diff --git a/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.DurableTask.IntegrationTests/TestHelper.cs b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.DurableTask.IntegrationTests/TestHelper.cs
index 53c00c91ed..75af1e82ac 100644
--- a/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.DurableTask.IntegrationTests/TestHelper.cs
+++ b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.DurableTask.IntegrationTests/TestHelper.cs
@@ -116,10 +116,14 @@ internal sealed class TestHelper : IDisposable
 
     internal static ChatClient GetAzureOpenAIChatClient(IConfiguration configuration)
     {
-        string azureOpenAiEndpoint = configuration["AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"]
-            ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("The required AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT env variable is not set.");
-        string azureOpenAiDeploymentName = configuration["AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT"]
-            ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("The required AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT env variable is not set.");
+        string azureOpenAiEndpoint =
+            configuration["AZUREAI:ENDPOINT"] ?? // Defined in dotnet-build-and-test.yml (as AZUREAI__ENDPOINT)
+            configuration["AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"] ?? // Legacy
+            throw new InvalidOperationException("The required AZUREAI__ENDPOINT or AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT env variable is not set.");
+        string azureOpenAiDeploymentName =
+            configuration["AZUREAI:DEPLOYMENTNAME"] ?? // Defined in dotnet-build-and-test.yml (as AZUREAI__DEPLOYMENTNAME)
+            configuration["AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT"] ?? // Legacy
+            throw new InvalidOperationException("The required AZUREAI__DEPLOYMENTNAME or AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT env variable is not set.");
 
         // Check if AZURE_OPENAI_KEY is provided for token-based authentication
         string? azureOpenAiKey = configuration["AZURE_OPENAI_KEY"];
diff --git a/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.Hosting.AzureFunctions.IntegrationTests/SamplesValidation.cs b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.Hosting.AzureFunctions.IntegrationTests/SamplesValidation.cs
index 9572b097ae..cf5c6ea720 100644
--- a/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.Hosting.AzureFunctions.IntegrationTests/SamplesValidation.cs
+++ b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.Hosting.AzureFunctions.IntegrationTests/SamplesValidation.cs
@@ -635,10 +635,14 @@ public sealed class SamplesValidation(ITestOutputHelper outputHelper) : IAsyncLi
             RedirectStandardError = true,
         };
 
-        string openAiEndpoint = s_configuration["AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"]
-            ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT is not set in the environment variables or user secrets");
-        string openAiDeployment = s_configuration["AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT"]
-            ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT is not set in the environment variables or user secrets");
+        string openAiEndpoint =
+            s_configuration["AZUREAI:ENDPOINT"] ?? // Defined in dotnet-build-and-test.yml (as AZUREAI__ENDPOINT)
+            s_configuration["AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"] ?? // Legacy
+            throw new InvalidOperationException("The required AZUREAI__ENDPOINT or AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT env variable is not set.");
+        string openAiDeployment =
+            s_configuration["AZUREAI:DEPLOYMENTNAME"] ?? // Defined in dotnet-build-and-test.yml (as AZUREAI__DEPLOYMENTNAME)
+            s_configuration["AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT"] ?? // Legacy
+            throw new InvalidOperationException("The required AZUREAI__DEPLOYMENTNAME or AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT env variable is not set.");
 
         // Set required environment variables for the function app (see local.settings.json for required settings)
         startInfo.EnvironmentVariables["AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"] = openAiEndpoint;
diff --git a/schemas/durable-agent-entity-state.json b/schemas/durable-agent-entity-state.json
index 7ec195f89f..bf6fff9bfa 100644
--- a/schemas/durable-agent-entity-state.json
+++ b/schemas/durable-agent-entity-state.json
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@
         },
         "createdAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "description": "When this message was created (RFC 3339)." }
       },
-      "required": ["role", "createdAt"]
+      "required": ["role"]
     },
     "chatMessages": {
       "type": "array",
@@ -157,8 +157,7 @@
         "createdAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "description": "When this exchange was created (RFC 3339)." },
         "correlationId": { "type": "string", "description": "An optional correlation ID to group related exchanges." },
         "messages": { "$ref": "#/$defs/chatMessages" }
-      },
-      "required": ["createdAt"]
+      }
     },
     "agentRequest": {
       "allOf": [