Enhancing Tool Learning in Large Language Models with Hierarchical Error Checklists

Abstract: LLMs have significantly advanced natural language processing, particularly through the integration of external tools and APIs. However, their effectiveness is frequently hampered by parameter mis-filling during tool calling. In this paper, we propose the Hierarchical Tool Error Checklist (HiTEC) framework to systematically diagnose and mitigate tool-calling errors without relying on extensive real-world interactions. HiTEC introduces a two-tiered approach: a global error checklist that identifies common, cross-tool issues, and a local error checklist that targets tool-specific and contextual failures. Building on this structure, we propose two deployments: HiTEC-In Context Learning (HiTEC-ICL) and HiTEC-Kahneman-Tversky Optimization (HiTEC-KTO). HiTEC-ICL embeds the global checklist in the initial prompts and leverages a two-round conversational interaction to dynamically refine parameter handling, while HiTEC-KTO generates high-quality negative examples to drive fine-tuning via preference-based optimization. Extensive experiments across five public datasets demonstrate that our framework significantly improves parameter-filling accuracy and tool-calling success rates compared to baseline methods.