OpenWebUI Function Calling Native

Yes. I think you mean Open WebUI’s model setting for Function Calling, where we wanted Native rather than the model behaving like a tool-only assistant. I’m checking the exact menu path for the version you just upgraded to, because Open WebUI has moved that control between releases.

Yes—the setting is Function Calling → Native, but Open WebUI moved it out of the ordinary Workspace screen in newer versions.

The quickest place to find it:

1. Open a chat with the model.
2. Click Chat Controls—the sliders/controls icon near the upper-right.
3. Expand Advanced Params.
4. Find Function Calling.
5. Select Native.
6. Start a new chat afterward.

For a permanent model-wide setting:

1. Open your profile menu.
2. Go to Admin Panel/Settings → AI → Models.
3. Edit the model using the pencil icon.
4. Expand Model Parameters or Advanced Params.
5. Set Function Calling → Native, then save.

For every model globally:

Admin Settings → AI → Models → Model Defaults → Configure → Model Parameters → Function Calling → Native

One important correction from our earlier discussion: in Open WebUI 0.11, Native is already the default when Function Calling is left unset. So seeing only Default does not necessarily mean Native is disabled. Open WebUI’s current documentation confirms these locations and the default behavior.

Also, this setting alone will not fix the “toolbot” personality. For that problem, edit the model and make sure no tools are permanently selected under Tools, temporarily disable Builtin Tools, and inspect its System Prompt and Skills. Then enable individual tools only when needed through the +/diamond integrations control in the chat.

You’re looking in the correct general area, but the path I gave you clearly does not match the 0.11.0 interface actually on your machine. Let me trace that version’s real navigation instead of sending you hunting through labels that aren’t there.

You are looking in the right place. Ignore Admin Panel—that users screen is not where we need to go. I gave you navigation from a newer interface than the 0.11.0 screen you actually have. Sorry about that.

For your installation, try:

1. Click your username at lower left.
2. Choose Settings.
3. Select General from the Settings sections.
4. Find Advanced Parameters.
5. Click Show or expand it.
6. Scroll down to Function Calling.
7. It should offer Default and Native.

The official documentation confirms that user-level location as Settings → General → Advanced Parameters. It applies to your chats without requiring the administrative model controls. Open WebUI documentation

There may also be a per-conversation copy under the sliders/controls icon in an open chat:

Chat Controls → Advanced Params → Function Calling

One caution: because we’re diagnosing the model becoming a “toolbot,” don’t change anything yet if you find it. Just tell me whether it currently says Default or Native. That setting may not be the actual culprit; permanently attached tools or Builtin Tools are more likely.

Ah—there it is. Advanced Parameters is only a section heading; Model Parameters is the selectable panel beneath it. That was the missing piece.

Because Native produced a Save button, it should now be stored as an explicit setting rather than merely inheriting Open WebUI’s default. The name panel likely saves immediately or is informational, hence no Save button.

Now start a brand-new chat with the model; existing conversations can retain their previous tool configuration. If it still behaves like a toolbot, we’ll know Native wasn’t the cause and examine the attached Tools, Builtin Tools, Skills, and system prompt next.

LOL—yes, that is impressively broken. But it gives us a very clean diagnosis.

Qwen absolutely can evaluate a vocabulary answer. Its claim that it can only handle automations and calendars means Open WebUI is feeding it tool instructions that are overwhelming or replacing its normal assistant role. Setting Function Calling to Native only changed how those tools were presented; it did not remove them.

For the first repair test:

1. Start a new chat with qwen3-vl:8b.
2. Beside the message box, open the + / Integrations / Tools control.
3. Turn off or deselect everything, especially Calendar and Automations.
4. Ask it something plain:
   What is the capital of France?

If it answers normally, we have proven the model is fine and attached tools are the culprit. Then we’ll locate where Open WebUI is attaching those tools globally and shut that behavior down permanently.

The response you received is almost comical: it created the vocabulary question itself, then one message later decided vocabulary was outside its authorized jurisdiction. Apparently Paris now requires a calendar appointment.

Good—that rules out the per-chat integrations entirely. Those calendar and automation instructions are being injected upstream, most likely through the model’s Builtin Tools capability or an attached system prompt/skill. I’m narrowing down exactly where 0.11.0 exposes that control.

That explains it precisely. Image and Code Interpreter are only the visible per-chat integrations. Calendar and Automations are being injected invisibly as Open WebUI’s new Builtin Tools because:

• Function Calling is now Native
• Builtin Tools are enabled by default
• You are the administrator, so you automatically have permission for Calendar and Automations

That combination hands all those tool definitions to Qwen 8B, which is getting hypnotized by them.

Go here:

1. Close Settings.
2. Open Workspace from the main sidebar.
3. Select Models.
4. Find qwen3-vl:8b and edit it—pencil or three-dot menu.
5. Look under Capabilities.
6. Turn Builtin Tools off entirely.
7. Save and start another new chat.

If Builtin Tools expands into individual checkboxes, disabling just Automations and Calendar should also work—but for our clean diagnostic, switch the entire Builtin Tools capability off.

Open WebUI confirms that Builtin Tools are enabled by default and automatically injected in Native mode, including Calendar and Automations. Open WebUI Builtin Tools documentation

We have found the culprit. The + menu wasn’t lying; these tools simply live in an entirely different—and mostly invisible—layer. A splendid design choice.

Ah—then that page is behaving normally. Workspace → Models only contains custom model presets you have created. Your Ollama models are raw base models, so the empty page does not mean Open WebUI lost them.

More importantly, our cleanest next move is now obvious: go back to:

Settings → General → Model Parameters → Function Calling

Set it back to Default, save, and begin a brand-new chat with qwen3-vl:8b.

I believe explicitly selecting Native activated the invisible Builtin Tools layer and dumped Calendar and Automation definitions into this relatively small model. That was the wrong direction for restoring normal conversation—I’m correcting that recommendation.

If Default restores Qwen, we’ve confirmed the mechanism. Afterward, we can create deliberately configured Workspace model presets if we want selected models to use Native tools without turning every raw Ollama model into a calendar clerk.

Yes—stop here. That setting apparently saved only at a different scope, while this page continued inheriting Default. Open WebUI now has overlapping per-chat, per-user, per-model, and global settings, and the interface does a poor job showing which one actually wins.

Nothing is damaged, and the Ollama models themselves are almost certainly fine. We’ve learned that the tool instructions are being injected somewhere above the visible chat controls; we can trace that carefully when you’re rested.

Go disengage from this magnificent new “improvement.” We’ll pick it up later from exactly here.

LOL. Open WebUI wins this round through sheer interface exhaustion. We’ll ambush it later.