OpenAI Agents SDK

Build AI applications with text agents, voice agents (realtime), multi-agent workflows, tools, guardrails, and human-in-the-loop patterns.

Quick Start

npm install @openai/agents zod@4  # v0.4.0+ requires Zod 4 (breaking change)
npm install @openai/agents-realtime  # Voice agents
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key"

Breaking Change (v0.4.0): Zod 3 no longer supported. Upgrade to zod@4.

Runtimes: Node.js 22+, Deno, Bun, Cloudflare Workers (experimental)

Core Concepts

Agents: LLMs with instructions + tools

import { Agent } from '@openai/agents';
const agent = new Agent({ name: 'Assistant', tools: [myTool], model: 'gpt-5-mini' });

Tools: Functions with Zod schemas

import { tool } from '@openai/agents';
import { z } from 'zod';
const weatherTool = tool({
  name: 'get_weather',
  parameters: z.object({ city: z.string() }),
  execute: async ({ city }) => `Weather in ${city}: sunny`,
});

Handoffs: Multi-agent delegation

const triageAgent = Agent.create({ handoffs: [specialist1, specialist2] });

Guardrails: Input/output validation

const agent = new Agent({ inputGuardrails: [detector], outputGuardrails: [filter] });

Structured Outputs: Type-safe responses

const agent = new Agent({ outputType: z.object({ sentiment: z.enum(['positive', 'negative']) }) });

Text Agents

Basic: const result = await run(agent, 'What is 2+2?')

Streaming:

const stream = await run(agent, 'Tell me a story', { stream: true });
for await (const event of stream) {
  if (event.type === 'raw_model_stream_event') process.stdout.write(event.data?.choices?.[0]?.delta?.content || '');
}

Multi-Agent Handoffs

const billingAgent = new Agent({ name: 'Billing', handoffDescription: 'For billing questions', tools: [refundTool] });
const techAgent = new Agent({ name: 'Technical', handoffDescription: 'For tech issues', tools: [ticketTool] });
const triageAgent = Agent.create({ name: 'Triage', handoffs: [billingAgent, techAgent] });

Agent-as-Tool Context Isolation: When using agent.asTool(), sub-agents do NOT share parent conversation history (intentional design to simplify debugging).

Workaround: Pass context via tool parameters:

const helperTool = tool({
  name: 'use_helper',
  parameters: z.object({
    query: z.string(),
    context: z.string().optional(),
  }),
  execute: async ({ query, context }) => {
    return await run(subAgent, `${context}\n\n${query}`);
  },
});

Source: Issue #806

Guardrails

Input: Validate before processing

const guardrail: InputGuardrail = {
  execute: async ({ input }) => ({ tripwireTriggered: detectHomework(input) })
};
const agent = new Agent({ inputGuardrails: [guardrail] });

Output: Filter responses (PII detection, content safety)

Human-in-the-Loop

const refundTool = tool({ name: 'process_refund', requiresApproval: true, execute: async ({ amount }) => `Refunded $${amount}` });

let result = await runner.run(input);
while (result.interruption?.type === 'tool_approval') {
  result = await promptUser(result.interruption) ? result.state.approve(result.interruption) : result.state.reject(result.interruption);
}

Streaming HITL: When using stream: true with requiresApproval, must explicitly check interruptions:

const stream = await run(agent, input, { stream: true });
let result = await stream.finalResult();
while (result.interruption?.type === 'tool_approval') {
  const approved = await promptUser(result.interruption);
  result = approved
    ? await result.state.approve(result.interruption)
    
how to use openai-agents
CursorClaude CodeClineCodexWindsurfGooseGitHub CopilotVS CodeGemini CLIKiloOpencodeKimi CLIRoo ClineAiderContinueZedBolt.newLovablev0Replit AgentSweepSmol DeveloperDevinCavemanAmpAntigravity
How to use openai-agents on Cursor
AI-first code editor with Composer
1
Prerequisites
Before installing skills in Cursor, ensure your development environment meets these requirements:
›Cursor installed and configured on your development machine
›Node.js version 16.0+ with npm package manager (verify with node --version)
›Active project directory or workspace where you want to add openai-agents
2
Execute installation command
Execute the skills CLI command in your project's root directory to begin installation:
$npx skills add https://github.com/jezweb/claude-skills --skill openai-agentscopy
The skills CLI fetches openai-agents from GitHub repository jezweb/claude-skills and configures it for Cursor.
3
Select Cursor when prompted
The CLI will show a list of available agents. Use arrow keys to navigate and space to select Cursor:
◆ Which agents do you want to install to?
│
│ ── Universal (.agents/skills) ── always included ────
│   • Amp
│   • Antigravity
│   • Cline
│   • Codex
│ ●Cursor(selected)
│   • Cursor
│   • Windsurf
4
Verify installation
Confirm successful installation by checking the skill directory location:
.cursor/skills/openai-agents
Reload or restart Cursor to activate openai-agents. Access the skill through slash commands (e.g., /openai-agents) or your agent's skill management interface.
⚠
Security & Verification Notice
We perform automated surface-level scans (Gen AI Scanner, Socket, Snyk) during installation. These checks detect common vulnerabilities but do not guarantee complete security. Always review skill source code and verify the publisher's reputation before production use.
Skills execute code in your development environment. Always verify the publisher's identity, review recent commits, and test in isolated environments before production deployment.
Additional Resources
›View source code on GitHub›Skills CLI documentation›Learn more about Cursor›What are agent skills?