OpenAI Unveils Responses API, Agents SDK to Help Developers Build AI Agents

OpenAI made several developer-focused announcements in a live stream on Tuesday. The San Francisco-based AI giant is introducing a new application programming interface (API) and an open-source software development kit (SDK) that will allow developers to build artificial intelligence (AI) agents and manage multi-agent workflows. Alongside, the company also previewed three tools that will be part of the new Responses API and offer developers to build software and apps with agentic capabilities. While the Responses API will act as the baseline to build AI agents, the Agents SDK will offer a suite to manage and create workflows using multiple agents.

OpenAI Introduces New Developer Tools

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the official handle of OpenAI Developers posted a video from the live stream where the company made the announcements. Apart from the API and SDK, the AI firm unveiled three new tools — web search, file search, and computer use. All the three tools can be accessed via the new Responses API.

Web search tool allows developers to integrate their AI agents with web lookup capability so that they can find and provide real-time information. It uses the same model OpenAI uses for its web search function. It is currently available in preview. File search is a retrieval function that can pull specific information from large documents. It comes with query optimisation and custom reranking capabilities.

Finally, the computer use tool is powered by the same model behind the AI firm's Operator agent. It can be used to build agents that can access and complete tasks on a computer and across graphical user interfaces (GUIs). OpenAI says it can be used for QA testing and data entry-like tasks. Notably, this tool is available to developers on usage tiers three to five as a research preview.

Coming to the Responses API, it is the latest API by the company which is aimed at replacing the existing Chat Completions and Assistant API. Put simply, the Responses API comes with all the functionalities of the existing programming interfaces, with the additional tool use capability. OpenAI says this tool integration capability will also allow developers to build AI agents.

OpenAI says that since the Responses API is a superset of Chat Completions and Assistant, code migration will be a straight forward process and the AI firm will ensure that developers do not suffer any glitches or data loss. Eventually, the company plans to retire the Assistant API, while Chat Completions will continue to exist for those developers who do not want agentic functions.

Finally, the Agents SDK is designed to let developers create and manage multi-agent workflows. With this, they can pair multiple agents together to complete more complex tasks. It is an upgrade to the previous agentic system Swarm. This SDK is equipped with several sets of primitives including Agents (AI models equipped with instructions and tools), Handoffs (agents can delegate tasks to other agents), and Guardrails (agents validate the input).