name	register-intents
description	Guide to registering tool and resource intents in an IntentCall application, either manually or using `@AgentTool` code generation. Use when an agent needs to expose a Dart/Flutter function or resource endpoint to transport adapters.
license	MIT
type	developer
metadata	{"author":"intentcall","version":"1.0.0","category":"intentcall"}

Register Intents in IntentCall

Learn how to register tool and resource intents in an application using IntentCall.

1. Manual Registration

Manual registration uses the AgentRegistry and AgentCallEntry classes from intentcall_core.

import 'package:intentcall_core/intentcall_core.dart';
import 'package:intentcall_schema/intentcall_schema.dart';

void main() {
  final registry = InMemoryAgentRegistry();

  registry.register(
    AgentCallEntry.tool(
      namespace: 'custom',
      name: 'ping',
      description: 'Ping the local agent surface.',
      inputSchema: const <String, Object?>{
        'type': 'object',
        'properties': {
          'message': {'type': 'string', 'description': 'Optional test message.'}
        }
      },
      handler: (arguments) async {
        final message = arguments['message'] as String? ?? 'pong';
        return AgentResult.success(data: <String, Object?>{'reply': message});
      },
    ).toRegistration(),
  );
}

2. Code Generation (`@AgentTool`)

We can automate registration using the code generator package intentcall_codegen.

Step 1: Add dependencies

Add IntentCall packages from the current hosted train:

dart pub add intentcall_core intentcall_schema
dart pub add --dev intentcall_codegen build_runner

Step 2: Annotate your tool

Create your tool definition and annotate it with @AgentTool:

import 'package:intentcall_codegen/intentcall_codegen.dart';
import 'package:intentcall_core/intentcall_core.dart';
import 'package:intentcall_schema/intentcall_schema.dart';

part 'ping_tool.g.dart';

@AgentTool(
  name: 'ping',
  description: 'Ping the local agent surface.',
)
Future<AgentResult> pingTool(
  @AgentParam('Test message.') String message,
) async {
  return AgentResult.success(data: <String, Object?>{'reply': message});
}

Step 3: Run the builder

Run the build command to generate the code mapping:

dart run build_runner build --delete-conflicting-outputs

Step 4: Register generated tools

The generator creates a pingToolRegistration mapping. Register it in your application setup:

import 'package:intentcall_core/intentcall_core.dart';
import 'ping_tool.dart';

void main() {
  final registry = InMemoryAgentRegistry()..register(pingToolRegistration);
}

Transport adapters, WebMCP, and native bridge wrappers should execute this Dart registry entry rather than copying the business logic into JS, Swift, Kotlin, or another host language.

3. After Changing Registrations

Run the package tests that cover the registered handler. When changing this repository rather than only a downstream app, also run:

steward probe --json --profile quick

If the registration is consumed by a new or changed adapter, add or update the adapter contract test and run:

steward benchmark --scenario intentcall.adapter-contract --json