* Initial plan * Add load_dotenv() to 303 Python samples for environment variable loading Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Update SAMPLE_GUIDELINES.md to document load_dotenv() requirement Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Update samples README.md to document .env file usage Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Run ruff format on all changed sample files Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Clarify load_dotenv() usage in README - local dev vs production Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Remove deprecated getting_started folder as requested Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Document env_file_path parameter for per-client configuration Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Merge main branch to resolve conflicts Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Fix run_evaluation.py file that was empty in merge commit Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Remove dotnet changes from merge - out of scope for this PR Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Remove package and test changes from merge - only sample changes needed Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Remove test_func_utils.py - only sample changes needed Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Revert sample files not in original changeset - keep only load_dotenv additions Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Move load_dotenv() outside snippet tag in 06_host_your_agent.py Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Fix comment placement - move load_dotenv before code comments Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Fix load_dotenv() placement across all samples - after docstring, before code comments Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Merge latest main branch with load_dotenv changes Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Remove non-sample changes from merge - keep only load_dotenv additions Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Revert non-load_dotenv sample changes from merge Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Fix run_evaluation.py - use main's improved version (file already had load_dotenv) Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> * Manual update * Manual update 2 * Fix Role usage and load_dotenv placement per PR review feedback Co-authored-by: eavanvalkenburg <13749212+eavanvalkenburg@users.noreply.github.com> * Fix Role usage - use string literals not enum attributes Co-authored-by: eavanvalkenburg <13749212+eavanvalkenburg@users.noreply.github.com> * Fix SAMPLE_GUIDELINES.md example - load_dotenv before docstring per guidance Co-authored-by: eavanvalkenburg <13749212+eavanvalkenburg@users.noreply.github.com> * Move load_dotenv() before docstrings in all samples per SAMPLE_GUIDELINES ordering Co-authored-by: eavanvalkenburg <13749212+eavanvalkenburg@users.noreply.github.com> * Address PR review: rename files, fix placement, add session usage, remove note Co-authored-by: eavanvalkenburg <13749212+eavanvalkenburg@users.noreply.github.com> * Update Redis README to reference renamed file redis_history_provider.py Co-authored-by: eavanvalkenburg <13749212+eavanvalkenburg@users.noreply.github.com> --------- Co-authored-by: copilot-swe-agent[bot] <198982749+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: TaoChenOSU <12570346+TaoChenOSU@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Tao Chen <taochen@microsoft.com> Co-authored-by: eavanvalkenburg <13749212+eavanvalkenburg@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Eduard van Valkenburg <eavanvalkenburg@users.noreply.github.com>
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-conversationnormalizes input tolist[Message]to-conversation:<participant>converts agent responses into the shared conversationcompletepublishes 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.