/azure-ai-projects-py

name: azure-ai-projects-py
description: "Build AI applications on Microsoft Foundry using the azure-ai-projects SDK."
risk: critical
source: community
date_added: "2026-02-27"

Azure AI Projects Python SDK (Foundry SDK)

Build AI applications on Microsoft Foundry using the `azure-ai-projects` SDK.

Installation

pip install azure-ai-projects azure-identity

Environment Variables

AZURE_AI_PROJECT_ENDPOINT="https://<resource>.services.ai.azure.com/api/projects/<project>"
AZURE_AI_MODEL_DEPLOYMENT_NAME="gpt-4o-mini"

Authentication

import os
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
from azure.ai.projects import AIProjectClient

credential = DefaultAzureCredential()
client = AIProjectClient(
    endpoint=os.environ["AZURE_AI_PROJECT_ENDPOINT"],
    credential=credential,
)

Client Operations Overview

| Operation | Access | Purpose | |-----------|--------|---------| | `client.agents` | `.agents.*` | Agent CRUD, versions, threads, runs | | `client.connections` | `.connections.*` | List/get project connections | | `client.deployments` | `.deployments.*` | List model deployments | | `client.datasets` | `.datasets.*` | Dataset management | | `client.indexes` | `.indexes.*` | Index management | | `client.evaluations` | `.evaluations.*` | Run evaluations | | `client.red_teams` | `.red_teams.*` | Red team operations |

Two Client Approaches

1. AIProjectClient (Native Foundry)

from azure.ai.projects import AIProjectClient

client = AIProjectClient(
    endpoint=os.environ["AZURE_AI_PROJECT_ENDPOINT"],
    credential=DefaultAzureCredential(),
)

# Use Foundry-native operations
agent = client.agents.create_agent(
    model=os.environ["AZURE_AI_MODEL_DEPLOYMENT_NAME"],
    name="my-agent",
    instructions="You are helpful.",
)

2. OpenAI-Compatible Client

# Get OpenAI-compatible client from project
openai_client = client.get_openai_client()

# Use standard OpenAI API
response = openai_client.chat.completions.create(
    model=os.environ["AZURE_AI_MODEL_DEPLOYMENT_NAME"],
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
)

Agent Operations

Create Agent (Basic)

agent = client.agents.create_agent(
    model=os.environ["AZURE_AI_MODEL_DEPLOYMENT_NAME"],
    name="my-agent",
    instructions="You are a helpful assistant.",
)

Create Agent with Tools

from azure.ai.agents import CodeInterpreterTool, FileSearchTool

agent = client.agents.create_agent(
    model=os.environ["AZURE_AI_MODEL_DEPLOYMENT_NAME"],
    name="tool-agent",
    instructions="You can execute code and search files.",
    tools=[CodeInterpreterTool(), FileSearchTool()],
)

Versioned Agents with PromptAgentDefinition

from azure.ai.projects.models import PromptAgentDefinition

# Create a versioned agent
agent_version = client.agents.create_version(
    agent_name="customer-support-agent",
    definition=PromptAgentDefinition(
        model=os.environ["AZURE_AI_MODEL_DEPLOYMENT_NAME"],
        instructions="You are a customer support specialist.",
        tools=[],  # Add tools as needed
    ),
    version_label="v1.0",
)

See references/agents.md for detailed agent patterns.

Tools Overview

| Tool | Class | Use Case | |------|-------|----------| | Code Interpreter | `CodeInterpreterTool` | Execute Python, generate files | | File Search | `FileSearchTool` | RAG over uploaded documents | | Bing Grounding | `BingGroundingTool` | Web search (requires connection) | | Azure AI Search | `AzureAISearchTool` | Search your indexes | | Function Calling | `FunctionTool` | Call your Python functions | | OpenAPI | `OpenApiTool` | Call REST APIs | | MCP | `McpTool` | Model Context Protocol servers | | Memory Search | `MemorySearchTool` | Search agent memory stores | | SharePoint | `SharepointGroundingTool` | Search SharePoint content |

See references/tools.md for all tool patterns.

Thread and Message Flow

# 1. Create thread
thread = client.agents.threads.create()

# 2. Add message
client.agents.messages.create(
    thread_id=thread.id,
    role="user",
    content="What's the weather like?",
)

# 3. Create and process run
run = client.agents.runs.create_and_process(
    thread_id=thread.id,
    agent_id=agent.id,
)

# 4. Get response
if run.status == "completed":
    messages = client.agents.messages.list(thread_id=thread.id)
    for msg in messages:
        if msg.role == "assistant":
            print(msg.content[0].text.value)

Connections

# List all connections
connections = client.connections.list()
for conn in connections:
    print(f"{conn.name}: {conn.connection_type}")

# Get specific connection
connection = client.connections.get(connection_name="my-search-connection")

See references/connections.md for connection patterns.

Deployments

# List available model deployments
deployments = client.deployments.list()
for deployment in deployments:
    print(f"{deployment.name}: {deployment.model}")

See references/deployments.md for deployment patterns.

Datasets and Indexes

# List datasets
datasets = client.datasets.list()

# List indexes
indexes = client.indexes.list()

See references/datasets-indexes.md for data operations.

Evaluation

# Using OpenAI client for evals
openai_client = client.get_openai_client()

# Create evaluation with built-in evaluators
eval_run = openai_client.evals.runs.create(
    eval_id="my-eval",
    name="quality-check",
    data_source={
        "type": "custom",
        "item_references": [{"item_id": "test-1"}],
    },
    testing_criteria=[
        {"type": "fluency"},
        {"type": "task_adherence"},
    ],
)

See references/evaluation.md for evaluation patterns.

Async Client

from azure.ai.projects.aio import AIProjectClient

async with AIProjectClient(
    endpoint=os.environ["AZURE_AI_PROJECT_ENDPOINT"],
    credential=DefaultAzureC