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AutoGen

Microsoft's multi-agent framework — now in maintenance mode, succeeded by Microsoft Agent Framework.

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About

Microsoft's open-source framework for building multi-agent AI applications, where specialized agents collaborate through conversations, tool use, and code execution. Layered Core/AgentChat/Extensions architecture for Python and .NET, plus a no-code AutoGen Studio GUI.

As of 2026 it is officially in maintenance mode — bug/security fixes only, community-managed — with Microsoft Agent Framework (1.0, enterprise-ready) as its successor. Existing codebases are fine; new projects should start with the successor (migration guide on learn.microsoft.com).

What it can do

  • Multi-agent conversation patterns: two-agent chat, group chat, round-robin/selector orchestration
  • Code-executing agents (local, Docker, Jupyter, Azure)
  • MCP tool integration via McpWorkbench; cross-language runtime (Python + .NET)
  • Local and distributed runtimes via gRPC
  • AutoGen Studio no-code GUI for prototyping agent teams
  • AutoGen Bench benchmarking suite for evaluating agent performance

Setup

  1. Install Python 3.10+ and run pip install -U "autogen-agentchat" "autogen-ext[openai]".
  2. Export your model provider key (e.g. OPENAI_API_KEY).
  3. Create agents (e.g. AssistantAgent with OpenAIChatCompletionClient) and define their roles.
  4. Compose teams: two-agent chats, group chats, or selector/round-robin workflows; attach tools or MCP workbenches (MCP verified in README).
  5. (Optional) pip install autogenstudio and run autogenstudio ui --port 8080 for the no-code Studio.

Prerequisites

Python 3.10+; a model-provider API key (e.g. OpenAI/Azure); Docker optional for sandboxed code execution.

Use cases

automationcodedatachat

Works with

Generic API

Trust score — 7/10

/10 trustMetrics-checked

Official Microsoft project with massive adoption (61k+ stars) and excellent docs, so the code itself is trustworthy. Docked hard for longevity: the README explicitly states maintenance mode (bug/security fixes only, community-managed) and directs new users to Microsoft Agent Framework. Recommending it for new builds without the successor caveat would be misleading.

★ 61,374 GitHub stars

How the trust score is built

Full methodology →
Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
8.7/10
Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
4.2/10
Openness · license + docs
10.0/10
Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
6.0/10
  • · 61,374 GitHub stars (log-scaled vs catalog peers)
  • · blended with ~379,923 monthly package downloads
  • · last push 180d ago; 0 releases/12mo; 1103 open issues
  • · manual review: maintenance mode; Microsoft Agent Framework is the successor

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.