Welcome to Microsoft Agent Framework!

Welcome to Microsoft's comprehensive multi-language framework for building, orchestrating, and deploying AI agents with support for both .NET and Python implementations. This framework provides everything from simple chat agents to complex multi-agent workflows with graph-based orchestration.

Watch the full Agent Framework introduction (30 min)

📋 Getting Started

📦 Installation

Python

pip install agent-framework --prerelease=allow
# This will install all sub-packages, see `python/packages` for individual packages.
# It may take a minute on first install on Windows.

.NET

dotnet add package Microsoft.Agents.AI

📚 Documentation

• Overview - High level overview of the framework
• Quick Start - Get started with a simple agent
• Tutorials - Step by step tutorials
• User Guide - In-depth user guide for building agents and workflows
• Migration from Semantic Kernel - Guide to migrate from Semantic Kernel
• Migration from AutoGen - Guide to migrate from AutoGen

✨ Highlights

• Graph-based Workflows: Connect agents and deterministic functions using data flows with streaming, checkpointing, human-in-the-loop, and time-travel capabilities
  • Python workflows | .NET workflows
• AF Labs: Experimental packages for cutting-edge features including benchmarking, reinforcement learning, and research initiatives
  • Labs directory
• DevUI: Interactive developer UI for agent development, testing, and debugging workflows
  • DevUI package

See the DevUI in action (1 min)

• Python and C#/.NET Support: Full framework support for both Python and C#/.NET implementations with consistent APIs
  • Python packages | .NET source
• Observability: Built-in OpenTelemetry integration for distributed tracing, monitoring, and debugging
  • Python observability | .NET telemetry
• Multiple Agent Provider Support: Support for various LLM providers with more being added continuously
  • Python examples | .NET examples
• Middleware: Flexible middleware system for request/response processing, exception handling, and custom pipelines
  • Python middleware | .NET middleware

💬 We want your feedback!

• For bugs, please file a GitHub issue.

Quickstart

Basic Agent - Python

Create a simple Azure Responses Agent that writes a haiku about the Microsoft Agent Framework

# pip install agent-framework --pre
# Use `az login` to authenticate with Azure CLI
import asyncio
from agent_framework.azure import AzureOpenAIResponsesClient
from azure.identity import AzureCliCredential


async def main():
    # Initialize a chat agent with Azure OpenAI Responses
    agent = AzureOpenAIResponsesClient(
        endpoint="https://your-custom-endpoint.openai.azure.com/",
        deployment_name="gpt-5",
        api_version="2025-03-01-preview",
        credential=AzureCliCredential(),
    ).create_agent(
        name="HaikuBot",
        instructions="You are an upbeat assistant that writes beautifully.",
    )

    print(await agent.run("Write a haiku about Microsoft Agent Framework."))


asyncio.run(main())

Basic Agent - .NET

// dotnet add package Microsoft.Agents.AI.OpenAI --prerelease
// dotnet add package Azure.AI.OpenAI
// dotnet add package Azure.Identity
// Use `az login` to authenticate with Azure CLI
using System;
using Azure.AI.OpenAI;
using Azure.Identity;
using Microsoft.Agents.AI;
using OpenAI;

var endpoint = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT")!;
var deploymentName = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME")!;

var agent = new AzureOpenAIClient(new Uri(endpoint), new AzureCliCredential())
    .GetOpenAIResponseClient(deploymentName)
    .CreateAIAgent(name: "HaikuBot", instructions: "You are an upbeat assistant that writes beautifully.");

Console.WriteLine(await agent.RunAsync("Write a haiku about Microsoft Agent Framework."));

More Examples & Samples

Python

• Getting Started with Agents: basic agent creation and tool usage
• Chat Client Examples: direct chat client usage patterns
• Getting Started with Workflows: basic workflow creation and integration with agents

.NET

• Getting Started with Agents: basic agent creation and tool usage
• Agent Provider Samples: samples showing different agent providers
• Workflow Samples: advanced multi-agent patterns and workflow orchestration

Contributor Resources

• Contributing Guide
• Python Development Guide
• Design Documents
• Architectural Decision Records