Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Microsoft releases .NET SDK for AG-UI agent-user interaction protocol

news
Sep 27, 20263 mins

.NET SDK allows C# developers to work with the protocol that standardizes how agents communicate with user-facing applications.

Microsoft sign and logo on the facade of corporation campus in Silicon Valley. The company headquartered in Redmond, Washington - Mountain View, California, USA - 2019
Credit: Michael Vi / Shutterstock

Microsoft on September 25 announced a .NET SDK for AG-UI (Agent-User Interaction). Created in collaboration with CopilotKit, the new SDK allows C# developers to work with the protocol that standardizes how agents communicate with user-facing applications.

The .NET SDK for AG-UI lives in the AG-UI repository alongside the TypeScript and Python SDKs, and is published on NuGet under the MIT license. Its C# implementation of AG-UI is usable from any .NET service, Microsoft said. AG-UI support for .NET in the Microsoft Agent Framework (MAF) is now based on the .NET SDK for AG-UI, the company added.

AG-UI is an event-based protocol that allows AI agents to interact with front-end applications. A back end emits AG-UI events natively, and a client consumes them from an agent written in any supported language. The protocol includes events in eight different categories, according to the documentation:

  • Life-cycle events monitor the progression of agent runs.
  • Text message events handle streaming textual content.
  • Tool call events manage tool executions by agents.
  • State management events synchronize state between agents and UI.
  • Activity events represent ongoing activity progress.
  • Subagent events track subagents and attribute their output.
  • Special events support custom functionality.
  • Draft events propose events under development.

The .NET SDK for AG-UI works in both directions, Microsoft said. AGUI.Server turns an agent into an AG-UI endpoint and AGUI.Client enables a .NET application to consume an AG-UI endpoint.AGUI.Server and AGUI.Client are built on a common set of AG-UI primitives.

The .NET SDK for AG-UI ships as five packages on NuGet:

  • AGUI.Abstractions — protocol events, messages, tools, capabilities, and JSON serialization.
  • AGUI.Formatting — event stream formatter abstractions and Server-Sent Events support.
  • AGUI.Protobuf — protobuf codec and binary event stream formatting.
  • AGUI.Client — AG-UI HTTP client and IChatClient integration.
  • AGUI.Server — server-side adapter from ChatResponseUpdate streams to AG-UI events.

Microsoft offered the following links for getting started:

The company welcomes questions and feedback about the SDK in the AG-UI repository. It asks that questions about Microsoft Agent Framework integration be directed to the Microsoft Agent Framework discussion boards.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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