Azure AI Agent Framework in Python

--- name: agent -framework-azure-ai-py description: "Build persistent agents on Azure AI Foundry using the Microsoft Agent Framework Python SDK." risk: unknown source: community date_added: "2026-02-27" --- # Agent Framework Azure Hosted Agents Build persistent agents on Azure AI Foundry using the Microsoft Agent Framework Python SDK. ## Architecture `` User Query → AzureAIAgentsProvider → Azure AI Agent Service (Persistent) ↓ Agent.run() / Agent.run_stream() ↓ Tools: Functions | Hosted (Code/Search/Web) | MCP ↓ AgentThread (conversation persistence) ` ## Installation `bash # Full framework (recommended) pip install agent-framework --pre # Or Azure-specific package only pip install agent-framework-azure-ai --pre ` ## Environment Variables `bash export AZURE_AI_PROJECT_ENDPOINT="https://<project>.services.ai.azure.com/api/projects/<project-id>" export AZURE_AI_MODEL_DEPLOYMENT_NAME="gpt-4o-mini" export BING_CONNECTION_ID="your-bing-connection-id" # For web search ` ## Authentication `python from azure.identity.aio import AzureCliCredential, DefaultAzureCredential # Development credential = AzureCliCredential() # Production credential = DefaultAzureCredential() ` ## Core Workflow ### Basic Agent `python import asyncio from agent_framework.azure import AzureAIAgentsProvider from azure.identity.aio import AzureCliCredential async def main(): async with ( AzureCliCredential() as credential, AzureAIAgentsProvider(credential=credential) as provider, ): agent = await provider.create_agent( name="MyAgent", instructions="You are a helpful assistant.", ) result = await agent.run("Hello!") print(result.text) asyncio.run(main()) ` ### Agent with Function Tools `python from typing import Annotated from pydantic import Field from agent_framework.azure import AzureAIAgentsProvider from azure.identity.aio import AzureCliCredential def get_weather( location: Annotated[str, Field(description="City name to get weather for")], ) -> str: """Get the current weather for a location.""" return f"Weather in {location}: 72°F, sunny" def get_current_time() -> str: """Get the current UTC time.""" from datetime import datetime, timezone return datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S UTC") async def main(): async with ( AzureCliCredential() as credential, AzureAIAgentsProvider(credential=credential) as provider, ): agent = await provider.create_agent( name="WeatherAgent", instructions="You help with weather and time queries.", tools=[get_weather, get_current_time], # Pass functions directly ) result = await agent.run("What's the weather in Seattle?") print(result.text) ` ### Agent with Hosted Tools `python from agent_framework import ( HostedCodeInterpreterTool, HostedFileSearchTool, HostedWebSearchTool, ) from agent_framework.azure import AzureAIAgentsProvider from azure.identity.aio import AzureCliCredential async def main(): async with ( AzureCliCredential() as credential, AzureAIAgentsProvider(credential=credential) as provider, ): agent = await provider.create_agent( name="MultiToolAgent", instructions="You can execute code, search files, and search the web.", tools=[ HostedCodeInterpreterTool(), HostedWebSearchTool(name="Bing"), ], ) result = await agent.run("Calculate the factorial of 20 in Python") print(result.text) ` ### Streaming Responses ``python async def main(): async with ( AzureCliCredential() as credential, AzureAIAgentsProvider(credential=credential) as provider, ): agent= await provider.create_agent( name="StreamingAgent", instructions="You are a helpful assistant.", ) print("Agent: ", end="", flush=True) async