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Every Tool Vox Can Use on Your Desktop

·8 min read

Vox isn't just a chatbot that lives on your desktop — it's an operator that controls your desktop. Under the hood, it has built-in local tools, server tools, and support for unlimited custom tools and MCP servers — 47+ out of the box. Here's what each one does.

File System Tools

read_local_file

Read any file on your machine

Opens and reads the contents of any file on your local disk. Supports text files, documents, code, and more.

write_local_file

Create or overwrite files

Writes content to a file path on your machine. Creates the file if it doesn't exist, or updates it if it does.

list_local_directory

Browse folder contents

Lists all files and subdirectories in a given path. Includes file sizes and modification dates.

delete_local_path

Remove files and folders

Deletes a file or directory from your machine. Always asks for confirmation before destructive operations.

get_scratch_dir

Temporary workspace

Returns a temporary directory path for intermediate work — useful for multi-step operations that need staging space.

Document Generation

create_word_document

Generate .docx files

Creates professional Word documents with formatted headers, sections, and content. Real .docx files, not templates.

create_pdf_document

Generate PDF reports

Creates PDF documents — invoices, reports, summaries, contracts. Properly formatted and print-ready.

create_presentation_document

Generate .pptx slide decks

Creates PowerPoint presentations with title slides, data slides, and structured content from your data or descriptions.

Email & Contacts

send_email

Send emails natively

Sends email through your native email client (Mail.app, Outlook, Thunderbird). Supports attachments, CC, and BCC.

read_emails

Read your inbox

Reads unread or recent emails from your native email client. Returns sender, subject, date, and preview.

get_email_body

Read full email content

Retrieves the complete body of a specific email for detailed analysis or response drafting.

search_contacts

Access your address book

Searches your native contacts by name, email, or organization. Used to resolve recipient names in email commands.

Screen & System

capture_full_screen

Screenshot with vision

Captures your full screen and analyzes it with a vision model. Understands dashboards, errors, forms, and any visual content.

run_local_command

Execute shell commands

Runs terminal commands on your machine. From 'ls' to complex build scripts — anything your shell can do.

Knowledge Base

list_indexed_files

See what's indexed

Lists all documents currently in your local knowledge base with their indexing status and metadata.

read_indexed_file

Read an indexed document

Retrieves the content of a specific indexed document from your knowledge base.

search_indexed_context

Full-text search

Queries your knowledge base using SQLite FTS5 full-text search. Returns relevant passages with source attribution.

Server-Side Tools

web_search

Search the web

Searches the internet using the Brave Search API. Returns relevant results with titles, URLs, and snippets.

fetch_webpage

Read any webpage

Fetches and extracts the main content from any URL. Strips navigation and ads, returns the article text.

execute_code

Run code in a sandbox

Executes Python, JavaScript, or shell scripts in an isolated Docker container. No access to your local system.

spawn_task

Background agents

Spawns a long-running background task that works autonomously. Used for research, analysis, and complex multi-step workflows.

Custom Tools

find_tools

Discover tools on demand

Searches your entire tool library — built-in tools, custom tools, and all synced MCP tools — by semantic similarity. The agent calls this automatically when it needs a capability not already in its toolset.

manage_tool

Create and save tools

Lets the agent itself create, update, or delete custom tools. If the agent writes a useful script during a task, it can save it permanently so future tasks can reuse it without rewriting.

Tip

You can also create your own tools manually from the Tools panel — JS functions, HTTP webhooks, or desktop actions. They join the same library and are discovered by the agent the same way.


These tools work together. A single voice command might use five or six tools in sequence — that's what makes Vox an operator, not a chatbot.

Put Vox to work on your computer.

Download Vox for Mac and start with the local setup flow.

Download for Mac

macOS · Apple Silicon & Intel