Communication Tools (Email + WhatsApp)

Optional, side-effecting tools for real-world agent workflows: send, list, and read email/WhatsApp messages.

Safety first

These tools can send real messages. Keep them behind an approval boundary / allowlist.
Secrets are resolved from env vars at execution time (tool args carry env var names, not secrets).
Default toolsets in AbstractRuntime only expose these tools when explicitly enabled.

What exists today

Email tools (SMTP/IMAP)

list_email_accounts
send_email
list_emails
read_email

WhatsApp tools (v1 provider: Twilio)

send_whatsapp_message
list_whatsapp_messages
read_whatsapp_message

Importing the tools

from abstractcore.tools.comms_tools import (
    list_email_accounts,
    send_email,
    list_emails,
    read_email,
    send_whatsapp_message,
    list_whatsapp_messages,
    read_whatsapp_message,
)

Execution boundaries (recommended)

Communication tools have real-world side effects. Keep them behind an allowlist / approval boundary in your host/runtime (even if you use execute_tools=True).

from abstractcore.tools import ToolCall, ToolRegistry
from abstractcore.tools.comms_tools import send_email, send_whatsapp_message

dangerous_tools = {"send_email", "send_whatsapp_message"}

registry = ToolRegistry()
registry.register(send_email)
registry.register(send_whatsapp_message)

# In your agent loop:
for call in response.tool_calls or []:
    name = call.get("name")
    if name in dangerous_tools:
        # gate via UI approval / allowlist / policy engine
        continue
    registry.execute_tool(ToolCall(name=name, arguments=call.get("arguments") or {}))

See Tool Calling System for a complete host/runtime execution flow.

Email (SMTP + IMAP)

Email tools are operator-configured: tool arguments cannot override SMTP/IMAP hosts, usernames, or secrets. Configure one or more accounts first, then use tools like send_email / list_emails.

1) Configure accounts

Recommended: point AbstractCore to an accounts YAML file (supports multiple accounts + per-account allowlists). The AbstractCore repo includes a template at configs/emails.yaml.

# Point to your accounts config file
export ABSTRACT_EMAIL_ACCOUNTS_CONFIG="$PWD/emails.yaml"

# Secrets stay in env vars
export EMAIL_PASSWORD="xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx"  # e.g. Gmail App Password

# Gmail example (values referenced by the YAML via ${ENV_VAR})
export ABSTRACT_EMAIL_IMAP_HOST="imap.gmail.com"
export ABSTRACT_EMAIL_IMAP_USERNAME="you@gmail.com"
export ABSTRACT_EMAIL_IMAP_PASSWORD_ENV_VAR="EMAIL_PASSWORD"

export ABSTRACT_EMAIL_SMTP_HOST="smtp.gmail.com"
export ABSTRACT_EMAIL_SMTP_PORT=587
export ABSTRACT_EMAIL_SMTP_USERNAME="you@gmail.com"
export ABSTRACT_EMAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD_ENV_VAR="EMAIL_PASSWORD"
export ABSTRACT_EMAIL_SMTP_STARTTLS=1
export ABSTRACT_EMAIL_FROM="you@gmail.com"

Prefer env vars for secrets. The config stores a reference (password_env_var), not the secret itself.

2) Discover available accounts

from abstractcore.tools.comms_tools import list_email_accounts

print(list_email_accounts())  # shows can_read/can_send + default account

3) Send an email

{
  "name": "send_email",
  "arguments": {
    "to": "you@example.com",
    "subject": "Daily report",
    "body_text": "Hello! Here is the report..."
  }
}

If you configured multiple accounts, pass account to select one. Otherwise, the default account is used.

4) List and read emails

{
  "name": "list_emails",
  "arguments": {
    "since": "1d",
    "status": "unread",
    "limit": 20
  }
}

{
  "name": "read_email",
  "arguments": {
    "uid": "12345"
  }
}

WhatsApp (Twilio example)

WhatsApp automation typically uses a provider (v1 uses Twilio). Credentials are read from env vars by default.

export TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID="AC..."
export TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN="..."

Send a WhatsApp message

{
  "name": "send_whatsapp_message",
  "arguments": {
    "provider": "twilio",
    "to": "+3306XXXXXXXX",
    "from_number": "+14155238886",
    "body": "Hello from AbstractCore",
    "account_sid_env_var": "TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID",
    "auth_token_env_var": "TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN"
  }
}