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Agent_Step02_StructuredOutput

README.md

Structured Output with ChatClientAgent

This sample demonstrates how to configure ChatClientAgent to produce structured output in JSON format using various approaches.

What this sample demonstrates

  • ResponseFormat approach: Configuring agents with JSON schema response format via ChatResponseFormat.ForJsonSchema<T>() for inter-agent communication or when the type is not known at compile time
  • Generic RunAsync method: Using the generic RunAsync<T> method for structured output when the caller needs to work directly with typed objects
  • Structured output with Streaming: Using RunStreamingAsync to stream responses while still obtaining structured output by assembling and deserializing the streamed content
  • StructuredOutput middleware: Adding structured output support to agents that don't natively support it (like A2A agents or models without structured output capability) by transforming text output into structured data using a chat client

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following prerequisites:

  • .NET 10 SDK or later
  • Azure OpenAI service endpoint and deployment configured
  • Azure CLI installed and authenticated (for Azure credential authentication)
  • User has the Cognitive Services OpenAI Contributor role for the Azure OpenAI resource

Note: This sample uses Azure OpenAI models. For more information, see how to deploy Azure OpenAI models with Microsoft Foundry.

Note: This demo uses Azure CLI credentials for authentication. Make sure you're logged in with az login and have access to the Azure OpenAI resource and have the Cognitive Services OpenAI Contributor role. For more information, see the Azure CLI documentation.

Environment Variables

Set the following environment variables:

$env:AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT="https://your-resource.openai.azure.com/" # Replace with your Azure OpenAI resource endpoint
$env:AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME="gpt-5.4-mini"  # Optional, defaults to gpt-5.4-mini

Run the sample

Navigate to the sample directory and run:

cd dotnet/samples/02-agents/Agents/Agent_Step02_StructuredOutput
dotnet run

Expected behavior

The sample will demonstrate four different approaches to structured output:

  1. Structured Output with ResponseFormat: Creates an agent with ResponseFormat set to ForJsonSchema<CityInfo>(), invokes it with unstructured input, and accesses the structured output via the Text property
  2. Structured Output with RunAsync: Creates an agent and uses the generic RunAsync<CityInfo>() method to get a typed AgentResponse<CityInfo> with the result accessible via the Result property
  3. Structured Output with RunStreamingAsync: Creates an agent with JSON schema response format, streams the response using RunStreamingAsync, assembles the updates using ToAgentResponseAsync(), and deserializes the JSON text into a typed object
  4. Structured Output with StructuredOutput Middleware: Uses the UseStructuredOutput method on AIAgentBuilder to add structured output support to agents that don't natively support it

Each approach will output information about the capital of France (Paris) in a structured format.