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agent-framework/python/samples/03-workflows/orchestrations
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Copilot b05fc9e849 Python: Add load_dotenv() to samples for .env file support (#4043)
* Initial plan

* Add load_dotenv() to 303 Python samples for environment variable loading

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* Update SAMPLE_GUIDELINES.md to document load_dotenv() requirement

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b05fc9e849 ยท 2026-02-19 10:55:13 +00:00
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Orchestration Getting Started Samples

Installation

The orchestrations package is included when you install agent-framework (which pulls in all optional packages):

pip install agent-framework

Or install the orchestrations package directly:

pip install agent-framework-orchestrations

Orchestration builders are available via the agent_framework.orchestrations submodule:

from agent_framework.orchestrations import (
    SequentialBuilder,
    ConcurrentBuilder,
    HandoffBuilder,
    GroupChatBuilder,
    MagenticBuilder,
)

Samples Overview (by directory)

concurrent

Sample File Concepts
Concurrent Orchestration (Default Aggregator) concurrent_agents.py Fan-out to multiple agents; fan-in with default aggregator returning combined Messages
Concurrent Orchestration (Custom Aggregator) concurrent_custom_aggregator.py Override aggregator via callback; summarize results with an LLM
Concurrent Orchestration (Custom Agent Executors) concurrent_custom_agent_executors.py Child executors own Agents; concurrent fan-out/fan-in via ConcurrentBuilder
Concurrent Orchestration as Agent concurrent_workflow_as_agent.py Build a ConcurrentBuilder workflow and expose it as an agent via workflow.as_agent(...)
Tool Approval with ConcurrentBuilder concurrent_builder_tool_approval.py Require human approval for sensitive tools across concurrent participants
ConcurrentBuilder Request Info concurrent_request_info.py Review concurrent agent outputs before aggregation using .with_request_info()

sequential

Sample File Concepts
Sequential Orchestration (Agents) sequential_agents.py Chain agents sequentially with shared conversation context
Sequential Orchestration (Custom Executor) sequential_custom_executors.py Mix agents with a summarizer that appends a compact summary
Sequential Orchestration as Agent sequential_workflow_as_agent.py Build a SequentialBuilder workflow and expose it as an agent via workflow.as_agent(...)
Tool Approval with SequentialBuilder sequential_builder_tool_approval.py Require human approval for sensitive tools in SequentialBuilder workflows
SequentialBuilder Request Info sequential_request_info.py Request info for agent responses mid-orchestration using .with_request_info()

group-chat

Sample File Concepts
Group Chat with Agent Manager group_chat_agent_manager.py Agent-based manager using with_orchestrator(agent=) to select next speaker
Group Chat Philosophical Debate group_chat_philosophical_debate.py Agent manager moderates long-form, multi-round debate across diverse participants
Group Chat with Simple Selector group_chat_simple_selector.py Group chat with a simple function selector for next speaker
Group Chat Orchestration as Agent group_chat_workflow_as_agent.py Build a GroupChatBuilder workflow and wrap it as an agent for composition
Tool Approval with GroupChatBuilder group_chat_builder_tool_approval.py Require human approval for sensitive tools in group chat orchestration
GroupChatBuilder Request Info group_chat_request_info.py Steer group discussions with periodic guidance using .with_request_info()

handoff

Sample File Concepts
Handoff (Simple) handoff_simple.py Single-tier routing: triage agent routes to specialists, control returns to user after each specialist response
Handoff (Autonomous) handoff_autonomous.py Autonomous mode: specialists iterate independently until invoking a handoff tool using .with_autonomous_mode()
Handoff with Code Interpreter handoff_with_code_interpreter_file.py Retrieve file IDs from code interpreter output in handoff workflow
Handoff with Tool Approval + Checkpoint handoff_with_tool_approval_checkpoint_resume.py Capture tool-approval decisions in checkpoints and resume from persisted state
Handoff Orchestration as Agent handoff_workflow_as_agent.py Build a HandoffBuilder workflow and expose it as an agent, including HITL request/response flow

magentic

Sample File Concepts
Magentic Workflow magentic.py Orchestrate multiple agents with a Magentic manager and streaming
Magentic + Human Plan Review magentic_human_plan_review.py Human reviews or updates the plan before execution
Magentic + Checkpoint Resume magentic_checkpoint.py Resume Magentic orchestration from saved checkpoints
Magentic Orchestration as Agent magentic_workflow_as_agent.py Build a MagenticBuilder workflow and reuse it as an agent

Tips

Magentic checkpointing tip: Treat MagenticBuilder.participants keys as stable identifiers. When resuming from a checkpoint, the rebuilt workflow must reuse the same participant names; otherwise the checkpoint cannot be applied and the run will fail fast.

Handoff workflow tip: Handoff workflows maintain the full conversation history including any Message.additional_properties emitted by your agents. This ensures routing metadata remains intact across all agent transitions. For specialist-to-specialist handoffs, use .add_handoff(source, targets) to configure which agents can route to which others with a fluent, type-safe API.

Sequential orchestration note: Sequential orchestration uses a few small adapter nodes for plumbing:

  • input-conversation normalizes input to list[Message]
  • to-conversation:<participant> converts agent responses into the shared conversation
  • complete publishes the final output event (type='output')

These may appear in event streams (executor_invoked/executor_completed). They're analogous to concurrent's dispatcher and aggregator and can be ignored if you only care about agent activity.

Environment Variables

Orchestration samples that use AzureOpenAIResponsesClient expect:

  • AZURE_AI_PROJECT_ENDPOINT (Azure AI Foundry Agent Service (V2) project endpoint)
  • AZURE_AI_MODEL_DEPLOYMENT_NAME (model deployment name)

These values are passed directly into the client constructor via os.getenv() in sample code.