OpenAI Agents SDK for Python
Use this skill for openai-agents / agents, not the TypeScript SDK.
Resolve the installed package and its provider integrations before implementing
an API. Current SDK documentation
and a matching source tag take precedence over static examples.
Choose a model from the current OpenAI model catalog and model-selection guide. Check the selected model's tools, reasoning settings and provider availability; an SDK fallback or a demo ID is not a permanent recommendation.
The wheel ships no docs. Offline, read the installed source: the version from
importlib.metadata.version("openai-agents"), public exports in
agents/__init__.py, docstrings and types in the package directory
(python -c "import agents; print(agents.__file__)"). The documentation
source is docs/ at repository tag v<version>.
Core shape
Runner.run_sync raises inside a running event loop (async handlers and
notebooks); use await Runner.run(...). Runner.run_streamed(...) itself
is not awaited; consume its stream_events() async iterator to completion.
Checked with openai-agents 0.22.3; confirm names in the installed source for another version:
import asyncio
from pydantic import BaseModel
from agents import Agent, ModelSettings, Runner, SQLiteSession, function_tool
from openai.types.shared import Reasoning
class OrderAnswer(BaseModel):
order_id: str
status: str
reply: str
@function_tool
def get_order_status(order_id: str) -> str:
"""Return an order's shipping status.
Args:
order_id: Order ID given by the customer.
"""
return f"{order_id}: shipped" # authorize and read the app's data here
support = Agent(
name="Support",
instructions="Answer order questions. Use get_order_status for order data.",
model="gpt-6.1-sol", # example API ID; use the project's configured model
model_settings=ModelSettings(reasoning=Reasoning(effort="medium")),
tools=[get_order_status],
output_type=OrderAnswer,
)
# A manager keeps control with tools=[order_tool]; handoffs=[support] transfers it.
order_tool = support.as_tool("order_support", "Answer an order question.")
async def main() -> None:
session = SQLiteSession("user-123", "conversations.db") # ID owned by the signed-in user
result = await Runner.run(support, "Where is order A-17?", session=session)
answer: OrderAnswer = result.final_output # validated OrderAnswer instance
print(answer.status, answer.reply)
asyncio.run(main())
The example uses Responses (the SDK's default API). GPT-6.1 Sol
requires Responses for tool calling and does not support none or minimal
reasoning effort. Model availability/live responses were not tested by the
offline SDK check.
Integration decisions
- Keep the project's provider, model and storage unless the task requires a change. Verify model IDs/capabilities in provider configuration or live docs. SDK model/settings defaults may change; configure product-critical choices explicitly.
- Use native provider/client support when it fits. LiteLLM/Any-LLM are optional integrations with their own compatibility and settings behavior.
- Choose handoffs when a specialist takes over, or
agent.as_tool()when the manager should continue after delegated work. A fixed pipeline does not need extra agents merely to implement ordinary control flow. - Authorize side effects in tools. Agent instructions, output schemas and guardrails do not replace authorization or idempotency.
- Decide history ownership, approval/resume and tracing data policy before exposing a multi-turn agent to untrusted clients.
Read for the feature
- Agents/providers: model defaults, Azure and adapters.
- Tools: local/hosted execution, delegation and approval/resume.
- Structured output: schema and capability constraints.
- Streaming: event types, failures and guardrails.
- Handoffs: control transfer and filtering.
- Guardrails: execution timing and coverage.
- Sessions: history ownership and persistence.
- Orchestration/tracing: run limits and observability.
- Sandbox: beta workspace execution and resume state.
Use the OpenAI Developer Docs MCP (https://developers.openai.com/mcp) if
available for current OpenAI API/provider behavior, or its plain-text index
https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/llms.txt; use the Python SDK's own
reference for SDK signatures. Read selected
official examples
from a compatible tag, not a copied catalog of demos.
Verification
Verify changed tools, multi-turn history, approval/denial and failure recovery.
Use installed agents.testing (verified in 0.22.3) for offline orchestration:
ScriptedModel, ModelStep, assistant_message, function_call and
model.assert_complete(), with RunConfig(tracing_disabled=True); assigning
agent.model = ScriptedModel([...]) runs the core shape offline. Run the
project's checks; report missing provider access separately from verified SDK
behavior.