Building with OpenAI Agents SDK

Production-ready agent framework with minimal abstractions, released March 2025.

Persona

You are an OpenAI Agents SDK expert with production experience. You understand:

• Official SDK patterns from openai-agents-python
• LiteLLM integration for alternative model providers
• MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration patterns
• Multi-agent orchestration with handoffs
• Production guardrails and safety patterns

Quick Start

Installation

pip install openai-agents
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

For alternative models (free/low-cost):

pip install "openai-agents[litellm]"

Hello World

from agents import Agent, Runner

agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    instructions="You are a helpful assistant."
)

result = Runner.run_sync(agent, "Hello!")
print(result.final_output)

With LiteLLM (Free Models)

from agents import Agent, Runner
from agents.extensions.models.litellm_model import LitellmModel

# Use any of 100+ models via LiteLLM
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    instructions="You are a helpful assistant.",
    model=LitellmModel(
        model="anthropic/claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620",
        api_key="your-anthropic-key"
    )
)

result = await Runner.run(agent, "Hello!")

Supported prefixes: anthropic/, gemini/, bedrock/, azure/, mistral/

Core Primitives

Primitive	Purpose
Agent	LLM with instructions, tools, handoffs
Tool	Python function the agent can call
Handoff	Transfer control to another agent
Guardrail	Validate input/output before processing
Session	Automatic conversation history
Runner	Executes the agent loop

Creating Agents

from agents import Agent

agent = Agent(
    name="Customer Support",
    instructions="You help customers with their orders.",
    model="gpt-4o",  # or use LitellmModel
    tools=[get_order_status, create_refund],
    handoffs=[billing_agent, shipping_agent],
    output_type=OrderResponse,  # Structured output
)

Dynamic Instructions

def dynamic_instructions(context, agent):
    user = context.context.user_name
    return f"You are helping {user} with their account."

agent = Agent(
    name="Support",
    instructions=dynamic_instructions
)

Function Tools

Basic Tool

from agents import function_tool

@function_tool
def get_weather(city: str) -> str:
    """Get weather for a city.

    Args:
        city: The city name.
    """
    return f"Weather in {city}: Sunny, 72F"

Async Tool

@function_tool
async def fetch_order(order_id: str) -> dict:
    """Fetch order details from database."""
    order = await db.orders.get(order_id)
    return order.dict()

Tool with Pydantic

from pydantic import BaseModel

class Location(BaseModel):
    city: str
    country: str = "USA"

@function_tool
def search_restaurants(location: Location, cuisine: str) -> list:
    """Search restaurants by location and cuisine."""
    return [...]

Tool Error Handling

def custom_error(e: Exception) -> str:
    return f"Tool failed: {str(e)}. Try a different approach."

@function_tool(failure_error_function=custom_error)
def risky_operation(data: str) -> str:
    """Perform risky operation."""
    ...

Multi-Agent Handoffs

Basic Handoff

from agents import Agent, handoff

billing_agent = Agent(
    name="Billing Agent",
    instructions="Handle billing questions."
)

support_agent = Agent(
    name="Support Agent",
    instructions="Handle general support.",
    handoffs=[billing_agent]  # Can hand off to billing
)

Handoff with Callback

from pydantic import BaseModel
from agents import handoff, RunContextWrapper

class EscalationData(BaseModel):
    reason: str
    priority: str

async def on_escalate(ctx: RunContextWrapper, data: EscalationData):
    await log_escalation(data.reason, data.priority)

escalation_handoff = handoff(
    agent=escalation_agent,
    on_handoff=on_escalate,
    input_type=EscalationData,
    tool_name_override="escalate_to_human"
)

Two Multi-Agent Patterns

Pattern 1: Manager (Agents as Tools)

• Central orchestrator invokes sub-agents as tools
• Orchestrator retains control
• Best for: predictable workflows, classification

# Sub-agent as tool
research_agent = Agent(name="Researcher", ...)
writer_agent = Agent(name="Writer", ...)

manager = Agent(
    name="Manager",
    tools=[
        research_agent.as_tool(
            tool_name="do_research",
            tool_description="Research a topic"
        ),
        writer_agent.as_tool(
            tool_name="write_content",
            tool_description="Write content"
        )
    ]
)

Pattern 2: Handoffs (Peer Agents)

• Specialized agents hand off to each other
• Receiving agent takes full control
• Best for: customer support flows, expert routing

triage_agent = Agent(
    name="Triage",
    instructions="Route to appropriate specialist.",
    handoffs=[billing_agent, technical_agent, sales_agent]
)

Guardrails

Input Guardrail

from agents import Agent, input_guardrail, GuardrailFunctionOutput

@input_guardrail
async def check_no_pii(ctx, agent, input: str) -> GuardrailFunctionOutput:
    has_pii = detect_pii(input)
    return GuardrailFunctionOutput(
        output_info={"has_pii": has_pii},
        tripwire_triggered=has_pii
    )

agent = Agent(
    name="Support",
    input_guardrails=[check_no_pii]
)

Output Guardrail

from agents import output_guardrail

@output_guardrail
async def check_no_secrets(ctx, agent, output: str) -> GuardrailFunctionOutput:
    has_secrets = scan_for_secrets(output)
    return GuardrailFunctionOutput(
        output_info={"scanned": True},
        tripwire_triggered=has_secrets
    )

agent = Agent(
    name="CodeHelper",
    output_guardrails=[check_no_secrets]
)

Handle Guardrail Failures

from agents import InputGuardrailTripwireTriggered

try:
    result = await Runner.run(agent, user_input)
except InputGuardrailTripwireTriggered as e:
    print(f"Blocked: {e.guardrail_result.output_info}")

MCP Integration

Stdio Server (Local Process)

from agents import Agent
from agents.mcp import MCPServerStdio

async with MCPServerStdio(
    name="Filesystem",
    params={
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/path"]
    }
) as mcp_server:
    agent = Agent(
        name="FileHelper",
        mcp_servers=[mcp_server]
    )
    result = await Runner.run(agent, "List files in /path")

HTTP Server (Remote)

from agents.mcp import MCPServerStreamableHttp

async with MCPServerStreamableHttp(
    name="Remote Tools",
    params={
        "url": "https://mcp.example.com/mcp",
        "headers": {"Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"}
    }
) as server:
    agent = Agent(mcp_servers=[server])

Tool Filtering

from agents.mcp import MCPServerStdio, create_static_tool_filter

server = MCPServerStdio(
    params={...},
    tool_filter=create_static_tool_filter(
        allowed_tool_names=["read_file", "list_directory"]
    )
)

Sessions (Conversation Memory)

SQLite (Simple)

from agents import SQLiteSession

# In-memory (lost on restart)
session = SQLiteSession("user_123")

# File-based (persistent)
session = SQLiteSession("user_123", "conversations.db")

result = await Runner.run(agent, "Hello", session=session)
# Next run automatically includes history
result = await Runner.run(agent, "What did I say?", session=session)

SQLAlchemy (Production)

from agents import SQLAlchemySession

session = SQLAlchemySession.from_url(
    "user_123",
    url="postgresql+asyncpg://user:pass@localhost/db",
    create_tables=True
)

Streaming

result = await Runner.run_streamed(agent, "Tell me a story")

async for event in result.stream_events():
    if event.type == "raw_response_event":
        print(event.data, end="", flush=True)

Structured Outputs

from pydantic import BaseModel

class OrderAnalysis(BaseModel):
    sentiment: str
    urgency: int
    action_required: bool

agent = Agent(
    name="Analyzer",
    instructions="Analyze customer orders.",
    output_type=OrderAnalysis
)

result = await Runner.run(agent, "My order is late!")
analysis: OrderAnalysis = result.final_output
print(f"Urgency: {analysis.urgency}")

Tracing

Tracing is enabled by default. View in OpenAI Dashboard.

Custom Spans

from agents import trace

with trace("Customer Support Flow"):
    result1 = await Runner.run(triage, query)
    result2 = await Runner.run(specialist, query)

Disable Tracing (for non-OpenAI models)

from agents import set_tracing_disabled
set_tracing_disabled(True)

Decision Logic

Situation	Pattern
Single agent, simple task	Basic Agent
Need conversation history	Add Session
Multiple specialized tasks	Handoffs between agents
Predictable routing	Manager with agents-as-tools
User-facing validation	Input guardrails
Output safety checks	Output guardrails
External tool ecosystem	MCP integration
Non-OpenAI models	LiteLLM

TaskManager Example

Complete example building a task management agent:

from agents import Agent, Runner, function_tool
from pydantic import BaseModel
from typing import Optional

# Task model
class Task(BaseModel):
    id: str
    title: str
    completed: bool = False

# In-memory storage
tasks: dict[str, Task] = {}

@function_tool
def add_task(title: str) -> str:
    """Add a new task."""
    task_id = f"task_{len(tasks) + 1}"
    tasks[task_id] = Task(id=task_id, title=title)
    return f"Created task {task_id}: {title}"

@function_tool
def list_tasks() -> str:
    """List all tasks."""
    if not tasks:
        return "No tasks yet."
    return "\n".join(
        f"[{'x' if t.completed else ' '}] {t.id}: {t.title}"
        for t in tasks.values()
    )

@function_tool
def complete_task(task_id: str) -> str:
    """Mark a task as completed."""
    if task_id not in tasks:
        return f"Task {task_id} not found."
    tasks[task_id].completed = True
    return f"Completed: {tasks[task_id].title}"

# Create agent
task_agent = Agent(
    name="TaskManager",
    instructions="""You help users manage their tasks.
    Use add_task to create tasks, list_tasks to show them,
    and complete_task to mark them done.""",
    tools=[add_task, list_tasks, complete_task]
)

# Run
async def main():
    result = await Runner.run(
        task_agent,
        "Add a task to buy groceries, then list all tasks"
    )
    print(result.final_output)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    import asyncio
    asyncio.run(main())

Safety

NEVER

• Expose API keys in code or logs
• Skip error handling for API calls
• Trust user input without validation
• Ignore rate limits

ALWAYS

• Use environment variables for secrets
• Wrap API calls in try/except
• Implement input guardrails for user-facing agents
• Use output guardrails for sensitive content
• Test with tracing enabled

Common Errors

Error	Cause	Fix
MaxTurnsExceeded	Agent loops too long	Increase max_turns in RunConfig
ModelBehaviorError	Invalid LLM output	Check model compatibility
InputGuardrailTripwireTriggered	Input blocked	Handle exception, provide feedback

References

• Official Docs
• GitHub Repo
• LiteLLM Providers
• Customer Service Demo