FastMCP Service Get Tools Task

task api name: get_tools

FastMCP service get_tools task returns the list of MCP tools generated by FastMCP worker. Tools are created from NorFab service tasks and follow this naming convention:

service_<service_name>__task_<task_name>

Inputs

Parameter	Required	Description
brief	No	Return tool names only.
service	No	Filter tools by NorFab service name.
name	No	Filter tools by glob pattern.
workers	No	FastMCP workers to target. Defaults to any worker.

Output

The task returns MCP tool definitions. Detailed definitions include effective task call guardrails and task result_guardrails when configured. These are NorFab inspection fields and are not added to the MCP SDK Tool schema. With brief=True, the task returns tool names only.

Examples

Example

CLIPython

List all tools:

nf# show fastmcp tools

List tools for a specific service (names only):

nf# show fastmcp tools service nornir brief

Filter tools by name using glob patterns:

nf# show fastmcp tools name "*cli" brief

Context manager - list Nornir tool names:

import pprint

from norfab.core.nfapi import NorFab

with NorFab(inventory="inventory.yaml") as nf:
    client = nf.make_client()

    result = client.run_job(
        service="fastmcp",
        task="get_tools",
        kwargs={"brief": True, "service": "nornir"},
        workers="any",
    )
    pprint.pprint(result)

Direct lifecycle - filter tools by name:

import pprint

from norfab.core.nfapi import NorFab

nf = NorFab(inventory="inventory.yaml")
try:
    nf.start()
    client = nf.make_client()

    result = client.run_job(
        service="fastmcp",
        task="get_tools",
        kwargs={"brief": True, "name": "*cli"},
        workers="any",
    )
    pprint.pprint(result)
finally:
    nf.destroy()

NORFAB FastMCP Get Tools Command Shell Reference

NorFab shell supports these command options for FastMCP get_tools task:

nf# man tree show.fastmcp.tools
root
└── show:    NorFab show commands
    └── fastmcp:    Show FastMCP service
        └── tools:    show FastMCP server tools
            ├── brief:    show tools names only
            ├── service:    filter tools by service name
            ├── name:    filter tools by name using glob pattern
            ├── workers:    Filter worker to target, default 'any'
            └── timeout:    Job timeout
nf#

Python API Reference

Retrieve tools from the available norfab services, optionally filtered by service name and tool name pattern.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
brief	bool	If True, returns a list of tool names. If False, returns a dictionary with tool details.	False
service	str	The name of the service to filter tools by. Use "all" to include all services.	'all'
name	str	A glob pattern to match tool names.	'*'

Returns:

Name	Type	Description
Result	Result	An object containing the filtered tools. If brief is True, result is a list of tool names. Otherwise, result is a dictionary mapping tool names to their details.

Source code in norfab\workers\fastmcp_worker\fastmcp_worker.py

@Task(
    input=GetToolsInput,
    output=GetToolsResult,
    fastapi={"methods": ["GET"]},
    mcp={
        "annotations": {
            "title": "Get MCP Tools",
            "readOnlyHint": True,
            "destructiveHint": False,
            "idempotentHint": True,
            "openWorldHint": False,
        }
    },
)
def get_tools(
    self, brief: bool = False, service: str = "all", name: str = "*"
) -> Result:
    """
    Retrieve tools from the available norfab services, optionally filtered by service
    name and tool name pattern.

    Args:
        brief (bool, optional): If True, returns a list of tool names. If False,
            returns a dictionary with tool details.
        service (str, optional): The name of the service to filter tools by.
            Use "all" to include all services.
        name (str, optional): A glob pattern to match tool names.

    Returns:
        Result: An object containing the filtered tools. If brief is True, result
            is a list of tool names. Otherwise, result is a dictionary mapping tool
            names to their details.
    """
    ret = Result(
        result={},
        task=f"{self.name}:get_tools",
    )
    if brief:
        ret.result = []
        for service_name, tasks in self.norfab_services_tasks.items():
            if service == "all" or service_name == service:
                for tool_name, tool_data in tasks.items():
                    if fnmatch(tool_name, name):
                        ret.result.append(tool_name)
    else:
        for service_name, tasks in self.norfab_services_tasks.items():
            if service == "all" or service_name == service:
                for tool_name, tool_data in tasks.items():
                    if fnmatch(tool_name, name):
                        tool_definition = tool_data["tool"].model_dump()
                        guardrails = tool_data.get("guardrails")
                        if guardrails:
                            tool_definition["guardrails"] = guardrails
                        result_guardrails = tool_data.get("result_guardrails")
                        if result_guardrails:
                            tool_definition["result_guardrails"] = result_guardrails
                        ret.result[tool_name] = tool_definition

    return ret