AutoGen is Microsoft's programming framework for agentic AI, designed for building multi-agent systems with flexible conversation patterns. It uses a layered and extensible architecture where each layer has clearly divided responsibilities, enabling developers to work at different levels of abstraction from high-level APIs to low-level components.
Layered Architecture
- Core API for message passing, event-driven agents, and runtime infrastructure
- AgentChat API for rapid prototyping of common multi-agent patterns like group chats and round-robin
- Extensions API for integrating LLM clients, code execution sandboxes, and third-party tools
- Clear separation between orchestration logic, agent behavior, and tool integration
Developer Tools
- AutoGen Studio — a no-code web GUI for visually composing and debugging agent workflows
- AutoGen Bench — a benchmarking suite for evaluating agent performance across tasks
- Built-in observability hooks for tracing message flows and agent decisions
- Weekly office hours, Discord community, and GitHub Discussions for support
Multi-Agent Patterns
- Group chat with configurable speaker selection and turn management
- Sequential and nested conversational patterns for hierarchical task decomposition
- Magentic-One pattern for web browsing, code execution, and file handling
- Custom agent roles with specialized capabilities and tool access
Integration & Extensibility
- Cross-language support with .NET and Python SDKs
- Local and distributed runtime options for development and production
- Compatible with OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and other major LLM providers
- Pluggable tool system for adding custom functions, APIs, and code executors