Is it possible to use the Responses API with semantic kernel yet?

[mkemmerz]

Is it possible to use semantic kernel already with the new Responses API: https://platform.openai.com/docs/api-reference/responses?

I had some looks into the code but couldn't find anything, also this issue exists: #11026

Sorry If that question is stupid but does someone know more about the support for the Responses API? I couldn't really find anything about it.

[moonbox3]

Hello @mkemmerz it should be landing soon, in the form of an agent.

[mkemmerz]

Thanks a lot for the reply. We are looking forward to it :)

[tomw-twinthread]

is the plan to add this to the chat completions functions as well?

I'm looking at getting the reasoning summary response back, and this is only supported via the response api and I'm not adopting the semantic kernel agents yet, so lookign for this to be added to IChatCompletionService

[thomasjlittle]

Just bumping this to check in, is there any news on when this might be available for .net?

[moonbox3]

Adding @markwallace-microsoft for visibility.

[readingdancer]

I'm also interested to know when support for the Responses API will be landing as I am using SK, but I'd really like to change to use this new API for the built in web search and image generation capabilities.

[moonbox3]

We have the AzureResponsesAgent/OpenAIResponsesAgent available in Python. The .NET version should be released in a few weeks.

[readingdancer]

My whole application is .NET based, the comments have been "soon" for a few months now. Do you have a nightly / pre-release that could be tested before the full release?

[markwallace-microsoft]

@readingdancer What functionality do you need in the initial release?

[readingdancer]

Currently I am using SK with the Completions API and using streaming, I have a lot of SK functions that the Agent is able to use, I currently have a web scraping function that is running in the cloud that the agent is able to call to get web content ( this is functionality that is natively supported within the Responses API, so it would be great to get rid of my dependency on another service )

I have also ( just yesterday ) written a function to allow the agent to call the image generation API, again, I believe this works much better if called from the Responses API for things like editing, using the same seed to generate similar images etc.

The Responses API allows you to stream the results of an image that is being generated so you see it progressively appear, in the same way it happens in the ChatGPT interface, this obviously gives a much better UX that telling a user they have to wait 30-60 seconds before the image appears in full.

[readingdancer]

@markwallace-microsoft Has there been any movement on the .NET version that we talked about back in June?

[code-junkie-403]

Hi, just wondering if Response API is available in .NET version yet?

[moonbox3]

Hello @code-junkie-403, yes, the Responses Agent in SK .NET is available. You can find some getting started samples here. The agent was introduced in v1.56.0.

[justinbarias]

@moonbox3 yes the OpenAIResponseAgent is available - but it's barely in an MVP state.

It only supports TextContent type in ChatMessageContent (everything else is ignored). Linking this issue #12888 here for visibility.

[itayfisz]

Any updated ETA for the Responses API availability in .NET?

[NikiLentz]

So i guess this isn't coming? Seems to be on soon for almost the whole year now

[awonglk]

Looking at the thread so far, my understanding is that direct Response API support will not be coming to Semantic Kernel, nor is there any roadmap for it. OpenAIResponseAgent is the only way to interact with Response API, from the look of it.
Is this correct?

[chesnelg]

My understanding from chatting with Microsoft is that the support for Response API in SK is in progress (preview) and should available in the coming months.
It replaces the Assistant API - which will be deprecated in the 2026 - despite the SK documentation stating that it is in release candidate :-(
It is frustrating that there is not much visibility or commitments.

[tomw-twinthread]

are you sure? seems like Microsoft is deprecating semantic kernel.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/agent-framework/migration-guide/from-semantic-kernel/

[itayfisz]

@markwallace-microsoft

ResponseAPI is a game-changer and if not being supported in SK, it might make SK irrelevant for some of us. Would highly appreciate an ETA.

It was said above it will be supported "in a few weeks", but almost 4 months have passed since.

Could you please provide some clarity about this? Or tag someone who might be able to?

[NikiLentz]

Even openais own .net lib is behind and not supporting their current api correctly. For now I simply implemented the calls myself, which took me way less time than expected. Semantic Kernel really seems to be quite neglected.

[gchesnel]

It looks like Semantic Kernel Responses API agent won't go GA after all, favouring a switch to the new Agent Framework... It would be great to get an official statement from Microsoft though...