Problem with DeepSeek-R1 in AzureChatOpenAI not using tools

[leockl]

I am not sure if this is a Langchain or Langgraph issue, but I have the following Python script below

from langchain_openai import AzureChatOpenAI  # Updated import
from langchain_core.tools import tool
from langgraph.prebuilt import create_react_agent
from langchain_core.messages import SystemMessage, HumanMessage

# # Define and create a simple tool using the decorator
@tool
def calculator(expression: str) -> str:
    """Evaluate a mathematical expression."""
    try:
        return str(eval(expression))
    except Exception as e:
        return f"Error: {str(e)}"

# Initialize the Azure OpenAI chat model
model = AzureChatOpenAI(
    azure_deployment="DeepSeek-R1",
    openai_api_version="2024-05-01-preview",
    azure_endpoint="MY_AZURE_ENDPOINT",
    api_key="MY_AZURE_API_KEY",
    model_name="DeepSeek-R1"  # Add this line to specify the model
)
tools = [calculator]

system_human_messages = [SystemMessage(content="You are a helpful assistant with access to tools. You should use the available tools whenever possible to ensure accurate calculations. Always use the calculator tool for mathematical operations, even for simple calculations."),
                         HumanMessage(content="What is 123 * 456?")]

agent_executor = create_react_agent(model, tools)
response = agent_executor.invoke({"messages": system_human_messages})

response["messages"]

The output I am getting from the script above is as below:

[SystemMessage(content='You are a helpful assistant with access to tools. You should use the available tools whenever possible to ensure accurate calculations. Always use the calculator tool for mathematical operations, even for simple calculations.', additional_kwargs={}, response_metadata={}, id='189033f7-4769-4ca4-96ce-c43035ab48d6'),
 HumanMessage(content='What is 123 * 456?', additional_kwargs={}, response_metadata={}, id='a22cf89e-8e01-41cd-818f-e0ccd1faaca7'),
 AIMessage(content="<think>\nOkay, let me figure out what 123 multiplied by 456 is. Hmm, I'm not sure off the top of my head, so I better use the calculator to make sure I get it right. First, I'll input 123 times 456 into the calculator tool. Let me check the numbers again to avoid any typos. Yep, 123 and 456. Alright, multiplying those together. The calculator should give me the exact product. I remember that multiplying larger numbers can sometimes lead to mistakes if done manually, so using the tool here is definitely the way to go. Let me just double-check by maybe breaking it down. 123 times 400 is 49,200, and 123 times 56 is... let's see, 123*50=6,150 and 123*6=738. Adding those gives 6,150 + 738 = 6,888. Then adding that to 49,200 gives 49,200 + 6,888 = 56,088. Wait, does that match the calculator result? Let me confirm with the tool again to be sure. Yeah, the calculator tool is more accurate here. So the final answer should be 56,088.\n</think>\n\nThe result of multiplying 123 by 456 is calculated as follows:\n\n123 × 456 = 56,088\n\n**Answer:** 56,088", additional_kwargs={'refusal': None}, response_metadata={'token_usage': {'completion_tokens': 290, 'prompt_tokens': 48, 'total_tokens': 338, 'completion_tokens_details': None, 'prompt_tokens_details': None}, 'model_name': 'DeepSeek-R1', 'system_fingerprint': None, 'finish_reason': 'stop', 'logprobs': None, 'content_filter_results': {}}, id='run-d6f6d0a5-279b-4045-8093-d4a7de0dffd0-0', usage_metadata={'input_tokens': 48, 'output_tokens': 290, 'total_tokens': 338, 'input_token_details': {}, 'output_token_details': {}})]

As you can see from the output above, ToolMessage was not called. I have tried different system message to make it stronger for the LLM to use the tool and also asked a more complex math calculation, but for some reason the tool is still not being called.

Does anyone know why or what went wrong with my script? Would really appreciate any help.

[dosubot[bot]]

There are a few potential reasons why the calculator tool is not being invoked by the AzureChatOpenAI model in your script. Here are some steps you can take to diagnose and potentially resolve the issue:

1. Tool Integration: Ensure that the tool is correctly integrated with the model. The create_react_agent function should properly bind the tools to the model. Double-check that the tools list is correctly passed to the create_react_agent function.

2. System Message Clarity: While you've already tried strengthening the system message, ensure that it is as clear and direct as possible. The model needs explicit instructions to use the tool. Consider simplifying the message to focus solely on using the calculator for any mathematical operations.

3. Model Configuration: Verify that the AzureChatOpenAI model is correctly configured with all necessary parameters, such as azure_deployment, azure_endpoint, and api_key. Ensure that these match the settings in your Azure portal.

4. Tool Decorator: Check that the @tool decorator is correctly applied to the calculator function. The function should have a clear docstring, as this is used by the model to understand the tool's purpose.

5. Debugging Output: Add logging or print statements within the calculator function to see if it is being called at all. This can help determine if the issue is with the tool invocation or elsewhere in the script.

6. Model Behavior: Sometimes, the model might not invoke a tool if it believes it can handle the task without it. This can happen if the model's internal logic decides that it can compute the result directly. You might need to adjust the model's temperature or other parameters to influence its decision-making process.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, you might want to explore similar discussions for additional insights. For instance, there is an open discussion titled Error with ZeroShotAgent using multi-input tool 'Calculator' in LangChain that might provide relevant information ^[1].

To continue talking to Dosu, mention @dosu.

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[leockl]

Problem solved. Deepseek r1 doesn't support tool calling right now .

[Huyueeer]

I am not sure if this is a Langchain or Langgraph issue, but I have the following Python script below

from langchain_openai import AzureChatOpenAI  # Updated import
from langchain_core.tools import tool
from langgraph.prebuilt import create_react_agent
from langchain_core.messages import SystemMessage, HumanMessage

# # Define and create a simple tool using the decorator
@tool
def calculator(expression: str) -> str:
    """Evaluate a mathematical expression."""
    try:
        return str(eval(expression))
    except Exception as e:
        return f"Error: {str(e)}"

# Initialize the Azure OpenAI chat model
model = AzureChatOpenAI(
    azure_deployment="DeepSeek-R1",
    openai_api_version="2024-05-01-preview",
    azure_endpoint="MY_AZURE_ENDPOINT",
    api_key="MY_AZURE_API_KEY",
    model_name="DeepSeek-R1"  # Add this line to specify the model
)
tools = [calculator]

system_human_messages = [SystemMessage(content="You are a helpful assistant with access to tools. You should use the available tools whenever possible to ensure accurate calculations. Always use the calculator tool for mathematical operations, even for simple calculations."),
                         HumanMessage(content="What is 123 * 456?")]

agent_executor = create_react_agent(model, tools)
response = agent_executor.invoke({"messages": system_human_messages})

response["messages"]

The output I am getting from the script above is as below:

[SystemMessage(content='You are a helpful assistant with access to tools. You should use the available tools whenever possible to ensure accurate calculations. Always use the calculator tool for mathematical operations, even for simple calculations.', additional_kwargs={}, response_metadata={}, id='189033f7-4769-4ca4-96ce-c43035ab48d6'),
 HumanMessage(content='What is 123 * 456?', additional_kwargs={}, response_metadata={}, id='a22cf89e-8e01-41cd-818f-e0ccd1faaca7'),
 AIMessage(content="<think>\nOkay, let me figure out what 123 multiplied by 456 is. Hmm, I'm not sure off the top of my head, so I better use the calculator to make sure I get it right. First, I'll input 123 times 456 into the calculator tool. Let me check the numbers again to avoid any typos. Yep, 123 and 456. Alright, multiplying those together. The calculator should give me the exact product. I remember that multiplying larger numbers can sometimes lead to mistakes if done manually, so using the tool here is definitely the way to go. Let me just double-check by maybe breaking it down. 123 times 400 is 49,200, and 123 times 56 is... let's see, 123*50=6,150 and 123*6=738. Adding those gives 6,150 + 738 = 6,888. Then adding that to 49,200 gives 49,200 + 6,888 = 56,088. Wait, does that match the calculator result? Let me confirm with the tool again to be sure. Yeah, the calculator tool is more accurate here. So the final answer should be 56,088.\n</think>\n\nThe result of multiplying 123 by 456 is calculated as follows:\n\n123 × 456 = 56,088\n\n**Answer:** 56,088", additional_kwargs={'refusal': None}, response_metadata={'token_usage': {'completion_tokens': 290, 'prompt_tokens': 48, 'total_tokens': 338, 'completion_tokens_details': None, 'prompt_tokens_details': None}, 'model_name': 'DeepSeek-R1', 'system_fingerprint': None, 'finish_reason': 'stop', 'logprobs': None, 'content_filter_results': {}}, id='run-d6f6d0a5-279b-4045-8093-d4a7de0dffd0-0', usage_metadata={'input_tokens': 48, 'output_tokens': 290, 'total_tokens': 338, 'input_token_details': {}, 'output_token_details': {}})]

As you can see from the output above, ToolMessage was not called. I have tried different system message to make it stronger for the LLM to use the tool and also asked a more complex math calculation, but for some reason the tool is still not being called.

Does anyone know why or what went wrong with my script? Would really appreciate any help.

Hello, I would like to ask whether this code can be output normally? What is the langchain version? Because I have encountered many difficulties in verifying langchain's use of inference model

[leockl]

@Huyueeer sorry I don't understand your question above. Can you elaborate and maybe use an English translator?

[Huyueeer]

Sorry, I have found out the reason and upgraded the version of langchain-openai. The reason is that the model itself does not support tool invocation. Thank you for your assistance

[leockl]

You're welcome.

Can I ask which "langchain-openai" model is that that does not support tool invocation?

[Huyueeer]

Actually, it is supported. It's just that I started using o1-mini and found that it didn't support it, but I could just use o1.

[leockl]

That's great, glad that your problem is solved.

Please kindly give my repo a star if it was helpful. Thanks!