Question

You are defining a `get_account_balance` tool for a banking assistant. During testing, Claude frequently calls the tool even when users ask general questions like "What are your business hours?" that have nothing to do with balances. The tool's name and input schema are correct. What is the most effective change to reduce these inappropriate calls?

Accepted Answer

Rewrite the tool description to clearly state what the tool does and specify when it should and should not be used.

Answer

Set tool_choice to "any" so Claude is forced to always select some tool.

Answer

Remove the input schema so Claude cannot invoke the tool as easily.

Answer

Lower the max_tokens value to prevent the model from producing tool-use blocks.