Microsoft Agent Framework
GA April 2026. The Microsoft-recommended path for new agent work, replacing AutoGen and superseding Semantic Kernel agents. Built on top of Microsoft.Extensions.AI. Implements MCP for tool discovery and A2A for agent-to-agent communication.
Topics (canonical order)
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The April 2026 GA, where Agent Framework fits relative to SK / AutoGen, what's deprecated
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Defining an agent, function tools, prompts, state, lifecycle
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Linear pipeline of agents, when to use, error handling
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Parallel fan-out / fan-in, aggregation, partial results
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Multiple agents collaborating with shared context, turn-taking
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Conditional agent-to-agent transfer, routing, context propagation
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The autonomous-planner orchestration pattern, when it pays off, controls
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When to use Agent Framework workflows vs agent orchestration vs Durable Functions
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Consuming MCP servers from agents, exposing agents as MCP servers
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Agent-to-Agent protocol, federation, cross-runtime interop
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Concrete migration paths, what carries forward, what doesn't
Why this order
Positioning → basics → 5 orchestration patterns (in increasing autonomy: sequential → concurrent → group-chat → handoff → magentic) → workflows-vs-agents (the meta-question) → MCP/A2A (interop) → migration (catch-up for existing codebases).
Cross-references
- Built on top of IChatClient & Pipeline and Function Calling — Auto.
- MCP integration references Model Context Protocol (MCP).
- Workflows references Workflow Engines.
- Agent observability references Agent Tracing.