Tools

Nodal forwards OpenAI-style tool and structured output fields through the chat gateway when the selected provider model supports them.

Tool Calling

Send tools and tool_choice to /v1/chat/completions:

{
  "model": "Smart",
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Look up this order." }],
  "tools": [
    {
      "type": "function",
      "function": {
        "name": "get_order",
        "description": "Return order details by id",
        "parameters": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "id": { "type": "string" }
          },
          "required": ["id"]
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "tool_choice": "auto"
}

Nodal does not execute your functions. Your application receives tool calls from the model, runs the corresponding function, and sends follow-up tool messages.

Structured Output

Use response_format for provider-supported JSON and schema-guided outputs. Model support varies; choose models with matching capabilities.

Web Search

Send web_search_options to request provider-native web search:

{
  "model": "Smart",
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Summarize recent pricing changes." }],
  "web_search_options": {
    "search_context_size": "medium"
  }
}

Allowed context sizes are low, medium, and high. When the object is present without a valid size, Nodal normalizes to medium.

Web search can add billing surcharges and may stream provider annotations as citation deltas.