{"id":"openbmb-toolbench","name":"ToolBench","af_score":29.8,"security_score":27.2,"reliability_score":26.2,"what_it_does":"ToolBench is an open-source research platform for training, serving, and evaluating LLMs for tool use. It provides a large instruction-tuning dataset derived from real-world REST APIs (from RapidAPI), training/evaluation scripts for fine-tuning models (e.g., ToolLLaMA), and an optional hosted RapidAPI backend server to run tool calls without users managing their own RapidAPI subscriptions.","best_when":"Used by researchers/engineers who can run Python training/inference pipelines locally and/or obtain the hosted ToolBench RapidAPI backend key, and who are comfortable with datasets and tool-environment artifacts.","avoid_when":"Avoid when you need a clean, documented, general-purpose external API for agents (REST/OpenAPI/SDK) or when you cannot manage the security and privacy implications of calling many third-party REST APIs.","last_evaluated":"2026-03-29T14:57:50.419348+00:00","has_mcp":false,"has_api":false,"auth_methods":["ToolBench key for hosted RapidAPI backend service (after filling form)"],"has_free_tier":false,"known_gotchas":["Primary interfaces are local scripts (Python) rather than agent-friendly HTTP/MCP APIs.","Hosted RapidAPI backend usage requires obtaining a ToolBench key via a form; programmatic usage may be blocked until credentials are provisioned.","ToolBench calls many third-party REST APIs; agent workflows should anticipate tool failures, rate limits, and non-deterministic third-party behavior.","No explicit retry/idempotency guidance is provided in the README excerpt."],"error_quality":0.0}