Why should you care?

Users ask natural questions; tool calling maps them to GetAccount or fetch_balance without brittle keyword routing.

See it live — copy this example

Paste into an ASP.NET Core 8+ / AgentNest project, then run with dotnet run (set your API keys in user-secrets).

// AgentNest.Agents/ToolCalling/CrmToolAgent.cs
public sealed class CrmToolAgent(Kernel kernel)
{
    public async Task<string> AskAsync(string question, CancellationToken ct)
    {
        var settings = new OpenAIPromptExecutionSettings { ToolCallBehavior = ToolCallBehavior.AutoInvokeKernelFunctions };
        var chat = kernel.GetRequiredService<IChatCompletionService>();
        var result = await chat.GetChatMessageContentAsync(question, settings, kernel, cancellationToken: ct);
        return result.Content ?? "";
    }
}

What happened?

• AutoInvokeKernelFunctions lets SK execute CrmPlugin tools when the model requests them, then continue until a final answer.
• Follow the steps below — typing the code yourself is the fastest way to learn.

Practice next

1. Register CRM plugins on kernel before enabling auto invoke.
2. Set ToolCallBehavior only on trusted internal routes.
3. Log tool name and arguments on each auto invocation.
4. Switch to RequireApproval for tools that send email.
5. Return tool call trace JSON to the client for debugging.

Remember

Tool calling connects NL questions to kernel functions. AutoInvokeKernelFunctions runs tools inside SK chat loops. Log and validate every tool invocation.

CRM natural language

Reps type questions instead of clicking through CRM reports.

Outcome: CrmToolAgent auto-invokes GetPipeline without custom intent classifiers.