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88 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
88 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "FAQ"
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type: docs
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weight: 2
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description: Frequently asked questions about Toolbox.
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---
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## How can I deploy or run Toolbox?
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MCP Toolbox for Databases is open-source and can be ran or deployed to a
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multitude of environments. For convenience, we release [compiled binaries and
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docker images][release-notes] (but you can always compile yourself as well!).
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For detailed instructions, check our these resources:
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- [Quickstart: How to Run Locally](../getting-started/local_quickstart.md)
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- [Deploy to Cloud Run](../how-to/deploy_toolbox.md)
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[release-notes]: https://github.com/googleapis/genai-toolbox/releases/
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## Do I need a Google Cloud account/project to get started with Toolbox?
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Nope! While some of the sources Toolbox connects to may require GCP credentials,
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Toolbox doesn't require them and can connect to a bunch of different resources
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that don't.
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## Does Toolbox take contributions from external users?
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Absolutely! Please check out our [DEVELOPER.md][] for instructions on how to get
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started developing _on_ Toolbox instead of with it, and the [CONTRIBUTING.md][]
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for instructions on completing the CLA and getting a PR accepted.
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[DEVELOPER.md]: https://github.com/googleapis/genai-toolbox/blob/main/DEVELOPER.md
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[CONTRIBUTING.MD]: https://github.com/googleapis/genai-toolbox/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md
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## Can Toolbox support a feature to let me do _$FOO_?
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Maybe? The best place to start is by [opening an issue][github-issue] for
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discussion (or seeing if there is already one open), so we can better understand
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your use case and the best way to solve it. Generally we aim to prioritize the
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most popular issues, so make sure to +1 ones you are the most interested in.
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[github-issue]: https://github.com/googleapis/genai-toolbox/issues
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## Can Toolbox be used for non-database tools?
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Currently, Toolbox is primarily focused on making it easier to create and
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develop tools focused on interacting with Databases. We believe that there are a
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lot of unique problems when interacting with Databases for Gen AI use cases, and
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want to prioritize solving those first.
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However, we've also received feedback that supporting more generic HTTP or
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GRPC tools might be helpful in assisting with migrating to Toolbox or in
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accomplishing more complicated workflows. We're looking into what that might
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best look like in Toolbox.
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## Can I use _$BAR_ orchestration framework to use tools from Toolbox?
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Currently, Toolbox only supports a limited number of client SDKs at our initial
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launch. We are investigating support for more frameworks as well as more general
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approaches for users without a framework -- look forward to seeing an update
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soon.
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## Why does Toolbox use a server-client architecture pattern?
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Toolbox's server-client architecture allows us to more easily support a wide
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variety of languages and frameworks with a centralized implementation. It also
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allows us to tackle problems like connection pooling, auth, or caching more
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completely than entirely client-side solutions.
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## Why was Toolbox written in Go?
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While a large part of the Gen AI Ecosystem is predominately Python, we opted to
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use Go. We chose Go because it's still easy and simple to use, but also easier
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to write fast, efficient, and concurrent servers. Additionally, given the
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server-client architecture, we can still meet many developers where they are
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with clients in their preferred language. As Gen AI matures, we want developers
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to be able to use Toolbox on the serving path of mission critical applications.
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It's easier to build the needed robustness, performance and scalability in Go
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than in Python.
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## Is Toolbox compatible with Model Context Protocol (MCP)?
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Yes! Toolbox is compatible with [Anthropic's Model Context Protocol
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(MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/). Please checkout [Connect via
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MCP](../how-to/connect_via_mcp.md) on how to connect to Toolbox with an MCP
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client.
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