OpenAI Agents SDK (Python) development. Use when building AI agents, multi-agent handoffs, function tools, guardrails, sessions, streaming, or tracing with the `openai-agents` / `agents` Python package — including Azure OpenAI via LiteLLM. Triggers on imports from `agents`, uses of `Runner.run_sync`

OpenAI Agents SDK (Python) Use this skill when developing AI agents using OpenAI Agents SDK ( openai agents package). Quick Reference Installation Environment Variables Using Azure or another provider instead? See [agents.md](references/agents.md other providers litellm) — don't hardcode provider env vars here, they vary and go stale. Basic Agent Omitting model= uses the SDK's built in default (currently gpt 5.6 luna with low effort reasoning settings) — set it explicitly in production so an upstream default change cannot swap tiers silently. Key Patterns Pattern Purpose Basic Agent Simple Q&A with instructions Azure/LiteLLM Azure OpenAI integration AgentOutputSchema Strict JSON validation with Pydantic Function Tools External actions (@function tool) Streaming Real time UI (Runner.run streamed) Handoffs Specialized agents, delegation Agents as Tools Orchestration (agent.as tool) LLM as Judge Iterative improvement loop Guardrails Input/output validation Sessions Automatic conversation history Multi Agent Pipeline Multi step workflows Sandboxing SandboxAgent — filesystem, shell and skills inside a local/Docker sandbox (beta) Tracing Built in spans for runs, tools, handoffs and guardrails; pluggable processors The SDK has no separate Subagent class: express delegation with handoffs or agent.as tool() . For model written tool orchestration, use ProgrammaticToolCallingTool and verify its Responses only constraints. Preferred: Live Docs via MCP Model names and API details change frequently. When available, consult the OpenAI Developer Docs MCP server ( openaiDeveloperDocs ) before relying on the static references below. Setup (Codex CLI): Setup (Claude Code): Or config ( ~/.codex/config.toml , VS Code .vscode/mcp.json , Cursor ~/.cursor/mcp.json ): Key tools: mcp openaiDeveloperDocs search openai docs , fetch openai doc , list api endpoints , get openapi spec . Rules: Cite fetched docs. Never speculate on field names, defaults, or current model IDs — fetch first. Keep quotes under 125 chars. Fallback when MCP is unavailable: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/llms.txt (plain text index of all API docs; each entry has a .md twin at /api/docs/<slug .md ). Reference Documentation Offline/quick lookup snippets. Verify model names and API signatures against the MCP or docs when accuracy matters. [agents.md](references/agents.md) read when choosing or wiring a model: default model caveat, LiteLLM, native Azure client [tools.md](references/tools.md) read when adding function tools, hosted tools, or agents as tools [structured output.md](references/structured output.md) read when the output must be a Pydantic/dataclass shape ( AgentOutputSchema , strict vs non strict) [streaming.md](references/streaming.md) read when streaming to a UI (event types, SSE with FastAPI) [handoffs.md](references/handoffs.md) read when one agent delegates to another (handoff vs as tool , input filters) [guardrails.md](references/guardrails.md) read when validating input/output or gating tool calls [sessions.md](references/sessions.md) read when conversation history must persist across requests (SQLite, SQLAlchemy, Redis, OpenAI Conversations) [patterns.md](references/patterns.md) read for multi agent pipelines, LLM as judge loops, tracing controls, max turns , parallelization [sandbox.md](references/sandbox.md) read when the agent must edit files or run commands in an isolated workspace ( SandboxAgent , beta) Official Documentation Docs: https://openai.github.io/openai agents python/ Examples: https://github.com/openai/openai agents python/tree/main/examples Major update: https://openai.com/index/the next evolution of the agents sdk/ Docs MCP setup: https://developers.openai.com/learn/docs mcp Docs index (llms.txt): https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/llms.txt Current model IDs: https://platform.openai.com/docs/models

openai-agents-sdk