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OpenAI Agents

Test multi-turn agentic workflows built with the @openai/agents SDK. Evaluate agents that use tools, persist session history, hand off between specialists, or run inside the SDK's sandbox runtime.

note

This page covers the JavaScript @openai/agents SDK and the built-in openai:agents:* provider.

If you are using the Python openai-agents SDK, use the OpenAI Agents Python SDK guide and the openai-agents example instead.

Prerequisites​

  • Install the optional JavaScript SDK in the project that defines or runs the agent: npm install @openai/agents
  • Set OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable
  • Agent definition (inline or in a TypeScript/JavaScript file)

Basic Usage​

providers:
  - openai:agents:my-agent
    config:
      agent:
        name: Customer Support Agent
        model: gpt-5-mini
        instructions: You are a helpful customer support agent.
      maxTurns: 10

For repeatable eval baselines, set a model explicitly on the exported SDK agent or with config.model. In @openai/agents v0.10+, agents without a model use the SDK default model, currently gpt-5.4-mini, and that upstream default can change over time.

Configuration Options​

ParameterDescriptionDefault
agentAgent definition (inline object or file://path)-
toolsAdditional tool definitions (inline array or file://path)-
handoffsAdditional handoff definitions (inline array or file://path)-
maxTurnsMaximum conversation turns; set null to disable the SDK turn limit10
modelOverride model specified in agent definition-
modelSettingsSDK ModelSettings overrides, including reasoning, verbosity, and retry settings-
inputGuardrailsAdditional input guardrails (inline array or file://)-
outputGuardrailsAdditional output guardrails (inline array or file://)-
sessionPersistent SDK session definition, instance, factory, or file:// export-
sandboxSandbox runtime config, local client definition, factory, or file:// export-
runOptionsAdditional non-streaming SDK run() options such as conversationId or filters-
executeToolsExecute function tools normally (real) or replace them with mocked resultsreal
toolMocksMocked tool outputs keyed by tool name, used when executeTools is mock or false-
tracingEnable Promptfoo OTLP export for SDK spansfalse
otlpEndpointCustom OTLP endpoint URL for Promptfoo tracinghttp://localhost:4318

File-Based Configuration​

Load agent and tools from external files:

providers:
  - openai:agents:support-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/support-agent.ts
      tools: file://./tools/support-tools.ts
      maxTurns: 15
      tracing: true

Top-level tools, handoffs, inputGuardrails, and outputGuardrails augment whatever is already defined on the loaded agent.

Any SDK Tool instance is accepted when it comes from a JavaScript/TypeScript file export. That includes function tools, hosted tools, computerTool, shellTool, and applyPatchTool. Inline YAML tool definitions are for function tools only.

Inline agent definitions follow the SDK AgentOptions surface for fields such as dynamic instructions, dynamic prompt, handoffOutputTypeWarningEnabled, toolUseBehavior, and resetToolChoice. Use a file-exported SDK agent when those options need executable code.

Multimodal Input​

If a rendered prompt is a JSON object or array that matches the SDK's AgentInputItem shape, Promptfoo passes it to run() as structured input instead of a plain string. This supports image, audio, and file inputs:

prompts:
  - file://./prompts/vision-input.json

providers:
  - id: openai:agents:vision-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/vision-agent.ts

tests:
  - vars:
      image: file://./images/cat.jpg

Example prompt file (prompts/vision-input.json):

[
  {
    "role": "user",
    "content": [
      { "type": "input_text", "text": "What is in this image?" },
      { "type": "input_image", "image": "{{image}}" }
    ]
  }
]

Promptfoo resolves local image vars like file://./images/cat.jpg to data URLs before the prompt is passed to the SDK.

Arbitrary JSON prompts that do not match an agent input item are still sent as plain text.

Example agent file (agents/support-agent.ts):

import { Agent } from '@openai/agents';

export default new Agent({
  name: 'Support Agent',
  model: 'gpt-5-mini',
  instructions: 'You are a helpful customer support agent.',
});

Example tools file (tools/support-tools.ts):

import { tool } from '@openai/agents';
import { z } from 'zod';

export const lookupOrder = tool({
  name: 'lookup_order',
  description: 'Look up order status by order ID',
  parameters: z.object({
    order_id: z.string().describe('The order ID'),
  }),
  execute: async ({ order_id }) => {
    return { status: 'shipped', tracking: 'ABC123' };
  },
});

export default [lookupOrder];

Agent Handoffs​

Transfer conversations between specialized agents:

providers:
  - openai:agents:triage
    config:
      agent:
        name: Triage Agent
        model: gpt-5-mini
        instructions: Route questions to the appropriate specialist.
      handoffs:
        - agent:
            name: Technical Support
            model: gpt-5-mini
            instructions: Handle technical troubleshooting.
          description: Transfer for technical issues

Guardrails​

Validate tool inputs and outputs with guardrails:

providers:
  - openai:agents:secure-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/secure-agent.ts
      inputGuardrails: file://./guardrails/input-guardrails.ts
      outputGuardrails: file://./guardrails/output-guardrails.ts

Guardrails run validation logic before tool execution (input) and after (output), enabling content filtering, PII detection, or custom business rules.

Sessions​

OpenAI Agents SDK sessions keep conversation history across agent runs. Promptfoo supports the SDK session classes directly and also provides YAML-friendly shortcuts for the built-in session types:

providers:
  - openai:agents:support-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/support-agent.ts
      session:
        type: memory
        sessionId: support-demo

Supported inline session types are:

TypeUse case
memoryLocal in-memory demo or test session
openai-conversationsServer-managed OpenAI Conversations API history
openai-responses-compactionResponses API history with automatic compaction over an underlying store

For more control, export an SDK Session instance or a factory from a file:

providers:
  - openai:agents:support-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/support-agent.ts
      session: file://./sessions/support-session.ts

Inline session definitions and exported session instances stay attached to the provider for later turns. Export a factory when you want Promptfoo to create a fresh session for each call.

If you need the full run() surface, use runOptions. Promptfoo reserves context, maxTurns, signal, and streaming mode, but passes through the remaining non-streaming SDK options:

providers:
  - openai:agents:support-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/support-agent.ts
      runOptions:
        previousResponseId: resp_123
        conversationId: conv_123
        reasoningItemIdPolicy: omit

When an option needs executable code, such as sessionInputCallback, callModelInputFilter, toolErrorFormatter, or errorHandlers, point it at a file:// export.

Local Context​

Promptfoo passes the current test vars into the SDK's local context object for each run. Tools and callbacks can read those values through runContext.context:

export const lookupCustomerContext = tool({
  name: 'lookup_customer_context',
  description: 'Read the current customer tier from local run context.',
  parameters: z.object({}),
  execute: async (_args, runContext) => ({
    customer_tier: (runContext?.context as { customer_tier?: string }).customer_tier,
  }),
});

Use this for local application state that should be available to tools and hooks. It is separate from conversation history; use session, conversationId, or previousResponseId when you want to carry turns forward.

Stateful Red Team Runs​

Stateful red-team strategies such as crescendo and hydra need two things at once:

  • all turns within one attack should share history
  • separate tests should not share the same session

Use transformVars to stamp each test with a stable per-test session ID, then export a session factory that reuses sessions by that ID:

providers:
  - openai:agents:support-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/support-agent.ts
      session: file://./sessions/redteam-session.ts

defaultTest:
  options:
    transformVars: '{ ...vars, sessionId: context.uuid }'

redteam:
  strategies:
    - id: crescendo
      config:
        stateful: true
sessions/redteam-session.ts
import { MemorySession } from '@openai/agents';

const sessions = new Map<string, MemorySession>();

export default async function createSession(context?: {
  vars?: {
    sessionId?: string;
  };
}) {
  const sessionId = context?.vars?.sessionId ?? 'default-session';
  const existing = sessions.get(sessionId);
  if (existing) {
    return existing;
  }

  const session = new MemorySession({ sessionId });
  sessions.set(sessionId, session);
  return session;
}

This keeps each multi-turn attack stateful while still isolating one generated test case from another. With Hydra, set stateful: true only after configuring this session factory so Hydra can send just the newest turn while the SDK session preserves earlier turns. The same pattern is useful for agentic:memory-poisoning, which also depends on persistent state across turns.

Sandbox Agents​

@openai/agents v0.9 added beta SandboxAgent support in the JavaScript SDK. File-exported sandbox agents work with the same provider:

import { Manifest, SandboxAgent, file } from '@openai/agents/sandbox';

export default new SandboxAgent({
  name: 'Workspace Assistant',
  instructions: 'Inspect the workspace before answering.',
  defaultManifest: new Manifest({
    entries: {
      'task.md': file({ content: 'Ticket PF-42: update the release note.' }),
    },
  }),
});
providers:
  - openai:agents:workspace-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/workspace-agent.ts
      sandbox:
        type: unix-local
      maxTurns: 12

Use type: unix-local for the SDK's local sandbox client or type: docker for the Docker client. You can also pass a full SDK SandboxRunConfig, a file export, or a factory if you need custom sessions, snapshots, manifests, or clients.

Inline agent definitions can opt into the sandbox runtime with type: sandbox, but file-exported SDK agents are the better fit once you need custom capability objects such as skills() or non-default manifests.

Skills and Shell Tools​

The JavaScript SDK exposes local skills through shellTool and sandbox capability objects. Because these require executable SDK objects, define them in TypeScript/JavaScript and load them from file:// rather than trying to express them as YAML:

import { shellTool } from '@openai/agents';

export default [
  shellTool({
    shell: myShellImplementation,
    environment: {
      type: 'local',
      skills: [
        {
          name: 'ticket-summary',
          description: 'Summarize ticket files',
          path: './skills/ticket-summary',
        },
      ],
    },
  }),
];

For SandboxAgent workflows, use the SDK's sandbox capability helpers in the exported agent file. Prefer an explicit capability list such as shell() plus skills({ ... }) when you know the model only needs those tools; the SDK's broader default capability set can expose tools that a particular model does not support.

Retry Policies​

OpenAI Agents SDK v0.7 added opt-in retry settings on modelSettings.retry. Promptfoo supports YAML-friendly retry policy presets and passes them to the SDK as runtime callbacks.

providers:
  - openai:agents:support-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/support-agent.ts
      modelSettings:
        retry:
          maxRetries: 2
          backoff:
            initialDelayMs: 250
            maxDelayMs: 2000
            multiplier: 2
            jitter: true
          policy:
            any:
              - providerSuggested
              - httpStatus:
                  - 429
                  - 503

Supported preset policies are never, providerSuggested, networkError, and retryAfter.

You can also compose them with any or all. If you are configuring Promptfoo in TypeScript or JavaScript instead of YAML, you can pass SDK retry callbacks directly.

Mock Tool Execution​

Use mocked tool outputs when you want deterministic evals without calling external systems:

providers:
  - openai:agents:support-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/support-agent.ts
      tools: file://./tools/support-tools.ts
      executeTools: mock
      toolMocks:
        lookup_order:
          status: shipped
          tracking: ABC123

Tracing​

Enable OpenTelemetry tracing to debug agent execution:

providers:
  - openai:agents:my-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/my-agent.ts
      tracing: true # Exports to http://localhost:4318

With a custom OTLP endpoint:

providers:
  - openai:agents:my-agent
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/my-agent.ts
      tracing: true
      otlpEndpoint: https://otel-collector.example.com:4318

Or enable globally:

export PROMPTFOO_TRACING_ENABLED=true
npx promptfoo eval

Traces include agent execution spans, tool invocations, model calls, handoff events, token usage, and sandbox lifecycle spans. Promptfoo normalizes SDK tool spans into tool.name, tool.arguments, and tool.output, and sandbox command spans into command trajectory steps so the standard trajectory:* assertions work on both regular and sandbox runs.

When Promptfoo tracing is enabled, the provider adds Promptfoo OTLP export alongside any tracing processors already registered in the SDK. If Promptfoo tracing is disabled, the SDK's own tracing behavior still applies; set OPENAI_AGENTS_DISABLE_TRACING=1 if you also want to suppress the SDK exporter.

Once Promptfoo is collecting those traces, you can assert on the agent's path instead of only its final message:

tests:
  - vars:
      query: 'Find order 123 and tell me whether it shipped'
    assert:
      - type: trajectory:tool-used
        value: search_orders

      - type: trajectory:tool-args-match
        value:
          name: search_orders
          args:
            order_id: '123'

      - type: trajectory:tool-sequence
        value:
          steps:
            - search_orders
            - compose_reply

      - type: trajectory:goal-success
        value: 'Determine whether order 123 shipped and tell the user the correct status'
        provider: openai:gpt-5-mini

See Tracing for the eval-level OTLP setup required when you want Promptfoo to ingest and evaluate these traces directly.

Example: D&D Dungeon Master​

Full working example with D&D mechanics, dice rolling, and character management:

description: D&D Adventure with AI Dungeon Master

prompts:
  - '{{query}}'

providers:
  - id: openai:agents:dungeon-master
    config:
      agent: file://./agents/dungeon-master-agent.ts
      tools: file://./tools/game-tools.ts
      maxTurns: 20
      tracing: true

tests:
  - description: Dragon combat with attack roll
    vars:
      query: 'I draw my longsword and attack the red dragon!'
    assert:
      - type: llm-rubric
        value: Response includes dice rolls for attack and damage

  - description: Check character stats
    vars:
      query: 'What are my character stats and current HP?'
    assert:
      - type: contains-any
        value: ['Thorin', 'Fighter', 'level 5']
tip

Try the interactive example: npx promptfoo@latest init --example openai-agents-basic

Example: Advanced TypeScript Features​

For sessions, tracing assertions, sandbox agents, and skills, see the runnable openai-agents-advanced example:

npx promptfoo@latest init --example openai-agents-advanced
cd openai-agents-advanced
npx promptfoo eval -c promptfooconfig.yaml --no-cache -j 1
npx promptfoo eval -c promptfooconfig.sandbox.yaml --no-cache

Scope​

This provider targets non-streaming text and sandbox run() workflows. Use openai:realtime:* for Realtime API evals. Serialized human-in-the-loop RunState resume flows are application state, so test those through a custom JavaScript provider wrapper instead of passing them as prompt text.

Environment Variables​

VariableDescription
OPENAI_API_KEYOpenAI API key (required)
PROMPTFOO_TRACING_ENABLEDEnable tracing globally
OPENAI_BASE_URLCustom OpenAI API base URL
OPENAI_ORGANIZATIONOpenAI organization ID

Limitations​

warning

Tools must be async functions. Synchronous tools will cause runtime errors.

  • Agent definition files must be TypeScript or JavaScript
  • File paths require file:// prefix (relative paths resolve from config file location)
  • Default maximum: 10 turns (configure with maxTurns, or set null to disable the SDK turn limit)
Last updated on by ianw-oai