> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://newsletter-ai-agent.pratikdani.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tools Overview

> Learn about the custom tools used by the Newsletter AI Agent

# Tools Overview

The Newsletter AI Agent uses a set of custom tools powered by [Apify](https://docs.apify.com) actors to gather information from various sources. These tools are primarily used by the [Researcher Agent](/agents/researcher) to collect comprehensive data about the specified topic.

## Tool Architecture

The tools are implemented using CrewAI's `BaseTool` class and Apify's actor system. Each tool is designed to interact with a specific Apify actor to gather information from a particular source, such as Google Search, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, or Google News.

### Base Implementation

All tools share a common base implementation in `src/tools/base.py` that handles the interaction with Apify actors:

```python theme={null}
class RunApifyActor:
    """Run an Apify actor and return the results."""
    def __init__(self, actor):
        self.actor = actor

    def _run(self, actor_name, run_input):
        # Implementation to run the Apify actor and return results
        # ...
```

This base class provides a standardized way to call Apify actors and process their results.

## Available Tools

The Newsletter AI Agent includes the following tools:

1. **[Google Scraper Tool](/tools/google-search)**: Uses the `apify/google-search-scraper` actor to search the web for relevant information
2. **[Reddit Scraper Tool](/tools/reddit)**: Uses a Reddit scraper actor to gather discussions from relevant subreddits
3. **[Twitter Scraper Tool](/tools/twitter)**: Uses the `apidojo/twitter-scraper-lite` actor to collect tweets related to the topic
4. **[YouTube Scraper Tool](/tools/youtube)**: Uses a YouTube scraper actor to find relevant video content
5. **[Google News Scraper Tool](/tools/google-news)**: Uses the `aymorato/super-fast-google-news-scraper-pay-per-result` actor to gather the latest news articles

## Tool Implementation

Each tool follows a similar pattern:

1. Define an input schema using Pydantic models
2. Create a tool class that inherits from `BaseTool`
3. Implement the `_run` method to call the appropriate Apify actor

Here's a general pattern for tool implementation:

```python theme={null}
from crewai.tools import BaseTool
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, ConfigDict
from typing import List, Optional
from apify import Actor
from src.tools.base import RunApifyActor

class CustomToolInput(BaseModel):
    """Input schema for the tool."""
    # Define input parameters with descriptions
    param1: List[str] = Field(description="Description of parameter 1")
    param2: Optional[int] = Field(default=10, description="Description of parameter 2")

class CustomTool(BaseTool):
    name: str = "Tool Name"
    description: str = "Tool description"
    args_schema: type[BaseModel] = CustomToolInput
    actor: Actor = Field(description="Apify Actor instance")
    model_config = ConfigDict(arbitrary_types_allowed=True)

    def _run(self, param1, param2=10, **kwargs):
        # Prepare input for the Apify actor
        run_inputs = {
            "param1": param1,
            "param2": param2
        }
        
        # Run the Apify actor
        run_actor = RunApifyActor(self.actor)
        dataset = run_actor._run("apify/actor-name", run_inputs)
        return dataset
```

## Apify Integration

The tools use the Apify Python SDK to interact with Apify actors. This requires an Apify API key, which should be set in the `.env` file:

```
APIFY_API_KEY=your_apify_api_key_here
```

The Apify actors provide powerful web scraping and data extraction capabilities without requiring complex infrastructure setup.

## Tool Usage

Tools are assigned to the Researcher Agent during agent creation:

```python theme={null}
@staticmethod
def create(llm, actor) -> Agent:
    return Agent(
        role='Research Specialist',
        goal='Gather comprehensive and accurate information about specified topics',
        backstory="...",
        tools=[
            GoogleScraperTool(actor=actor),
            RedditScraperTool(actor=actor),
            TwitterScraperTool(actor=actor),
            YouTubeScraperTool(actor=actor),
            GoogleNewsScraperTool(actor=actor)
        ],
        verbose=True,
        allow_delegation=False,
        llm=llm
    )
```

## Next Steps

Explore each tool in detail:

* [Google Scraper Tool](/tools/google-search)
* [Reddit Scraper Tool](/tools/reddit)
* [Twitter Scraper Tool](/tools/twitter)
* [YouTube Scraper Tool](/tools/youtube)
* [Google News Scraper Tool](/tools/google-news)

Or learn about the [agents](/agents/overview) that use these tools to generate newsletters.