Microsoft Agent Framework
The latest news from the Microsoft Agent Framework team for developers
Latest posts
Handling Long-Running Operations with Background Responses
Handling Long-Running Operations with Background Responses AI agents powered by reasoning models can take minutes to work through complex problems — deep research, multi-step analysis, lengthy content generation. In a traditional request-response pattern, that means your client sits idle waiting for a connection that may time out, or worse, fails silently and loses all progress. Background responses in Microsoft Agent Framework let you offload these long-running operations so your application stays responsive and resilient, regardless of how long the agent takes to think. With background responses, you start ...
What’s New in Agent Skills: Code Skills, Script Execution, and Approval for Python
Code-Defined Skills, Script Execution, and Approval for Agent Skills in Python When we introduced Agent Skills for Microsoft Agent Framework, you could package domain expertise as file-based skill directories and have agents discover and load them on demand. Now, the Python SDK takes skills further — you can define skills entirely in code, let agents execute scripts bundled with skills, and gate script execution behind human approval. These additions give you more flexibility in how you author skills, more power in what agents can do with them, and more control over when agents are allowed to act. Code-Defined ...
Agent Harness in Agent Framework
Agent harness is the layer where model reasoning connects to real execution: shell and filesystem access, approval flows, and context management across long-running sessions. With Agent Framework, these patterns can now be built consistently in both Python and .NET. In this post, we’ll look at three practical building blocks for production agents: Shell and Filesystem Harness Many agent experiences need to do more than generate text. They need to inspect files, run commands, and work with the surrounding environment in a controlled way. Agent Framework makes it possible to model those capabil...
Give Your Agents Domain Expertise with Agent Skills in Microsoft Agent Framework
You can now equip your Microsoft Agent Framework agents with portable, reusable skill packages that provide domain expertise on demand — without changing a single line of your agent's core instructions. With built-in skills providers for both .NET and Python, your agents can discover and load Agent Skills at runtime, pulling in only the context they need, when they need it. What Are Agent Skills? Agent Skills is a simple, open format for giving agents new capabilities and expertise. At the core of every skill is a file — a markdown document that describes what the skill does and provides step-by-step instr...
Migrate your Semantic Kernel and AutoGen projects to Microsoft Agent Framework Release Candidate
We're thrilled to announce that Microsoft Agent Framework has reached Release Candidate status for both .NET and Python. Release Candidate is an important milestone on the road to General Availability — it means the API surface is stable, and all features that we intend to release with version 1.0 are complete. Now is the time to move your Semantic Kernel project to Microsoft Agent Framework and give us your feedback before final release. Whether you're building a single helpful assistant or orchestrating a team of specialized agents, Agent Framework gives you a consistent, multi-language foundation to do it. Wh...
From Local Models to Agent Workflows: Building a Deep Research Solution with Microsoft Agent Framework on Microsoft Foundry Local
Introduction: A New Paradigm for AI Application Development In enterprise AI application development, we often face this dilemma: while cloud-based large language models are powerful, issues such as data privacy, network latency, and cost control make many scenarios difficult to implement. Traditional local small models, although lightweight, lack complete development, evaluation, and orchestration frameworks. The combination of Microsoft Foundry Local and Agent Framework (MAF) provides an elegant solution to this dilemma. This article will guide you from zero to one in building a complete Deep Research agent w...
Build AI Agents with Claude Agent SDK and Microsoft Agent Framework
Microsoft Agent Framework now integrates with the Claude Agent SDK, enabling you to build AI agents powered by Claude's full agentic capabilities. This integration brings together the Agent Framework's consistent agent abstraction with Claude's powerful features, including file editing, code execution, function calling, streaming responses, multi-turn conversations, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) server integration — available in Python. Why Use Agent Framework with Claude Agent SDK? You can use the Claude Agent SDK on its own to build agents. So why use it through Agent Framework? Here are the key reasons: ...
Build AI Agents with GitHub Copilot SDK and Microsoft Agent Framework
Microsoft Agent Framework now integrates with the GitHub Copilot SDK, enabling you to build AI agents powered by GitHub Copilot. This integration brings together the Agent Framework's consistent agent abstraction with GitHub Copilot's capabilities, including function calling, streaming responses, multi-turn conversations, shell command execution, file operations, URL fetching, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) server integration — all available in both .NET and Python. Why Use Agent Framework with GitHub Copilot SDK? You can use the GitHub Copilot SDK on its own to build agents. So why use it through Agent Frame...
The “Golden Triangle” of Agentic Development with Microsoft Agent Framework: AG-UI, DevUI & OpenTelemetry Deep Dive
In the explosive era of Agentic AI, we're not just seeking more powerful models—we're searching for a development experience that lets developers actually get some sleep. When building Agents locally, we've traditionally faced three major challenges: Today, I'll walk you through a classic case from Microsoft Agent Framework Samples—GHModel.AI—to reveal the "Golden Triangle" development stack that perfectly solves these pain points: DevUI, AG-UI, and OpenTelemetry. Let's explore how this powerful combination empowers the entire local development lifecycle. Phase 1: Creation — Standing on t...