Tool Calling and Plugins for Shipping and Port Research

What Data for This Category Looks Like

Data sources for shipping and port research reports include public statistical data from transportation authorities, operational reports released by port operators, international shipping industry research documents, and analysis content from third-party shipping consulting institutions. Update frequencies vary. Real-time data such as vessel berthing and route schedules is updated daily. Monthly statistical data such as port throughput and cargo type share is updated monthly. Industry trend research reports are released weekly or monthly. Document structures primarily use structured statistical tables, supplemented by trend analysis paragraphs. Core fields include container throughput (unit: TEU), cargo throughput (unit: 10,000 tons), number of vessel berthings, berthing duration (unit: hours), and others. Some documents include segmented data for coastal and inland ports.

Constraints Imposed by These Characteristics on Tool Calling and Plugins

Data sources are scattered and formats are inconsistent. Tool calling must adapt to authentication and data parsing rules for multi-source interfaces. Plugins must support unified scheduling of multiple data sources. Different data have large differences in update frequency. High-frequency real-time vessel schedule data requires short call intervals. Low-frequency monthly statistical data can use longer intervals. Independent call cycles must be configured for each data source. Field units and classification dimensions are diverse. Preprocessing logic for unit unification and field filtering must be added during tool calling to avoid unit confusion or irrelevant data interference during question answering. The segmentation logic for structured documents must adapt to the mixed structure of statistical tables and analysis paragraphs. Otherwise, recalled content will be fragmented.

Configuration Settings

Configuration Item	Recommended Value	Rationale
`tool_call_timeout`	`300 seconds`	Shipping research report data interfaces return multiple sets of statistical values. 300 seconds covers the normal response duration of most interfaces, avoiding truncation of valid data
`recall_field_filter`	`Throughput, Route Frequency, Cargo Type Proportion`	Filtering non-core fields reduces context redundancy and focuses on the core shipping and port indicators most relevant to users
`api_request_interval`	`60 seconds`	Most public shipping data interfaces set call frequency limits. A 60-second interval avoids triggering current-limiting rules
`parse_chunk_size`	`800–1200 characters`	Single-paragraph data from shipping research reports usually contains complete statistical logic and associated analysis. This segment length preserves content integrity
`mcp_tool_enable`	`Enabled`	Multi-source shipping data interfaces need to be connected. The MCP plugin can uniformly manage call authentication and format conversion for different data sources

The parameter values provided on this page are common starting points for configuration. Actual values are affected by material form, data volume and business rules. Specific issues require specific analysis. It is recommended to test on your own samples before finalizing.

Three Common Errors

Phenomenon: A 504 Gateway Timeout error is returned when calling the MCP tool. Cause: The tool_call_timeout parameter was not adjusted. The default timeout duration is too short to retrieve complete shipping research report data.
Phenomenon: An invalid workflow id error is returned when a workflow calls a tool. Cause: The unique ID of the published workflow was not correctly obtained. A draft ID or unpublished workflow identifier was used directly to initiate the call.
Phenomenon: Only a single block of unformatted text is obtained after the front end parses the returned text stream. Cause: Markdown format output was not enabled in the tool call configuration, or the Accept: text/event-stream header was not specified in the request, resulting in non-streaming full text being returned.

How to Confirm Proper Configuration

Initiate a single tool call test. Check if the returned content includes preset core shipping fields to confirm the field filtering configuration is effective.
View tool call logs to confirm that each call interval matches the preset api_request_interval setting, and no current-limiting errors are triggered.
Test the streaming call interface. Check if the returned text stream is segmented by paragraph to confirm the format configuration is correct.
Trigger a workflow call to a tool. Check if the returned result matches the result of directly calling the tool to confirm the workflow ID configuration is correct.

Question material comes from public community discussions. Configuration values are common starting points and should be measured against your own samples. Verified on 2026-09-14.