Tools

Tools

What phoenix can actually do when you ask:

	Tool	Example ask
🖥️	shell	"check disk space"
📁	files (read, write, list)	"fix the typo in notes.md"
🌐	web search and fetch	"what's the weather tonight?"
🧭	browser automation	"log into the dashboard and screenshot it"
🎨	image, video, music generation	"draw a phoenix logo"
🗣️	speak (voice replies)	"answer as a voice note"
🧠	remember and recall	"remember I prefer tabs"
👥	subagent	"research X in the background"
✉️	send_message	"tell the family chat dinner's at 8"
🗂️	sessions list and history	"what did we discuss yesterday?"
📋	task board	"add: renew domain"
🖼️	canvas	"show these results as a page"

Understanding runs the other way too: send photos, PDFs or voice notes in chat and phoenix reads or hears them.

Most of these are off until you enable them in the config, so a fresh install has a small surface. See Configuration for the switches: [browser], [media], [audio], [canvas], [board].

Long jobs do not block you

Ask for something slow and it runs in the background. /tasks lists what is running, /tasks cancel ID stops one, and phoenix tells you when it finishes.

Safety valves are always on duty: path jail, command approvals and allowlists. See Security.