Built-In Tools

Tabnine CLI provides powerful built-in tools that the AI uses automatically to fulfill your requests.

How Tools work

You don't need to call tools directly. The AI automatically uses them when needed.

Example:

> What files are in the src directory?

The AI automatically uses the list_directory tool.

Available tools

File operations

• list_directory - List directory contents Lists files and subdirectories in a specified directory. Can filter using glob patterns and respects .gitignore.

Example usage:

> What files are in the src directory?
> Show me all TypeScript files in @src/

• read_file - Read file contents Reads text files, images (PNG, JPG, SVG, etc.), audio files, and PDFs. Supports reading specific line ranges for large text files.

Example usage:

> Read @package.json and show the dependencies
> Show me lines 10-50 of @src/index.ts

• write_file - Create or overwrite files Creates new files or overwrites existing ones. Creates parent directories if needed.

Example usage:

> Create a README.md file for this project
> Write a .gitignore file with Node.js defaults

• replace - Edit existing files Makes precise text replacements in files. Requires significant context to ensure correct edits. Includes multi-stage correction for reliability.

Example usage:

> In src/config.ts, change the API timeout from 5000 to 10000
> Update the error message in @utils/validator.ts

• glob - Find files by pattern Finds files matching glob patterns (e.g., *.ts, src/**/*.js). Returns paths sorted by modification time (newest first).

Example usage:

> Find all test files
> Show me all JSON files in the project

• search_file_content - Search file contents Searches for text patterns (regex) across files. Fast search powered by ripgrep. Can filter by glob patterns.

Example usage:

> Find all TODO comments in @src/
> Search for "import React" in TypeScript files

• save_memory - Save information across sessions Saves facts and preferences that persist across CLI sessions.

Example usage:

> Remember that I prefer TypeScript for new projects
> Remember our team uses Jest for testing

• write_todos - Task management Manages subtasks for complex requests. Helps track progress and organize multi-step operations.

Example usage:

> (Used automatically by AI for complex tasks)

Shell & web operations

• run_shell_command - Execute shell commands Runs shell commands in your terminal. Always asks for confirmation before executing.

Example usage:

> Run the tests with npm test
> What's the git status?
> Install the lodash package

Built-In MCP tools

The following tools are powered by Tabnine's infrastructure.

• Remote Code Search - Search across massive codebases using Tabnine's cloud indexing.

Example usage:

> Find all functions that handle authentication

• Coaching Guidelines - AI-powered best practices tailored to your code.

Example usage:

> What are the best practices for error handling?

Learn more: Coaching Guidelines

Tool summary

Here's a complete list of all built-in tools:

Tool Name	Display Name	Description
list_directory	ReadFolder	List directory contents
read_file	ReadFile	Read file contents
write_file	WriteFile	Create or overwrite files
replace	Edit	Edit existing files
glob	FindFiles	Find files by pattern
search_file_content	SearchText	Search file contents
run_shell_command	Shell	Execute shell commands
save_memory	Memory	Save facts across sessions
write_todos	Todos	Manage task lists

Remote Code Search and Coaching Guidelines are Tabnine-specific tools. See Tabnine Tools for details.

Tool Configuration

View available tools

To see which tools are currently available and enabled:

tabnine
> /tools

This displays a list of all tools with their status (enabled/disabled).

Enable/disable tools

You can configure which tools are available, either open the /settings menu or edit your settings.json file and adding the following settings:

UI Label (/settings)	Setting	Description	Default
Enable Interactive Shell	tools.shell.enableInteractiveShell	Use node-pty for an interactive shell experience. Fallback to child_process still applies.	true
Show Color	tools.shell.showColor	Show color in shell output.	false
Auto Accept	tools.autoAccept	Automatically accept and execute tool calls that are considered safe (e.g., read-only operations).	false
Use Ripgrep	tools.useRipgrep	Use ripgrep for file content search instead of the fallback implementation. Provides faster search performance.	true
Enable Tool Output Truncation	tools.enableToolOutputTruncation	Enable truncation of large tool outputs.	true
Tool Output Truncation Threshold	tools.truncateToolOutputThreshold	Truncate tool output if it is larger than this many characters. Set to -1 to disable.	4000000
Tool Output Truncation Lines	tools.truncateToolOutputLines	The number of lines to keep when truncating tool output.	1000
Disable LLM Correction	tools.disableLLMCorrection	Disable LLM-based error correction for edit tools. When enabled, tools will fail immediately if exact string matches are not found, instead of attempting to self-correct.	false

Tool Confirmation

Tools that modify files or execute commands require confirmation:

• Auto-approved: Read operations (list, read, search)

• Requires confirmation: Write operations, edits, shell commands

When a tool requires confirmation, you'll see a diff or preview of the changes before they're applied.

Tools that modify files or run shell commands always ask for confirmation before performing the action. Read-only tools do not require confirmation.