Definition
AI agent tool routing is the prompt logic and naming convention that decides which of the agent's available tools gets called per query, especially when 3+ tools cover overlapping capabilities (search APIs, browsers, internal databases).
In Depth
An agent with five tools that all sound like 'fetch web data' will pick incorrectly half the time. Tool routing fixes this through (1) explicit naming (`scavio_search` vs `browserbase_navigate`), (2) routing prompts that say when to use which (`for indexed targets use Scavio, for auth-gated use Browserbase`), and (3) tool descriptions that double as routing signals. Routing improves agent reply quality more than any other intervention. Honest constraint: routing prompts decay as the tool list grows past ~7-8 tools; beyond that, an explicit router agent (a small first-pass LLM call that picks the tool) outperforms inline routing.
Example Usage
After adding tool routing prompts, the agent's correct-tool-pick rate climbed from ~50% to ~90% on ambiguous queries that could go to either Scavio search or Browserbase navigate.
Platforms
AI Agent Tool Routing is relevant across the following platforms, all accessible through Scavio's unified API:
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