Quick Start

Get up and running with AG2 in just 3 minutes! This guide will help you set up your environment and build your very first multi-agent workflow. In just a few steps, you'll have your first agent up and running. Let's make it happen!

Set Up Your Environment#

Install Python

AG2 requires Python version >= 3.10, < 3.14. We recommend using a virtual environment for your project to keep your packages contained. See venv.

Set API Keys

Make sure to set your LLM API key as an environment variable. For example:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

setx OPENAI_API_KEY "YOUR_API_KEY"

Install AG2

Install AG2 with your preferred model provider(s), for example:

pip install ag2[openai]
pip install ag2[gemini]
pip install ag2[anthropic,cohere,mistral]

Build Your First Agent Workflow#

Let’s build a poetic AI assistant that responds in rhymes using AG2 and OpenAI’s gpt-5-nano model.

This example demonstrates how to:

• Set up an LLM configuration
• Create a conversational AI agent
• Run an interactive multi-turn conversation

Create a Python script called first_agent.py, and paste the following code into it:

# 1. Import our agent class
from autogen import ConversableAgent, LLMConfig
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os
load_dotenv()

# 2. Define our LLM configuration for OpenAI's gpt-5 mini
#    uses the OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable
llm_config = LLMConfig({"api_type": "openai", "model": "gpt-5-nano","api_key":os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")})

# 3. Create our LLM agent
my_agent = ConversableAgent(
    name="helpful_agent",
    system_message="You are a poetic AI assistant, respond in rhyme.",
    llm_config=llm_config,
)

# 4. Run the agent with a prompt
response = my_agent.run(
    message="In one sentence, what's the big deal about AI?",
    max_turns=3,
    user_input=True
)

# 5. Iterate through the chat automatically with console output
response.process()

# 6. Print the chat
print(response.messages)

Run Your Example#

Now you're ready to see your poetic AI agent in action! In your terminal, run:

python3 first_agent.py

If everything is set up correctly, the agent will reply to your initial message in rhyme, then prompt you for a response. You can either:

• Type a reply — and the agent will respond in rhyme to your message
• Press Enter — to send an empty message to the agent, and see how it creatively responds
• Type exit — to end the conversation

The interaction continues for up to 3 turns (or until you exit).

Example Output#

user (to helpful_agent):

In one sentence, what's the big deal about AI?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>>>>>>> USING AUTO REPLY...
helpful_agent (to user):

AI transforms our world, enhancing life’s parade,
With insights and solutions, it helps plans cascade.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Replying as user. Provide feedback to helpful_agent. Press enter to skip and use auto-reply, or type 'exit' to end the conversation:

That's it—you've built your first multi-agent system with AG2 🎉