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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 agent workflow.

Prerequisites

Make sure you've installed AG2 before continuing. Need just 30 seconds: pip install "ag2[openai]"

Set Up Your Environment#

Python Version

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 Your API Key

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

export OPENAI_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

setx OPENAI_API_KEY "YOUR_API_KEY"

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.

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

import os

from autogen import ConversableAgent, LLMConfig

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

# 2. 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,
)

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

Why run() then process()?

run() prepares the conversation, process() executes it. This two-step pattern gives you a chance to inspect or modify the workflow before it runs.

Run Your Example#

In your terminal, run:

python 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:

Try it without installing

Want to see AG2 in action right away? The AG2 Playground lets you run multi-agent workflows live in your browser — no setup required.

What's Next?#

Now that you've built your first agent, here's where to go: