OpenAI Agents SDK: agent building features and setup

Overview

OpenAI Agents SDK suits developers who want the runtime to manage conversations, tool calls, and handoffs between agents. You can define functions as tools, preserve context with Sessions, and include human approval. The documentation distinguishes it from using the Responses API directly: a short process may not need an additional orchestration layer. For a larger project, check not only the final answer but also which tools were called and what data they used.

Features

• Agents with instructions and tools, including functions and MCP servers.
• Handoffs and using one agent as a tool for another agent.
• Sessions, input and output validation, and run tracing.

Business uses

• An internal service agent that uses a search tool and returns a source-based answer.
• A process that hands a task to a defined content specialist and pauses for approval before taking action.

Getting started

• Choose a task and set up an agent with one read-only tool.
• Define the input and result structures, and check the log of tool calls.
• Add memory and approvals only as needed, and check separation between users.

What to check

• Instructions to an agent are not a permission mechanism. Each tool must verify the user and scope of access on its own.
• Check what data is saved in traces and Sessions, and avoid putting secrets there unless necessary.