This directory contains installable Agent Skills for developers building applications with Microsoft Agent Framework. These are public distribution artifacts, not contributor instructions for working on the Agent Framework repository.
| Skill | Purpose |
|---|---|
agent-framework-builder-python |
Build, modify, evaluate, integrate, and host Python Agent Framework applications. |
agent-framework-builder-dotnet |
Build, modify, evaluate, integrate, and host .NET Agent Framework applications. |
Preview and install the default-branch version with GitHub CLI:
gh skill preview microsoft/agent-framework agent-framework-builder-python@main
gh skill install microsoft/agent-framework agent-framework-builder-python@main
gh skill preview microsoft/agent-framework agent-framework-builder-dotnet@main
gh skill install microsoft/agent-framework agent-framework-builder-dotnet@mainThe explicit @main ref is required until a tagged Agent Framework release includes the skill. Until then,
unqualified gh skill installs and search discovery can resolve an older release that does not contain it.
Or use the cross-agent skills CLI:
npx skills add microsoft/agent-framework --skill agent-framework-builder-python
npx skills add microsoft/agent-framework --skill agent-framework-builder-dotnet- Coding agents working on Agent Framework itself must not treat the skills in this directory as repository instructions or automatically load them for normal framework development.
- Keep the skills outside
.github/skills,.agents/skills, and.claude/skillsso repository agents do not discover them as project skills.
Consumer skills are decision guidance, not product documentation. Microsoft Learn is the documentation source for developing with Microsoft Agent Framework. Skills help coding agents make high-level development choices and find the current documentation for implementing them.
Include selection criteria, concise trade-offs, and constraints that materially change a choice: plain agent versus harness agent versus workflow, extension points, integrations, state ownership, and hosting patterns. Link to Learn for implementation guidance and to API documentation or maintained samples when needed.
Do not add API or option inventories, implementation details, setup or deployment procedures, exhaustive examples,
release notes, per-bug workarounds, or internal contributor conventions. This applies to both SKILL.md and files under
references/; a reference file is not a place to accumulate documentation.
For example:
- Include the choice between application-managed and service-managed history and its trade-offs. Do not include serialization fields, continuation-token mechanics, or every provider's storage options.
- Include the choice between self-hosted and Foundry-hosted execution. Do not include deployment commands, environment-variable inventories, or protocol replay sequences.
- Include the need for interactive authorization when choosing a hosting pattern. Link to documentation for consent handling instead of reproducing the request and response sequence.
A public API, package, sample, configuration, evaluation, integration, or hosting change does not automatically require a consumer skill update. Update a skill only when the change makes an existing development recommendation incorrect, adds a materially different choice, or invalidates a documentation link, except for the cleanup rule below. Otherwise, leave the skill unchanged.
If a framework change invalidates implementation details already present in a skill or its references, remove those details or replace them with decision guidance and a link to current documentation. This cleanup exception does not permit expanding the details or adding new implementation details.
Before adding content, identify the development decision it changes. If no decision changes, put the content in Microsoft Learn, API documentation, samples, or contributor guidance instead. Prefer revising an existing recommendation over appending another rule, and update only the affected guidance.