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Introduction

The Agentforce Context Protocol (ACP) provides a rich set of “Tools” to interact with various Salesforce clouds and external services. While administrators primarily enable these capabilities for Agentforce Agents by adding ‘Topics’ and ‘Actions’ in Agentforce Agent Builder (as detailed in Enabling Tools for Agentforce Agents), it’s also valuable for administrators, developers, and power users to explore the full range of ACP Tools available in the Salesforce organization.

This guide explains how to use the ACP Tool Explorer, a dedicated interface for discovering all registered ACP Tools. These Tools are the foundational components that become ‘Actions’ within Agent Builder when their parent Connector’s ‘Topic’ is made available.

The primary and most user-friendly way to discover ACP tools is through the ACP Tool Explorer. This is typically a Lightning Web Component (LWC) or a dedicated page within Salesforce that provides an interface to browse, search, and understand the capabilities of each registered tool.

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Accessing the Tool Explorer

  1. From the Salesforce App Launcher (the nine dots in the top-left corner), search for “ACP Tool Explorer” (or a similar name as designated by your Salesforce Administrator).
  2. Click on the “ACP Tool Explorer” app or tab to open it.

(Note: The exact name and navigation path to the Tool Explorer might vary based on your specific Salesforce org’s configuration and customization. If you cannot locate it, please consult your Salesforce Administrator.)

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Features of the Tool Explorer

Once you’ve opened the ACP Tool Explorer, you can typically perform the following actions:

  • List All Tools: View a comprehensive list of all ACP tools that are registered and active in your Salesforce environment.
  • Filter by Connector: Narrow down the list of tools by selecting a specific Connector. For example, you could filter to see only tools belonging to the “Salesforce Data Cloud Connector” or the “Slack Connector.” This is very helpful when you’re interested in interacting with a particular service.
  • Search for Tools: Use keywords to search for tools by their name, description, or the service they interact with (e.g., search for “Create Case,” “Send Slack Message,” “Query Data Cloud”).
  • View Tool Details: Click on an individual tool in the list to see more detailed information, which usually includes:
    • Description: A clear explanation of what the tool does.
    • Input Parameters: The data or configuration the tool expects you to provide when you use it.
    • Output Parameters: The data or results the tool will return after it executes.
    • Associated Connector: The Connector that provides this tool.
    • Permissions: Any specific permissions or setup prerequisites required to use the tool effectively.

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Alternative Discovery Methods

While the ACP Tool Explorer is the recommended method, depending on your organization’s setup, tools might also be discoverable or documented through:

  • Salesforce Setup Menu: Certain ACP Connector configurations or tool enablement settings might be accessible via the Salesforce Setup menu, particularly for administrators.
  • Internal Documentation: Your organization may maintain its own documentation or wikis detailing available ACP tools, especially if custom tools have been developed.

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Why Explore Tools with the ACP Tool Explorer?

While Agentforce Agent Builder is the primary interface for enabling specific Actions (derived from Tools) for Agentforce Agents, the ACP Tool Explorer serves a broader discovery purpose. Understanding the full catalog of available Tools via the Explorer allows you to:

  • Gain a Comprehensive Overview: See all ACP Tools registered in your org, even those not yet enabled for any specific Agentforce Agent via Agent Builder.
  • Understand Potential Capabilities: Discover the full range of functionalities offered by your installed ACP Connectors. This can inform decisions about which Topics and Actions to enable for Agentforce Agents in Agent Builder.
  • Aid Development and Configuration: Developers building new ACP Connectors or Custom Actions can verify tool registration. Administrators can understand the underlying Tools that power the Actions they see in Agent Builder.
  • Inform Automation Design: Identify solutions for automating specific business processes, whether through Agentforce Agents or by incorporating ACP Tool invocations into Salesforce Flows.
  • Troubleshoot Issues: Gain deeper insight into the expected behavior, inputs, and outputs of specific Tools, which can be helpful when troubleshooting issues with Agentforce Agent Actions or Flow automations.

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Next Steps

After familiarizing yourself with how to find available tools, the next logical step is to learn more about their specific requirements. Proceed to the next guide:

By regularly exploring the available tools, you can stay up-to-date with new capabilities added to ACP and continuously find new ways to enhance your Salesforce operations.