> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.ada.cx/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.ada.cx/_mcp/server.

# Code tools: write and test a tool in the dashboard

AI Managers can now write a code tool in the dashboard, including its Python, inputs, outputs, and environment variables. Before this change, an author could create a code tool only over Ada's MCP Server or through the Platform API. Both paths needed an AI assistant or a repository.

## What's new

The **Tools** page now has an editor for creating, testing, and saving a code tool.

* **Create a tool.** Start a new code tool from the **Tools** page and write its code. Ada checks the code when you save it and reports any code the sandbox cannot run.
* **Test before saving.** **Test your code** runs the unsaved draft with sample inputs. The run uses the same sandbox, network access, and environment as a live run. It has no conversation, so it skips variable-backed environment entries and names them in the result. Only owners and admins can run a test.
* **Choose when it goes live.** A tool saved in the dashboard has no change set. Select **Save and make active** to publish it immediately, or **Save as inactive** to keep it off until you are ready.

Tools authored over Ada's MCP Server still go through a change set, and Platform API pushes are unchanged.

To learn more, see [Create a code tool](/docs/automation/tools/code-tools/create-a-code-tool#write-it-in-the-dashboard).