Python: [Bug] Instructions not passed to Azure AI Foundry agents - wrong variable in commit 184ee9d5

[frdeange]

Bug Description

The fix in commit 184ee9d5 intended to pass instructions to Azure AI Foundry agents, but it uses the wrong variable name.

Location

File: agent_framework_azure_ai/_client.py
Method: _get_agent_reference_or_create
Line: ~357

The Bug

The current code at line 357:

for instructions in [messages_instructions, run_options.get("instructions")]

But the method signature at line 293-299 is:

async def _get_agent_reference_or_create(
    self,
    run_options: dict[str, Any],
    messages_instructions: str | None,
    chat_options: Mapping[str, Any] | None = None,  # <-- This is the correct variable
) -> dict[str, str]:

The instructions field is in chat_options, not in run_options. The base class explicitly excludes instructions from run_options (similar to how response_format is handled on line 351-352).

The Fix

Change line 357 from:

for instructions in [messages_instructions, run_options.get("instructions")]

To:

for instructions in [messages_instructions, chat_options.get("instructions")]

Impact

All agents created via Azure AI Foundry are created WITHOUT their YAML-defined instructions, making them respond with generic behavior instead of following their configured personas/instructions.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a YAML agent definition with kind: Prompt and custom instructions
2. Run a workflow using AzureAIClient
3. Observe that the agent in Azure AI Foundry has no instructions (visible in Foundry portal)
4. The agent responds generically instead of following the instructions

Environment

• agent-framework version: 1.0.0b260130
• azure-ai-projects version: 2.0.0b3
• Python: 3.12

Workaround

Apply this patch manually:

sed -i 's/run_options.get("instructions")/chat_options.get("instructions")/g' \
  /path/to/site-packages/agent_framework_azure_ai/_client.py

Related

This bug was introduced in the same commit that was supposed to fix it: 184ee9d5

The commit correctly identified the issue but used the wrong variable name in the fix.

[moonbox3]

I tested this fix with workflows, using latest code from main. It works without issue.

[moonbox3]

I see. My fix was for the v1 AzureAIAgentClient. Based on your issue, the bug is also present for AzureAIClient (v2 Responses API). Will get a fix out for that, too.