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What are Tool Policies and how to configure? Follow

Tool Policies allow Admins to control which actions AI Agents and Skills can perform across the workspace. You can decide whether a tool can be used freely, requires approval before it runs, or is completely disabled.

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Understanding Tool Policies

Tool Policies determine which actions an AI Agent or Skill is allowed to perform in your workspace.

For example, you can allow an AI Agent to:

  • Search for CRM records
  • Create a task
  • Update a record
  • Send an email
  • Search Gmail
  • Search the web
  • Create a calendar event

You can control each available tool separately based on the level of access you want to provide.

Tool Policies apply across AI Studio, including:

  • Chat Assistants
  • Background Agents
  • Skills
  • Agent tests
  • Skill tests
  • Smart Flow-triggered Agent runs
  • Scheduled Agent runs

Note: Tool Policies are configured at the workspace level. They are not configured separately for each type of AI Agent.

CRM Data Access and Tool Policies control two different aspects of AI access:

  • CRM Data Access: Controls what information the AI can read.
  • Tool Policies: Controls what actions the AI can perform.

For example, an AI Agent may be allowed to read Deals through CRM Data Access, but if the Update record tool is disabled in Tool Policies, the Agent cannot update those Deals.

This means that giving an AI Agent access to CRM data does not automatically allow it to make changes to that data.

Accessing and Managing Tool Policies

To manage Tool Policies:

  • Navigate to AI Studio.
  • Navigate to Team Agents.
  • Select Tool Policies.

Note: Only users with the required AI Studio Admin permission can access Tool Policies.

The Tool Policies screen displays the tools available for your workspace and allows you to review and manage how each tool can be used.

The available information includes:

  • Tool: The action that the AI can perform.
  • Source: Shows where the tool comes from, such as Salesmate CRM, Gmail, a custom function, or web search.
  • Capability: Shows whether the tool reads information, changes information, or can perform both types of actions.
  • Default Policy: Shows whether the tool is allowed, requires approval, or is disabled.
  • Retry Behavior: Determines whether Salesmate should automatically try the tool again if it fails.
  • Risk: Shows the potential risk associated with using the tool.
  • Status: Shows whether the tool is currently available and ready to use.

You can also use the Refresh option to refresh the available tools and their settings.

Understanding Policy Options

Each tool can have one of the following workspace-level policies:

Allow

The tool can be used by AI Agents and Skills without requiring additional approval.

For example, if Search records is set to Allow, an AI Agent can use it whenever the Agent is configured to use that tool.

Requires Approval

The tool is available, but the AI Agent must receive approval before the tool can run.

This option is useful when you want the AI to be able to perform an action but want a user to review and approve it first.

For example, you can configure Send email to require approval so that an email cannot be sent until the required approval is received.

Disabled

The tool cannot be used by AI Agents or Skills.

When a tool is disabled:

  • AI Agents and Skills cannot use the tool.
  • The tool will not be available for selection when configuring new Agents or Skills.
  • Existing Agents or Skills that depend on the tool may require review.
  • Salesmate will prevent the tool from running.

Note: There is no separate Enable/Disable setting. Selecting Disabled means the tool is not available for AI use.

Understanding Tool Settings

Tool settings help you understand what each tool can do, how it behaves when an error occurs, the potential risk associated with it, and whether it is currently available.

Understanding Tool Capabilities

The Capability setting describes what a tool can do.

Read

Read tools retrieve or analyze information without changing it.

Examples include:

  • Searching CRM records
  • Viewing a record timeline
  • Searching Gmail
  • Searching the web
  • Analyzing CRM information

Write

Write tools perform actions that create, update, send, or otherwise change information.

Examples include:

  • Creating a task
  • Updating a field
  • Sending an email
  • Creating a calendar event

Mixed

Mixed tools can both read information and perform actions, depending on how they are used.

Note: Tools that can make changes should be reviewed carefully because running them may affect your CRM data or connected services.

Configuring Retry Behavior

Retry Behavior determines what Salesmate should do when a tool fails temporarily.

For example, a tool may fail because of a temporary server issue, a timeout, or a usage limit being reached.

You can choose from the following options:

System Default

Salesmate automatically uses the recommended retry behavior based on the type of tool.

  • Read tools can be retried automatically.
  • Write and mixed tools are not automatically retried by default.

This helps prevent actions such as sending the same email or creating the same record more than once.

Do Not Retry

Select this option when you do not want Salesmate to automatically retry the tool.

If the tool fails, the failure will be shown and the action can be attempted manually.

Custom

The Custom option allows you to define when Salesmate should retry the tool.

You can configure retries for:

  • Timeout
  • Usage limit
  • Temporary server error

You can also choose the maximum number of attempts:

  • 1 attempt
  • 2 attempts
  • 3 attempts

If all retry attempts fail, you can choose what should happen:

  • Stop the run and show an error
  • Continue with the available result
  • Ask the user to retry manually

Note: Retrying a tool that performs an action can result in the same action being performed more than once. For example, retrying a tool that sends an email may result in duplicate emails. Use retry settings carefully for tools that make changes or perform actions outside Salesmate.

Understanding Risk Levels

The Risk level provides an indication of the potential impact of using a tool.

The available levels are:

  • Low
  • Medium
  • High

Risk is informational and helps you understand which tools may require more careful review.

For example:

  • Reading CRM data may have a Low or Medium risk.
  • Creating a task may have a Medium risk.
  • Updating a field or sending an email may have a High risk.

The Risk level does not determine whether the tool can run. The Default Policy controls whether the tool is allowed, requires approval, or is disabled.

Understanding Tool Status

The Status indicates whether a tool is currently available.

Possible statuses include:

  • Available: The tool is available for use.
  • Disabled: The tool has been disabled through the Tool Policy.
  • Unavailable: The tool is no longer available.
  • Requires setup: Additional configuration is required before the tool can be used.
  • Connector disconnected: The connected service is currently disconnected.

For example, if a Gmail connection is disconnected, tools that depend on that connection may show Connector disconnected.

How Tool Policies Affect AI Agents and Skills

Workspace Tool Policies provide the highest level of restriction.

AI Agents and Skills can use the permissions provided by the workspace policy, but they cannot make a workspace policy less restrictive.

For example:

  • If a tool is set to Allow at the workspace level, an Agent can use it or apply a stricter setting such as requiring approval.
  • If a tool is set to Requires Approval, the Agent must continue to require approval.
  • If a tool is set to Disabled, the Agent cannot use the tool.

This ensures that an individual Agent or Skill cannot bypass the restrictions configured by the workspace Admin.

What Happens When a Tool Policy Is Changed?

Changes to a Tool Policy also affect existing AI Agents and Skills that use that tool.

For example, if Send email was previously allowed and an Admin changes its policy to Disabled:

  • Existing Agents can no longer send emails using that tool.
  • The tool will be blocked when the Agent attempts to use it.
  • The affected Agent may show a warning indicating that the tool has been disabled.
  • The Agent or Skill may need to be reviewed if the disabled tool is required for its workflow.

Note: Salesmate does not remove the tool from an existing Agent. Instead, the restriction is applied when the Agent runs so that you can identify and review the affected configuration.

Advanced Configuration

Some tools may provide additional configuration options depending on the type of tool.

For example, web search tools may provide settings related to:

  • Search depth
  • Maximum number of searches

Connected tools may also provide options related to the connection status or authorization.

Custom tools may provide additional settings depending on how the tool is configured.

The available advanced settings can vary depending on the tool.

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