Foundry Agent Platform Skill

Deploy, orchestrate, and manage AI agents on Microsoft Foundry — the unified Azure PaaS for enterprise AI.

Rapid Evolution Domain

Foundry is in active preview (February 2026). SDK versions change frequently.

Refresh triggers:

azure-ai-projects SDK version bump (currently 2.0.0b3)
Foundry portal feature releases
Hosted Agents GA
Memory API changes

Last validated: February 2026

Platform Overview

Microsoft Foundry (formerly Azure AI Foundry) unifies model hosting, agent orchestration, tool management, observability, and multi-channel publishing.

Concept	Description
Portal	https://ai.azure.com
Endpoint	`https://<resource>.services.ai.azure.com/api/projects/<project>`
MCP Server	https://mcp.ai.azure.com (cloud-hosted, Entra ID)
VS Code Extension	`TeamsDevApp.vscode-ai-foundry`
Key Distinction	Infrastructure platform (backend), not a surface

Foundry vs Other Platforms

Aspect	VS Code Extension	M365 Copilot	Foundry
Type	IDE plugin	Declarative agent	Cloud PaaS
Runtime	Desktop app	M365 cloud	Azure managed
Users	Single developer	Single user	Multi-user
Availability	When IDE open	When M365 open	Always-on (24/7)
Memory	File-based synapses	OneDrive	Platform-managed
Tools	MCP (manual config)	Web/SP/Graph	1,400+ catalog
Agents	`.agent.md` files	Single agent	Multi-agent fleet
Observability	Manual	None	Full OpenTelemetry

Four SDK Types

This is the most common source of confusion. Foundry has four distinct SDK types, each with different endpoints and use cases:

SDK	Endpoint	When to Use
Foundry SDK	`.services.ai.azure.com/api/projects/`	Agent management, evaluations, deployments
OpenAI SDK	`.openai.azure.com/openai/v1`	Chat completions, embeddings (OpenAI-compatible)
Foundry Tools SDKs	Service-specific	Speech, Vision, Language, Search, etc.
Agent Framework	Framework-specific	Multi-agent orchestration (cloud-agnostic)

SDK Packages

Language	Foundry SDK	OpenAI SDK
Python	`azure-ai-projects>=2.0.0b3` (use `--pre`)	`openai`
C#	`Azure.AI.Projects` (preview)	`Azure.AI.OpenAI`
JS/TS	`@azure/ai-projects` (beta)	`openai`
Java	`com.azure:azure-ai-projects` (preview)	—

Breaking Change: Python 2.x is incompatible with 1.x. The 2.x uses .services.ai.azure.com endpoints.

Agent Service Patterns

Create Agent

from azure.ai.projects import AIProjectClient
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential

client = AIProjectClient(
    endpoint="https://<resource>.services.ai.azure.com/api/projects/<project>",
    credential=DefaultAzureCredential()
)

agent = client.agents.create_agent(
    model="gpt-4.1-mini",
    name="my-agent",
    instructions="System prompt here."
)

Versioned Agents

from azure.ai.projects.models import PromptAgentDefinition

definition = PromptAgentDefinition(
    model="gpt-4.1-mini",
    instructions="System prompt",
    tools=[bing_tool, file_search_tool]
)

version = client.agents.create_agent_version(
    agent_id=agent.id,
    definition=definition
)

Conversations (Multi-Turn)

conversation = client.agents.create_conversation(agent_id=agent.id)

client.agents.create_message(
    conversation_id=conversation.id,
    role="user",
    content="Hello"
)

run = client.agents.create_run(
    conversation_id=conversation.id,
    agent_id=agent.id
)

Key Concepts

Concept	Meaning
Agent	Stateless definition (model + instructions + tools)
Conversation	Stateful multi-turn context
Run	Single execution within a conversation
Version	Immutable snapshot of agent definition

Tool Categories

Tool	Use Case	Setup
Bing Grounding	Real-time web search	Bing Search resource
File Search	RAG over documents (vector stores)	Upload files → vector store
Code Interpreter	Python sandbox execution	Automatic
SharePoint	Enterprise document grounding	SP site + permissions
OpenAPI	Any REST API via spec	Provide spec + auth
MCP Servers	Remote Model Context Protocol	Server URL + auth
A2A	Agent-to-Agent communication	Target URL + auth

File Search Setup

vector_store = client.agents.create_vector_store(name="knowledge")
client.agents.upload_file_and_poll(
    vector_store_id=vector_store.id,
    file_path="skills.pdf"
)
file_search_tool = FileSearchTool(vector_store_ids=[vector_store.id])

Memory & Foundry IQ

Feature	Description
Memory	Cross-session context retention, per-user, automatic
Foundry IQ	Enterprise knowledge base with citations + web grounding
Priority Chain	Instructions → IQ → File Search → Tool results → Training data

Memory is the cloud-native equivalent of Alex's synapse architecture — automatic, persistent, cross-surface.

Hosted Agents (Preview)

Containerized agents on managed infrastructure:

pip install azure-ai-agentserver-agentframework
agentserver run --interactive   # local test
agentserver run                 # container mode (port 8080)
azd deploy                      # deploy to Foundry

Supports any framework: LangGraph, MS Agent Framework, Semantic Kernel, custom.

Observability Stack

Agent → OpenTelemetry → Application Insights → Agent Dashboard

from azure.ai.agentserver import setup_observability
setup_observability(vs_code_extension_port=4319)  # local dev

Built-in Evaluators

Relevance, Groundedness, Coherence, Safety, F1, BLEU, ROUGE

Publishing Channels

One agent, many surfaces:

Channel	Transport
M365 Copilot	Teams manifest + Entra app
Teams	Bot Framework
BizChat	Via M365 publish
Web Preview	Auto-generated URL
REST API	Standard HTTP
Container	Docker (Hosted Agent)

Realtime API (Voice)

Transport	Latency	Use Case
WebRTC	~100ms	Browser voice
WebSocket	~200ms	Server-side
SIP	Varies	Telephony

Models: gpt-realtime (GA), gpt-realtime-mini (GA). Supports MCP tools during voice sessions, semantic VAD, image input. 30-min session limit, PCM16 mono 24kHz.

Authentication

from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
credential = DefaultAzureCredential()  # Keyless (recommended)
client = AIProjectClient(endpoint=endpoint, credential=credential)

RBAC Role	Scope
Azure AI User	Least privilege — call agents, use models
Azure AI Owner	Create/manage agents, deploy models
Contributor	Create Foundry projects and resources

Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Why It Fails	Instead
Using Python SDK 1.x with 2.x docs	Incompatible APIs, wrong endpoints	Always install `--pre` for 2.x
Treating Foundry as "just another heir"	It's a backend, not a surface	Design as shared infrastructure
Hardcoding API keys	Security risk, doesn't scale	Use `DefaultAzureCredential`
One giant agent	Context overload, poor routing	Multi-agent with orchestrator
Skipping evaluation	No quality baseline	Run evaluators before shipping
Ignoring cost	Pay-per-use can surprise	Use efficient models (4.1-mini) for most agents

Decision Checklist

When designing a Foundry-based agent:

Which SDK type? (Foundry SDK for agents, OpenAI SDK for completions)
Which model tier? (Premium for orchestrator, efficient for specialists)
Agent Service or Hosted Agent? (Start with Agent Service; migrate later)
What tools? (Bing, File Search, Code Interpreter, MCP, OpenAPI)
Memory strategy? (Foundry Memory, File Search, or hybrid)
Publishing targets? (API first, then Teams, then Web, then Voice)
Evaluation plan? (Which evaluators, what dataset, what baseline)
Auth model? (Entra ID keyless via DefaultAzureCredential)

Synapses

[.github/skills/ai-agent-design/SKILL.md] (Critical, Implements, Bidirectional) - "Foundry is the runtime for agent design patterns"
[.github/skills/multi-agent-orchestration/SKILL.md] (Critical, Implements, Bidirectional) - "Foundry Agent Service enables multi-agent orchestration at scale"
[.github/skills/azure-architecture-patterns/SKILL.md] (High, Extends, Bidirectional) - "Foundry is an Azure PaaS that follows WAF principles"
[.github/skills/mcp-development/SKILL.md] (High, Complements, Bidirectional) - "Foundry supports MCP servers as agent tools"
[.github/skills/enterprise-integration/SKILL.md] (High, Enables, Forward) - "Foundry provides enterprise-grade agent deployment"
[.github/instructions/meditation.instructions.md] (Medium, Created-During, Forward) - "Skill created during platform expansion meditation"

Microsoft Foundry Agent Platform — cloud-native agent deployment for the Alex ecosystem

foundry-agent-platform