Tools · SPBoucher
Menu

OpenAI Agents SDK

by OpenAI · Framework · also known as openai-agents (PyPI), @openai/agents, Swarm (predecessor)

Lightweight open-source Python and TypeScript framework for agents, handoffs, guardrails, sessions and tracing, defaulting to OpenAI's Responses API with adapters for other providers

MIT licenseOpen sourceFreeLocalSelf-hostedCloudSelf-hostable
Visit official site Compare

Link verified Nov 2, 2026

Overview

The OpenAI Agents SDK is OpenAI's MIT-licensed framework for building agentic applications with few abstractions, released as the production successor to the experimental Swarm project. An agent is a model plus instructions and tools, run in a built-in loop until the task completes. Handoffs (or agents-as-tools) delegate work between agents, guardrails validate inputs and outputs in parallel and fail fast, sessions persist working memory across turns, and tracing records every run for debugging and for OpenAI's evaluation and fine-tuning tools. Function tools are generated from Python functions with automatic schemas and Pydantic validation, and MCP servers can be attached so their tools appear alongside local ones.

The SDK uses the Responses API for OpenAI models by default but ships adapters (LiteLLM and others) for non-OpenAI providers. Additional modules cover realtime voice agents, speech-to-text/text-to-speech voice pipelines, sandboxed agents running in isolated workspaces and human-in-the-loop approval. A TypeScript edition (@openai/agents) mirrors the Python package. The framework is attractive for teams committed to OpenAI who want minimal ceremony; its tracing and some hosted tools are tied to the OpenAI platform, so provider portability is weaker than with LangGraph or Pydantic AI.

Capabilities

  • Agents, handoffs, guardrails, sessions and tracing primitives
  • Function tools with automatic schema generation and validation
  • MCP server integration
  • Realtime voice agents and STT/TTS voice pipelines
  • Sandboxed agents and human-in-the-loop approvals
  • Python and TypeScript packages with non-OpenAI provider adapters

Typical workflows

  1. Build a triage agent that hands off to specialist agents
  2. Add input and output guardrails to an existing assistant
  3. Prototype a voice agent on the Realtime API

Strengths

  • Minimal abstractions and short learning curve
  • First-class support for OpenAI hosted tools and tracing
  • MIT license with Python and TypeScript parity

Limitations

  • Defaults and tracing favor the OpenAI platform
  • Younger than LangChain with fewer third-party integrations
  • Durable execution is less developed than in LangGraph

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.9+ or Node.js
  • OpenAI API key (or configured alternative provider)

Who it is for

  • Developers on the OpenAI platform
  • Teams building voice or multi-agent workflows quickly

Alternatives & comparison

  • AutoGen

    Microsoft's multi-agent framework (Core, AgentChat, Extensions, Studio) for Python and .NET, now archived with users directed to Microsoft Agent Framework

    Open sourceOpen source
  • CrewAI

    Open-source Python framework for role-based multi-agent crews and event-driven flows, with a commercial enterprise console for deploying, monitoring and triggering automations

    MixedOpen source
  • LangChain

    Open-source Python and JavaScript framework whose create_agent harness builds tool-using agents on the LangGraph runtime with swappable model providers and middleware

    Open sourceOpen source
  • LangGraph

    Low-level orchestration framework and runtime for stateful, long-running agents expressed as graphs, with durable execution, checkpointing, human-in-the-loop and streaming

    Open sourceOpen source
  • Model Context Protocol

    Open JSON-RPC standard for connecting AI applications to tools, data and prompts through servers, now stewarded under the Linux Foundation with SDKs in many languages

    Open sourceOpen source
  • Pydantic AI

    Type-safe Python agent framework from the Pydantic team with validated structured outputs, dependency injection, swappable model providers, MCP, durable execution and evals

    Open sourceOpen source
Compare OpenAI Agents SDK with its alternatives →

Sources & verification

Primary sources consulted for this record. Claims are tied to the fields each source supports; the automated link checker re-verifies every URL on a schedule.

Confidence
High
Reviewed
Nov 1, 2026
Links
Verified · Nov 2, 2026

Spotted an error?

Broken link, outdated license, wrong category, or a tool that no longer exists? Tell us; reports are reviewed by the editor.

Apify

Apify Technologies s.r.o. · Data collection & crawling

In-depth entry

Cloud platform and marketplace for running web-scraping and automation programs (Actors), with storages, proxies, scheduling, an API and an MCP server for agents

Apache-2.0FreemiumUsage-basedNov 2, 2026

Claude Code

Anthropic · Coding agents & AI IDEs

In-depth entry

Anthropic's agentic coding tool that reads a codebase, edits files and runs commands from the terminal, IDEs, a desktop app, the web and CI, with MCP, hooks, skills and subagents

ProprietaryPaidUsage-basedLocalNov 2, 2026

Claude Platform

Anthropic · Model providers & APIs

In-depth entry

Anthropic's developer platform for the Claude models: Messages API, tool use, structured outputs, prompt caching, batch processing and Managed Agents, plus cloud availability

ProprietaryUsage-basedEnterpriseNov 2, 2026

OpenAI API

OpenAI · Model providers & APIs

In-depth entry

OpenAI's hosted developer platform: Responses and Chat Completions APIs, Realtime voice, embeddings, images, audio, fine-tuning, evals and managed agents

ProprietaryUsage-basedEnterpriseNov 2, 2026

Model Context Protocol

Model Context Protocol, a Series of LF Projects, LLC (originated by Anthropic) · Agent frameworks & orchestration

In-depth entry

Open JSON-RPC standard for connecting AI applications to tools, data and prompts through servers, now stewarded under the Linux Foundation with SDKs in many languages

Open sourceOpen sourceFreeLocalSelf-hostedNov 2, 2026

LlamaIndex

LlamaIndex, Inc. · Agent frameworks & orchestration

Open-source Python framework for retrieval-augmented agents over your data, with connectors, indexes, query engines and event-driven workflows, alongside the commercial LlamaParse document platform

MITOpen sourceFreeLocalSelf-hostedNov 2, 2026