agent-framework/dotnet/samples/GettingStarted/FoundryAgents/FoundryAgents_Step21_BingCustomSearch

Using Bing Custom Search with AI Agents

This sample demonstrates how to use the Bing Custom Search tool with AI agents to perform customized web searches.

What this sample demonstrates

• Creating agents with Bing Custom Search capabilities
• Configuring custom search instances via connection ID and instance name
• Two agent creation approaches: MEAI abstraction (Option 1) and Native SDK (Option 2)
• Running search queries through the agent
• Managing agent lifecycle (creation and deletion)

Agent creation options

This sample provides two approaches for creating agents with Bing Custom Search:

• Option 1 - MEAI + AgentFramework: Uses the Agent Framework ResponseTool wrapped with AsAITool() to call the CreateAIAgentAsync overload that accepts tools:[], while still relying on the same underlying Azure AI Projects SDK types as Option 2.
• Option 2 - Native SDK: Uses PromptAgentDefinition with AgentVersionCreationOptions to create the agent directly with the Azure AI Projects SDK types.

Both options produce the same result. Toggle between them by commenting/uncommenting the corresponding CreateAgentWith*Async call in Program.cs.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following prerequisites:

• .NET 10 SDK or later
• Azure Foundry service endpoint and deployment configured
• Azure CLI installed and authenticated (for Azure credential authentication)
• A Bing Custom Search resource configured in Azure and connected to your Foundry project

Note: This demo uses Azure Default credentials for authentication. Make sure you're logged in with az login and have access to the Azure Foundry resource.

Set the following environment variables:

$env:AZURE_FOUNDRY_PROJECT_ENDPOINT="https://your-foundry-service.services.ai.azure.com/api/projects/your-foundry-project"
$env:AZURE_FOUNDRY_PROJECT_DEPLOYMENT_NAME="gpt-4o-mini"  # Optional, defaults to gpt-4o-mini
$env:BING_CUSTOM_SEARCH_PROJECT_CONNECTION_ID="/subscriptions/<sub-id>/resourceGroups/<rg>/providers/Microsoft.CognitiveServices/accounts/<account>/projects/<project>/connections/<connection-name>"
$env:BING_CUSTOM_SEARCH_INSTANCE_NAME="your-configuration-name"

Finding the connection ID and instance name

• Connection ID: The full ARM resource path including the /projects/<name>/connections/<connection-name> segment. Find the connection name in your Foundry project under Management center → Connected resources.
• Instance Name: The configuration name from the Bing Custom Search resource (Azure portal → your Bing Custom Search resource → Configurations). This is not the Azure resource name.

Run the sample

Navigate to the FoundryAgents sample directory and run:

cd dotnet/samples/GettingStarted/FoundryAgents
dotnet run --project .\FoundryAgents_Step21_BingCustomSearch

Expected behavior

The sample will:

1. Create an agent with Bing Custom Search tool capabilities
2. Run the agent with a search query about Microsoft AI
3. Display the search results returned by the agent
4. Clean up resources by deleting the agent