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ConsolidatedAI & AgentsAzure

Microsoft AutoGen Microsoft Agent Framework

Legacy names Microsoft AutoGen, Semantic Kernel Agent Framework

Unified open-source SDK and runtime in Python, .NET, and Go for building, orchestrating, and deploying single-agent and multi-agent AI workflows across Microsoft Foundry and open model providers.

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Naming timeline

  1. Semantic Kernel & Microsoft AutoGen

    · Open-Source Launches

    Semantic Kernel launched in March 2023 as an enterprise AI orchestration SDK alongside Microsoft Research's AutoGen (September 2023) for multi-agent conversation patterns.

  2. Semantic Kernel Agent Framework & AutoGen 0.4 Shared Runtime

    · H1 2025 Convergence Roadmap

    The Semantic Kernel and AutoGen teams aligned on an event-driven multi-agent runtime and cross-framework agent hosting.

  3. Microsoft Agent FrameworkCurrent name

    · Unified Open-Source Framework Launch

    AutoGen and Semantic Kernel Agent Framework consolidated into Microsoft Agent Framework across Python, .NET, and Go with native Microsoft Foundry, MCP, and A2A support.

What is Microsoft AutoGen called now?

Microsoft AutoGen was consolidated into Microsoft Agent Framework, with the latest change on 1 October 2025 (Unified Open-Source Framework Launch). Earlier names covered by this entry also include Semantic Kernel Agent Framework. Unified open-source SDK and runtime in Python, .NET, and Go for building, orchestrating, and deploying single-agent and multi-agent AI workflows across Microsoft Foundry and open model providers. Only the customer-facing name changed; the underlying technical identifiers remain backward compatible.

Also known as

  • MAF
  • Semantic Kernel
  • AutoGen
  • Microsoft.Agents.AI
  • agent-framework

Technical identifiers

Technical identifiers unchanged. Only the customer-facing product name changed; the APIs, CLI commands, IAM roles and Terraform resources below keep their legacy identifiers for backward compatibility.

ARM Resource Providers (Microsoft.*)Microsoft.Agents.AI agent_framework Microsoft.CognitiveServices/accounts
Azure CLI (az) / PowerShellpip install agent-framework dotnet add package Microsoft.Agents.AI.Foundry
Entra ID / Azure RBAC RolesAzure AI Developer Azure AI User Cognitive Services OpenAI User
Terraform Resources (azurerm_*)azurerm_ai_foundry azurerm_ai_foundry_project

Code migrates from Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Agents and autogen_agentchat to Microsoft.Agents.AI (.NET) and agent_framework (Python), while Semantic Kernel v1.x continues receiving maintenance fixes.

Notes & disambiguation

  • In October 2025, following the H1 2025 runtime convergence roadmap between Microsoft Research's AutoGen and enterprise-grade Semantic Kernel, Microsoft introduced the unified open-source Microsoft Agent Framework (github.com/microsoft/agent-framework) as the single successor SDK for building AI agents.
  • Microsoft Agent Framework combines AutoGen's event-driven multi-agent orchestration patterns (such as GroupChat and MagenticOne) with Semantic Kernel's enterprise connectors, session state management, middleware, telemetry, and Microsoft.Extensions.AI abstractions across Python, C#/.NET, and Go.
  • New .NET packages publish under the Microsoft.Agents.AI.* namespace (replacing Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Agents) and Python packages publish as agent-framework / agent-framework-foundry (superseding autogen-agentchat and semantic-kernel agent abstractions), while Semantic Kernel v1.x and AutoGen remain in maintenance support for existing applications.

Sources & official documentation

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