agent-framework/dotnet/samples/GettingStarted/AgentWithAnthropic/Agent_Anthropic_Step03_UsingFunctionTools

Using Function Tools with Anthropic agents

This sample demonstrates how to use function tools with Anthropic Claude agents, allowing agents to call custom functions to retrieve information.

What this sample demonstrates

• Creating function tools using AIFunctionFactory
• Passing function tools to an Anthropic Claude agent
• Running agents with function tools (text output)
• Running agents with function tools (streaming output)
• Managing agent lifecycle

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following prerequisites:

• .NET 8.0 SDK or later
• Anthropic API key configured

Note: This sample uses Anthropic Claude models. For more information, see Anthropic documentation.

Set the following environment variables:

$env:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-anthropic-api-key"  # Replace with your Anthropic API key
$env:ANTHROPIC_MODEL="your-anthropic-model"  # Replace with your Anthropic model

Run the sample

Navigate to the AgentWithAnthropic sample directory and run:

cd dotnet\samples\GettingStarted\AgentWithAnthropic
dotnet run --project .\Agent_Anthropic_Step03_UsingFunctionTools

Expected behavior

The sample will:

1. Create an agent named "WeatherAssistant" with a GetWeather function tool
2. Run the agent with a text prompt asking about weather
3. The agent will invoke the GetWeather function tool to retrieve weather information
4. Run the agent again with streaming to display the response as it's generated
5. Clean up resources by deleting the agent