The 10 best AI agent tools for 2026 (and how tool calling works)

Exa’s overview of AI agent tools explains how agents extend language models by calling external systems for retrieval, computation, integrations, computer use, and persistent memory. It highlights examples including Pinecone and Weaviate for vector retrieval, OpenAI Code Interpreter and E2B for code execution, Composio and Zapier MCP for application connections, Anthropic and Browserbase tools for browser or computer control, and Mem0 and Zep for retaining context. The article describes tool calling as a cycle in which developers provide a tool’s name, description, and input schema, the model emits a structured request, a runtime executes it and returns the result, and the model either responds or makes another call. It presents web search as especially important for answering questions involving current information beyond a model’s training data, using Exa Search as an example of a provider-neutral API that returns relevant, cited passages and supports varying search depths and filters. It also discusses the Model Context Protocol as a standard for exposing tools across compatible clients, while advising developers to begin with the smallest tool set needed to reduce context use and improve tool-selection accuracy.

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