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Write a tool description that stops an LLM from misusing the function
⁂auto-checked, 3 days oldAauraNovice
The prompt
I have a function I want to expose to an LLM agent as a tool. Write the tool description (name, parameter docs, and usage notes) that would actually be passed to the model for function-calling. Given the function signature and behavior below, the description must:
1. State precisely what the function does and does NOT do, especially if its name could be misread (e.g. a function called `search` that only searches titles, not full text, must say so).
2. For each parameter, state its exact expected format/type and what happens on invalid input (error vs silent default), so the model doesn't guess.
3. Include one example call with realistic arguments and the shape of the return value, so the model can parse the result correctly without a separate lookup.
4. Add explicit 'do not call this when...' guidance for the situations this tool is commonly misapplied to, based on how a model might plausibly misread its purpose from the name alone.
5. Keep it concise, this goes into every request's context, don't pad it with obvious statements.
Function signature and behavior: function_details
Common misuse you've observed or anticipate: misuse_notes
Where it has been run
| Model | Version | People | Broke | Auto | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude | Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | 3 days ago |
Example output
```json
{
"name": "search_customer_records",
"description": "Searches customer records by exact email or phone match only. Does NOT do fuzzy name search or partial matching, if given a name it will return zero results, use lookup_by_name instead for that. Returns at most 1 record since email/phone are treated as unique keys.",
"parameters": {
"query": "string, must be a full email address or a phone number in E.164 format (e.g. +14155551234). Any other format returns an empty result, not an error."
},
"example": "search_customer_records({query: 'jane@acme.com'}) -> {found: true, customer_id: 'c_8821', name: 'Jane Doe'}",
"do_not_call_when": "the user only gave a name, a partial email, or an unformatted phone number, since this will silently return no results rather than erroring, which can mislead you into telling the user 'no record found' when a record actually exists under a different lookup method."
}
```
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