agent-framework-openai

What it is and what it does

agent-framework-openai is a bridge between Microsoft's Agent Framework and OpenAI's APIs, providing three main client classes: OpenAIChatClient (using the Responses API), OpenAIChatCompletionClient (using the Chat Completions API), and OpenAIEmbeddingClient. It abstracts authentication and model selection for both OpenAI and Azure OpenAI deployments, allowing you to configure clients via environment variables or direct parameters.

The package is designed for developers building agent-based applications who want to integrate OpenAI's language models without managing API details directly. It depends on agent-framework-core (the base framework) and openai (the official SDK), and supports multiple Python versions from 3.10 onward. The documentation recommends using OpenAIChatClient for new work unless you have a specific reason to use the Chat Completions API.

Use it for:

• Build agent applications that call OpenAI's latest models via the Responses API without writing boilerplate authentication code.
• Migrate existing Chat Completions-based integrations to the Agent Framework while maintaining API compatibility.
• Generate embeddings for documents or queries using OpenAI's embedding models within an agent workflow.
• Deploy agents to Azure OpenAI by configuring credentials and endpoints through environment variables or constructor parameters.
• Switch between OpenAI and Azure OpenAI deployments by toggling environment variables without code changes.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Provides OpenAI and Azure OpenAI integration for Microsoft Agent Framework, with chat clients using the Responses API or Chat Completions API, plus an embedding client.

Yes. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive license, and integrates cleanly into the Agent Framework ecosystem. It is suitable for production use if you are already using Microsoft Agent Framework and need OpenAI integration. No security vulnerabilities are recorded. Install it if you are building agents with OpenAI models; skip it if you do not use the Agent Framework or prefer direct OpenAI SDK calls.

Install

agent-framework-openai on PyPI

pip install agent-framework-openai

uv add agent-framework-openai

poetry add agent-framework-openai

Installing agent-framework-openai

Before you install

Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies. Active maintenance as of 2026-08-14 with recent release history since 2026-03-30. Supports current Python versions (3.10–3.14).

License in practice

Permissive license treatment allows use in most commercial and open-source projects without significant restrictions.

Quickstart

pip install agent-framework-openai

from agent_framework.openai import OpenAIChatClient

client = OpenAIChatClient(model="gpt-4.1")

Requires OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable or explicit credentials (e.g., Azure credential) to authenticate with OpenAI or Azure OpenAI.

Verify before relying

• Whether agent-framework-core and openai versions have known compatibility constraints beyond what the fact sheet shows.
• Performance characteristics or rate-limit handling behavior of the chat and embedding clients.
• Whether the Responses API is production-ready or still evolving in the upstream OpenAI SDK.

Package facts

Evidence: agent_framework_openai-1.13.0-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

More Application Frameworks packages

Further reading