Agentic AI Glossary

Tool result

The structured information returned to the model after a tool succeeds, fails, or is denied.

Illustrative conversation

  1. The command exited with code 1. How does the agent know what failed?
  2. The harness returned the exit status and captured error text as the tool result for the next model step.

Definition

A tool result is the host-produced output associated with an earlier tool call. It can contain data, captured stdout or stderr, an error, a denial, or references to files and artifacts. The harness links it to the correct call and places it back in context so the model can decide what to do next. A successful result proves only the operation’s contract: writing the wrong file can succeed. Check the target, completeness, and final artifact against the task before declaring completion.

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