This directory contains samples demonstrating the capabilities of Microsoft Agent Framework for Python.

Start with 01-get-started/ and work through the numbered files:

1. 01_hello_agent.py — Create and run your first agent
2. 02_add_tools.py — Add function tools with @tool
3. 03_multi_turn.py — Multi-turn conversations with AgentSession
4. 04_memory.py — Agent memory with ContextProvider
5. 05_first_workflow.py — Build a workflow with executors and edges
6. 06_host_your_agent.py — Host your agent via Azure Functions

pip install agent-framework --pre

Samples call load_dotenv() to automatically load environment variables from a .env file in the python/ directory. This is a convenience for local development and testing.

For local development, set up your environment using any of these methods:

Option 1: Using a .env file (recommended for local development):

1. Copy .env.example to .env in the python/ directory:

   cp .env.example .env

2. Edit .env and set your values (API keys, endpoints, etc.)

Option 2: Export environment variables directly:

export AZURE_AI_PROJECT_ENDPOINT="your-foundry-project-endpoint"
export AZURE_OPENAI_RESPONSES_DEPLOYMENT_NAME="gpt-4o"

Option 3: Using env_file_path parameter (for per-client configuration):

All client classes (e.g., OpenAIChatClient, AzureOpenAIResponsesClient) support an env_file_path parameter to load environment variables from a specific file:

from agent_framework.openai import OpenAIChatClient

# Load from a custom .env file
client = OpenAIChatClient(env_file_path="path/to/custom.env")

This allows different clients to use different configuration files if needed.

For the getting-started samples, you'll need at minimum:

AZURE_AI_PROJECT_ENDPOINT="your-foundry-project-endpoint"
AZURE_OPENAI_RESPONSES_DEPLOYMENT_NAME="gpt-4o"

Note for production: In production environments, set environment variables through your deployment platform (e.g., Azure App Settings, Kubernetes ConfigMaps/Secrets) rather than using .env files. The load_dotenv() call in samples will have no effect when a .env file is not present, allowing environment variables to be loaded from the system.

For Azure authentication, run az login before running samples.

Some sample files include XML-style snippet tags (for example <snippet_name> and </snippet_name>). These are used by our documentation tooling and can be ignored or removed when you use the samples outside this repository.

• Agent Framework Documentation
• AGENTS.md — Structure documentation for maintainers
• SAMPLE_GUIDELINES.md — Coding conventions for samples