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title Agentic app with Microsoft Agent Framework or Foundry Agent Service (.NET)
description Learn how to quickly deploy a production-ready, agentic web application using .NET with Azure App Service, Microsoft Agent Framework, and Foundry Agent Service.
ms.service azure-app-service
author cephalin
ms.author cephalin
ms.devlang csharp
ms.topic tutorial
ms.date 12/12/2025
ms.custom
devx-track-dotnet
ms.collection ce-skilling-ai-copilot
ms.update-cycle 180-days

Tutorial: Build an agentic web app in Azure App Service with Microsoft Agent Framework or Foundry Agent Service (.NET)

This tutorial demonstrates how to add agentic capability to an existing data-driven ASP.NET Core CRUD application. It does this using two different approaches: Microsoft Agent Framework and Foundry Agent Service.

If your web application already has useful features, like shopping, hotel booking, or data management, it's relatively straightforward to add agent functionality to your web application by wrapping those functionalities as tools (for Microsoft Agent Framework) or as an OpenAPI endpoint (for Foundry Agent Service). In this tutorial, you start with a simple to-do list app. By the end, you'll be able to create, update, and manage tasks with an agent in an App Service app.

Microsoft Agent Framework

:::image type="content" source="media/tutorial-ai-agent-web-app-semantic-kernel-foundry-dotnet/microsoft-agent-framework.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing the Microsoft Agent Framework agent chat interface with a conversation about task management.":::

Foundry Agent Service

:::image type="content" source="media/tutorial-ai-agent-web-app-semantic-kernel-foundry-dotnet/foundry-agent-service.png" alt-text="Screenshot of a chat completion session with a Foundry agent.":::

Both Microsoft Agent Framework and Foundry Agent Service enable you to build agentic web applications with AI-driven capabilities. The following table shows some of the considerations and trade-offs:

Consideration Microsoft Agent Framework Foundry Agent Service
Performance Fast (runs locally) Slower (managed, remote service)
Development Full code, maximum control Low code, rapid integration
Testing Manual/unit tests in code Built-in playground for quick testing
Scalability App-managed Azure-managed, autoscaled
Security guardrails Custom implementation required Built-in content safety and moderation
Identity Custom implementation required Built-in agent ID and authentication
Enterprise Custom integration required Built-in Microsoft 365/Teams deployment and Microsoft 365 integrated tool calls.

In this tutorial, you learn how to:

[!div class="checklist"]

  • Convert existing app functionality into tools for Microsoft Agent Framework.
  • Add the tools to a Microsoft Agent Framework agent and use it in a web app.
  • Convert existing app functionality into an OpenAPI endpoint for Foundry Agent Service.
  • Call a Foundry agent in a web app.
  • Assign the required permissions for managed identity connectivity.

Prerequisites

Open the sample with Codespaces

The easiest way to get started is by using GitHub Codespaces, which provides a complete development environment with all required tools preinstalled.

  1. Navigate to the GitHub repository at https://github.com/Azure-Samples/app-service-agentic-semantic-kernel-ai-foundry-agent.

  2. Select the Code button, select the Codespaces tab, and select Create codespace on main.

  3. Wait a few moments for your Codespace to initialize. When ready, you'll see a fully configured development environment in your browser.

  4. Run the application locally:

    dotnet run

  5. When you see Your application running on port 5280 is available, select Open in Browser and add a few tasks.

Review the agent code

Both approaches use the same implementation pattern, where the agent is initialized as a service (in Program.cs) in a provider and injected into the respective Blazor component.

Microsoft Agent Framework

The AgentFrameworkProvider is initialized in Services/AgentFrameworkProvider.cs. The initialization code does the following:

  • Creates an IChatClient from Azure OpenAI using the AzureOpenAIClient.
  • Gets the TaskCrudTool instance that encapsulates the functionality of the CRUD application (in Tools/TaskCrudTool.cs). The Description attributes on the tool methods help the agent determine how to call them.
  • Creates an AI agent using CreateAIAgent() with instructions and tools registered via AIFunctionFactory.Create().
  • Creates a thread for the agent to persist conversation across navigation.

:::code language="csharp" source="~/app-service-agentic-semantic-kernel-ai-foundry-agent/Services/AgentFrameworkProvider.cs" range="43-71" highlight="2-6,9,12-24,27" :::

Each time the user sends a message, the Blazor component (in Components/Pages/AgentFrameworkAgent.razor) calls Agent.RunAsync() with the user input and the agent thread. The agent thread keeps track of the chat history.

:::code language="csharp" source="~/app-service-agentic-semantic-kernel-ai-foundry-agent/Components/Pages/AgentFrameworkAgent.razor" range="84" :::

Foundry Agent Service

The FoundryAgentProvider provider is initialized in Services/FoundryAgentProvider.cs. The initialization code does the following:

  • Creates an AIProjectClient using the Foundry project endpoint.
  • Gets an existing agent from Microsoft Foundry by name.
  • Creates a conversation for the browser session.
  • Gets a ProjectResponsesClient for the agent and conversation.

:::code language="csharp" source="~/app-service-agentic-semantic-kernel-ai-foundry-agent/Services/FoundryAgentProvider.cs" range="56-71" highlight="2,5,8,11,14" :::

This initialization code doesn't define any functionality for the agent, because you would typically build the agent in the Foundry portal. As part of the example scenario, it also follows the OpenAPI pattern shown in Add an App Service app as a tool in Foundry Agent Service (.NET), and makes its CRUD functionality available as an OpenAPI endpoint. This lets you add it to the agent later as a callable tool.

The OpenAPI code is defined in Program.cs. For example, the "get tasks" API defines the operation ID with WithName(), as required by the OpenAPI spec tool in Microsoft Foundry, and WithDescription() helps the agent determine how to call the API:

:::code language="csharp" source="~/app-service-agentic-semantic-kernel-ai-foundry-agent/Program.cs" range="46-53" highlight="7-8" :::

Each time the user sends a message, the Blazor component (in Components/Pages/FoundryAgent.razor) calls ResponseClient.CreateResponseAsync() with the user input. The response client uses the conversation ID to keep track of the chat history.

:::code language="csharp" source="~/app-service-agentic-semantic-kernel-ai-foundry-agent/Components/Pages/FoundryAgent.razor" range="74-76" :::

Deploy the sample application

The sample repository contains an Azure Developer CLI (AZD) template, which creates an App Service app with managed identity and deploys your sample application.

  1. In the terminal, log into Azure using Azure Developer CLI:

    azd auth login

    Follow the instructions to complete the authentication process.

  2. Deploy the Azure App Service app with the AZD template:

    azd up

  3. When prompted, give the following answers:

    Question Answer
    Enter a new environment name: Type a unique name.
    Select an Azure Subscription to use: Select the subscription.
    Pick a resource group to use: Select Create a new resource group.
    Select a location to create the resource group in: Select Sweden Central.
    Enter a name for the new resource group: Type Enter.

  4. In the AZD output, find the URL of your app and navigate to it in the browser. The URL looks like this in the AZD output:

     Deploying services (azd deploy)
 
   (✓) Done: Deploying service web
   - Endpoint: <URL>

  5. Select the OpenAPI schema item to open the autogenerated OpenAPI schema at the default /openapi/v1.json path. You need this schema later.

  6. After successful deployment, you'll see a URL for your deployed application.

    You now have an App Service app with a system-assigned managed identity.

Create and configure the Microsoft Foundry resource

Microsoft Agent Framework

[!INCLUDE create-model]

Foundry Agent Service

[!INCLUDE create-agent]

Assign required permissions

Microsoft Agent Framework

[!INCLUDE configure-model-permissions]

Foundry Agent Service

[!INCLUDE configure-agent-permissions]

Configure connection variables in your sample application

  1. Open appsettings.json. Using the values you copied earlier from the Foundry portal, configure the following variables:

    Microsoft Agent Framework

    Variable Description
    AzureOpenAIEndpoint Azure OpenAI endpoint (copied from the classic Foundry portal).
    ModelDeployment Model name in the deployment (copied from the model playground in the new Foundry portal).

    [!NOTE] To keep the tutorial simple, you'll use these variables in appsettings.json instead of overwriting them with app settings in App Service.

    Foundry Agent Service

    Variable Description
    FoundryProjectEndpoint Microsoft Foundry project endpoint from the new Foundry portal.
    FoundryAgentName Agent name (from the agent playground in the Foundry portal).

    [!NOTE] To keep the tutorial simple, you'll use these variables in appsettings.json instead of overwriting them with app settings in App Service.

  2. Sign in to Azure with the Azure CLI:

    az login

    This allows the Azure Identity client library in the sample code to receive an authentication token for the logged in user. Remember that you added the required role for this user earlier.

  3. Run the application locally:

    dotnet run

  4. When you see Your application running on port 5280 is available, select Open in Browser.

  5. Select the Microsoft Agent Framework Agent link and the Foundry Agent Service link to try out the chat interface. If you get a response, your application is connecting successfully to the Microsoft Foundry resource.

  6. Back in the GitHub codespace, deploy your app changes.

    azd up

  7. Navigate to the deployed application again and test the chat agents.

Microsoft Agent Framework

:::image type="content" source="media/tutorial-ai-agent-web-app-semantic-kernel-foundry-dotnet/microsoft-agent-framework.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing the deployed Microsoft Agent Framework agent successfully managing tasks in the web app.":::

Foundry Agent Service

:::image type="content" source="media/tutorial-ai-agent-web-app-semantic-kernel-foundry-dotnet/foundry-agent-service.png" alt-text="Screenshot of a chat completion session with a Foundry Agent Service agent.":::

Clean up resources

When you're done with the application, you can delete the App Service resources to avoid incurring further costs:

azd down --purge

Since the AZD template doesn't include the Microsoft Foundry resources, you need to delete them manually if you want.

More resources