feat(tools): pluggable prebuilt tools framework + Exa (5.8.0)

[abhishekmishragithub]

What

smallestai.tools: a small, extensible framework for prebuilt tools that plug into a crew. Third-party libraries stay optional (extras, lazy-imported).

The pattern

A tool wraps a capability with a @function_tool-decorated run, so it drops straight into a crew:

from smallestai.tools import ExaSearchTool

class Assistant(OutputCrewNode):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__(name="assistant")
        self.tool_registry = ToolRegistry()
        self.tool_registry.discover(self)          # your own @function_tools
        ExaSearchTool().register(self.tool_registry)  # + a prebuilt tool, one line
        self.tool_schemas = self.tool_registry.get_schemas()

Standalone use works too: results = await ExaSearchTool().run(query="..."). Discover with list_tools() / get_tool("exa_search").

Design

• Optional, lazy. exa-py is an extra (pip install "smallestai[exa]"), imported on first use; missing it gives a clear install error. Importing smallestai.tools never pulls a third-party lib.
• Uniform shape. Every tool is a Tool with a @function_tool run + register(registry), so the crew's existing schema extraction + execution just work.
• Non-blocking. ExaSearchTool.run runs the synchronous Exa client via asyncio.to_thread.

Checks

• pytest tests/custom/test_tools_framework.py — 5 passed (registry, crew-plug, lazy missing-dep path).
• mypy src/smallestai/tools/ — clean.

Notes for review

• First tool is Exa; the registry is built to add more (Tavily, etc.) the same way.
• Version 5.8.0 assumes feat(integrations): optional pipecat + livekit adapters (5.6.0) #90 (5.6.0) and feat(cli): surface crew-vs-platform config ownership (init + doctor) [5.7.0] #91 (5.7.0) merge first — adjust for merge order.

Draft — merging bumps the version and auto-publishes. Hold for your review.

[abhishekmishragithub]

Superseded by the consolidated release PR release/5.10.0 (single review + single version bump). Branch kept.