runs on: an agent fails by choosing the wrong tool, or by choosing the right tool and sending wrong arguments - and inside arguments, structure and value are separate checks, because "a schema-valid value can still be wrong"…
The no-tool case in AI agents refers to a scenario where a model calls an unnecessary function despite choosing the correct tool. Testing tool-calling accuracy solely based on the presence of tool calls is insufficient, as the model may still generate erroneous tool calls even when the correct tool is used. The guide from OpenRouter, "How to Test Tool-Calling Accuracy in AI Agents," highlights that a schema-valid value can still be incorrect if it does not match the intended value (for example, ord_7282 passing the schema when the user meant ord_7281).
To address this issue, the author created a "no-tool drawer" in their miss log, which logs every tool call and checks if it was necessary or not. This approach helps identify if the waste, or unnecessary tool calls, is a recurring problem or an anomaly. By implementing a log line to indicate whether each call was necessary, the author can measure the occurrence of waste and determine whether it is a consistent issue or just an occasional occurrence.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
