Laravel AI Agents: Tool-Calling & Conversation Persistence | Mohamed Said [ ![Mohamed Said](https://cdn.msaied.com/01KT78WE565VEMM3PSNQAAB0MH.png) Mohamed Said Laravel Backend Engineer ](https://msaied.com) [ Home ](https://msaied.com) [ Projects ](https://msaied.com/projects) [ Articles ](https://msaied.com/articles) [ Certificates ](https://msaied.com/certificates) [ Contact ](https://msaied.com#contact-section) [ ](https://github.com/EG-Mohamed) [ Home ](https://msaied.com) [ Projects ](https://msaied.com/projects) [ Articles ](https://msaied.com/articles) [ Certificates ](https://msaied.com/certificates) [ Contact ](https://msaied.com#contact-section) [ home ](https://msaied.com) [ articles ](https://msaied.com/articles) Laravel AI SDK: Tool-Calling Agents and Conversation Persistence On this page 1. [ Building Tool-Calling Agents in Laravel with Prism ](#building-tool-calling-agents-in-laravel-with-prism) 2. [ Defining a Tool ](#defining-a-tool) 3. [ Running a Multi-Turn Agent Loop ](#running-a-multi-turn-agent-loop) 4. [ Persisting Conversation History ](#persisting-conversation-history) 5. [ Authorising Tool Execution ](#authorising-tool-execution) 6. [ Key Takeaways ](#key-takeaways) ![Laravel AI SDK: Tool-Calling Agents and Conversation Persistence](https://cdn.msaied.com/260/8c84f424e42da01993c9ba4b8eb19655.png) #laravel #ai #agents #prism #llm Laravel AI SDK: Tool-Calling Agents and Conversation Persistence ================================================================== 21 Jun 2026 3 min read ![Mohamed Said](https://cdn.msaied.com/01KT78WE565VEMM3PSNQAAB0MJ.jpg) Mohamed Said Table of contents 1. [ 01 Building Tool-Calling Agents in Laravel with Prism ](#building-tool-calling-agents-in-laravel-with-prism) 2. [ 02 Defining a Tool ](#defining-a-tool) 3. [ 03 Running a Multi-Turn Agent Loop ](#running-a-multi-turn-agent-loop) 4. [ 04 Persisting Conversation History ](#persisting-conversation-history) 5. [ 05 Authorising Tool Execution ](#authorising-tool-execution) 6. [ 06 Key Takeaways ](#key-takeaways) Building Tool-Calling Agents in Laravel with Prism -------------------------------------------------- Large language models become genuinely useful when they can *act* — querying a database, calling an API, or reading a file — rather than just generating text. The [Prism](https://prismphp.com) package gives Laravel developers a clean, driver-agnostic interface for exactly this. This article focuses on two hard problems: **wiring tools safely** and **persisting conversation state between HTTP requests** without leaking memory or context. --- ### Defining a Tool Prism tools are plain PHP objects that declare their schema and a handler closure. Keep them thin — delegate real work to your existing service layer. ```php use EchoLabs\Prism\Tool; $orderLookup = Tool::as('get_order') ->for('Fetch an order by its ID') ->withStringParameter('order_id', 'The UUID of the order') ->using(function (string $order_id): string { $order = Order::findOrFail($order_id); return json_encode([ 'status' => $order->status, 'total' => $order->total_cents, 'shipped' => $order->shipped_at?->toIso8601String(), ]); }); ``` The `using` closure **must return a string** — that string is injected back into the model's context as the tool result. Returning structured JSON is idiomatic. --- ### Running a Multi-Turn Agent Loop A single `generate()` call is not enough for agents. You need an agentic loop that keeps running until the model stops requesting tools. ```php use EchoLabs\Prism\Prism; use EchoLabs\Prism\Enums\Provider; use EchoLabs\Prism\ValueObjects\Messages\UserMessage; $messages = [ new UserMessage('What is the status of order 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000?'), ]; $response = Prism::text() ->using(Provider::OpenAI, 'gpt-4o') ->withMessages($messages) ->withTools([$orderLookup]) ->withMaxSteps(5) // hard cap — never let the loop run unbounded ->generate(); echo $response->text; ``` `withMaxSteps` is your circuit breaker. Without it, a confused model can spin indefinitely, burning tokens and time. --- ### Persisting Conversation History HTTP is stateless; agents are not. The naive approach — storing the full message array in the session — breaks under load and leaks data across users. A better pattern: persist messages to a `conversations` table and rehydrate on each request. ```php // Migration Schema::create('conversation_messages', function (Blueprint $table) { $table->id(); $table->ulid('conversation_id')->index(); $table->string('role'); // user | assistant | tool $table->longText('content'); $table->json('tool_calls')->nullable(); $table->timestamps(); }); ``` ```php // Rehydrating messages for Prism use EchoLabs\Prism\ValueObjects\Messages\AssistantMessage; use EchoLabs\Prism\ValueObjects\Messages\UserMessage; $stored = ConversationMessage::where('conversation_id', $id) ->orderBy('id') ->get(); $messages = $stored->map(fn ($row) => match ($row->role) { 'user' => new UserMessage($row->content), 'assistant' => new AssistantMessage($row->content), default => null, })->filter()->values()->all(); ``` After each agent run, persist the new messages returned in `$response->messages` back to the table. This keeps your PHP process stateless while the conversation lives safely in Postgres. --- ### Authorising Tool Execution Tools run server-side with your application's full privileges. Always scope them to the authenticated user: ```php ->using(function (string $order_id) use ($user): string { $order = Order::where('user_id', $user->id) ->findOrFail($order_id); // 404 if not owned // ... }) ``` Never trust the model to enforce ownership — it will not. --- ### Key Takeaways - **Tools return strings.** Encode complex data as JSON; the model reads it as context. - **Always set `withMaxSteps`.** Unbounded agentic loops are a production incident waiting to happen. - **Persist messages in the database**, not the session. Rehydrate per request for true statelessness. - **Authorise inside the tool closure**, not outside it. The model controls which tool is called; you control what it can see. - **Keep tools thin.** Delegate to services so tools remain testable in isolation without mocking the LLM. Found this useful? [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmsaied.com%2Farticles%2Flaravel-ai-sdk-tool-calling-agents-and-conversation-persistence&text=Laravel+AI+SDK%3A+Tool-Calling+Agents+and+Conversation+Persistence) [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmsaied.com%2Farticles%2Flaravel-ai-sdk-tool-calling-agents-and-conversation-persistence) Frequently Asked Questions ---------------------------- 3 questions Q01 Can I use providers other than OpenAI with Prism tool-calling? Yes. Prism supports Anthropic, Gemini, Ollama, and others via its driver system. Tool-calling availability depends on the underlying model's capabilities — check the provider's documentation for function-calling support before switching drivers. Q02 How do I test a tool-calling agent without hitting the real API? Prism ships with a fake driver you can bind in tests. Use `Prism::fake()` to return pre-scripted responses, then assert that your tool closures were invoked with the expected arguments using standard Pest expectations on the side-effects they produce. Q03 What is a safe value for withMaxSteps in production? It depends on your use case, but 5–10 steps covers the vast majority of real workflows. Set it conservatively, monitor average steps per conversation in your logs, and raise it only when you have evidence a legitimate task requires more. 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