Repository: deepset-ai/haystack

Issue:
Agent should check if its `chat_generator` supports tools
While working on https://github.com/deepset-ai/haystack/pull/9112 I noticed that the ChatGenerator protocol doesn't require the run method to accept `tools` but the Agent component expects that from its `chat_generator`.

In the init of the Agent, we should check that `chat_generator.run` accepts `tools` and if it doesn't throw a TypeError explaining that a ChatGenerator of that particular type doesn't support tools.

Discussion:

Solution patch:
diff --git a/haystack/components/agents/agent.py b/haystack/components/agents/agent.py
index feb96ead10..e5aa4d8569 100644
--- a/haystack/components/agents/agent.py
+++ b/haystack/components/agents/agent.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+import inspect
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
 
 from haystack import component, default_from_dict, default_to_dict, logging
@@ -76,7 +77,16 @@ def __init__(
         :param raise_on_tool_invocation_failure: Should the agent raise an exception when a tool invocation fails?
             If set to False, the exception will be turned into a chat message and passed to the LLM.
         :param streaming_callback: A callback that will be invoked when a response is streamed from the LLM.
+        :raises TypeError: If the chat_generator does not support tools parameter in its run method.
         """
+        # Check if chat_generator supports tools parameter
+        chat_generator_run_method = inspect.signature(chat_generator.run)
+        if "tools" not in chat_generator_run_method.parameters:
+            raise TypeError(
+                f"{type(chat_generator).__name__} does not accept tools parameter in its run method. "
+                "The Agent component requires a chat generator that supports tools."
+            )
+
         valid_exits = ["text"] + [tool.name for tool in tools or []]
         if exit_conditions is None:
             exit_conditions = ["text"]
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/check-chatgenerator-tools-support-f684c1ad0d9ad108.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/check-chatgenerator-tools-support-f684c1ad0d9ad108.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a3b2fb7ef1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/check-chatgenerator-tools-support-f684c1ad0d9ad108.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+enhancements:
+  - |
+    The Agent component checks that the ChatGenerator it is initialized with supports tools. If it doesn't, the Agent raises a TypeError.


Test patch:
diff --git a/test/components/agents/test_agent.py b/test/components/agents/test_agent.py
index 0452a91819..38dfc2e1cc 100644
--- a/test/components/agents/test_agent.py
+++ b/test/components/agents/test_agent.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 from datetime import datetime
-from typing import Iterator
+from typing import Iterator, Dict, Any, List
 
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 import pytest
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 from haystack.components.agents import Agent
 from haystack.components.builders.prompt_builder import PromptBuilder
 from haystack.components.generators.chat.openai import OpenAIChatGenerator
+from haystack.components.generators.chat.types import ChatGenerator
 from haystack.dataclasses import ChatMessage
 from haystack.dataclasses.streaming_chunk import StreamingChunk
 from haystack.tools import Tool, ComponentTool
@@ -91,6 +92,20 @@ def openai_mock_chat_completion_chunk():
         yield mock_chat_completion_create
 
 
+class MockChatGeneratorWithoutTools(ChatGenerator):
+    """A mock chat generator that implements ChatGenerator protocol but doesn't support tools."""
+
+    def to_dict(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        return {"type": "MockChatGeneratorWithoutTools", "data": {}}
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_dict(cls, data: Dict[str, Any]) -> "MockChatGeneratorWithoutTools":
+        return cls()
+
+    def run(self, messages: List[ChatMessage]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        return {"replies": [ChatMessage.from_assistant("Hello")]}
+
+
 class TestAgent:
     def test_serde(self, weather_tool, component_tool, monkeypatch):
         monkeypatch.setenv("FAKE_OPENAI_KEY", "fake-key")
@@ -231,3 +246,9 @@ def streaming_callback(chunk: StreamingChunk) -> None:
         assert len(response["messages"]) == 2
         assert [isinstance(reply, ChatMessage) for reply in response["messages"]]
         assert "Hello" in response["messages"][1].text  # see openai_mock_chat_completion_chunk
+
+    def test_chat_generator_must_support_tools(self, weather_tool):
+        chat_generator = MockChatGeneratorWithoutTools()
+
+        with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="MockChatGeneratorWithoutTools does not accept tools"):
+            Agent(chat_generator=chat_generator, tools=[weather_tool])