Unlocking the Power of AI Agents: An Introductory Guide - Part 1
This blog post introduces Microsoft's "AI Agents for Beginners" course and its accompanying GitHub repository, offering a valuable resource for anyone interested in learning about agentic AI. The course covers fundamental concepts, different types of agents, design patterns, and practical frameworks for building intelligent agents. Whether you're a beginner, intermediate learner, or advanced developer, this free resource provides a comprehensive learning experience, empowering you to create AI systems that can reason, plan, and act autonomously. The post also highlights additional resources, including links to Azure AI Agent Service, Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, and the Azure AI Discord community. Embark on your agentic AI journey today and discover the future of intelligent applications.AI Agents: Building Trustworthy Agents- Part 6
This blog post, Part 6 in a series on AI agents, focuses on building trustworthy AI agents. It emphasizes the importance of safety and security in agent design and deployment. The post details a system message framework for creating robust and scalable prompts, outlining a four-step process from meta prompt to iterative refinement. It then explores various threats to AI agents, including task manipulation, unauthorized access, resource overloading, knowledge base poisoning, and cascading errors, providing mitigation strategies for each. The post also highlights the human-in-the-loop approach for enhanced trust and control, providing a code example using AutoGen. Finally, it links to further resources on responsible AI, model evaluation, and risk assessment, along with the previous posts in the series.
Building Agentic Solutions with Autogen 0.4
Multi Agent Systems are a consequence of an organized interaction between diverse agents to achieve a goal. Similar to human collaborations, Agentic solutions are expected to collaborate effectively in accordance with the goal to be accomplished. A crucial aspect is adopting the appropriate design pattern depending on the task on hand. Let us look at the design of Agentic Solutions is stages. Stage 1: Determine all the required Agents and define the required tools which can be leveraged by the Agents. The tools may have access requirements which has to be handled with appropriate security constraints. In Autogen, this is supported through multiple patterns which address different requirements. At its core, Autogen provides the ability to leverage LLMs, human inputs, tools or a combination. Autogen 0.4 in particular has provided an high-level API through AgentChat with preset Agents allowing for variations in agent responses. Some of the preset Agents include 1) AssistantAgent is a built-in agent which can use a language model and tools. It can also handle multimodal messages and instructions of the Agents function. 2) UserProxyAgent: An agent that takes user input returns it as responses. 3) CodeExecutorAgent: An agent that can execute code. 4) OpenAIAssistantAgent: An agent that is backed by an OpenAI Assistant, with ability to use custom tools. 5) MultimodalWebSurfer: A multi-modal agent that can search the web and visit web pages for information. 6) FileSurfer: An agent that can search and browse local files for information. 7) VideoSurfer: An agent that can watch videos for information. A Custom Agents can be used when the preset Agents do not address the need. Stage 2: Identify the optimal interaction between the team of agents. This can include a human in the loop proxy agent which serves as an interface for human inputs. Autogen supports multiple interaction patterns 1) GroupChat is a high-level design pattern for interleaved interactions. In Auotgen 0.4, GroupChat got further abstracted with RoundRobinGroupChat or SelectorGroupChat . This means you can choose to go with abstracted options of RoundRobinGroupChat, SelectorGroupChat or customize it to your need with the base GroupChat in the core. RoundRobinGroupChat team configuration where all agents share the same context respond in a round-robin fashion. Broadcasts response to all agents, provides a consistent context. Human In the Loop - UserProxyAgent SelectorGroupChat team where participants take turns broadcasting messages to all other members. A generative model selects the next speaker based on the shared context, enabling dynamic, context-aware collaboration. selector_func argument with a custom selector function to override the default model-based selection. GroupChat in core 2) Sequential Agents Stage 3: Determine the memory and message passing between the Agents Memory can be the context for the Agent which could be the conversation history, RAG which is pulled from a ListMemory or a Custom Memory Store like a Vector DB. Messaging between Agents uses ChatMessage. This message type allows both text and multimodal communication and includes specific types such as TextMessage or MultiModalMessage. Stage 4: Articulate the Termination condition The following Termination options are available in Autogen 0.4 MaxMessageTermination: Stops after a specified number of messages have been produced, including both agent and task messages. TextMentionTermination: Stops when specific text or string is mentioned in a message (e.g., “TERMINATE”). TokenUsageTermination: Stops when a certain number of prompt or completion tokens are used. This requires the agents to report token usage in their messages. TimeoutTermination: Stops after a specified duration in seconds. HandoffTermination: Stops when a handoff to a specific target is requested. Handoff messages can be used to build patterns such as Swarm. This is useful when you want to pause the run and allow application or user to provide input when an agent hands off to them. SourceMatchTermination: Stops after a specific agent responds. ExternalTermination: Enables programmatic control of termination from outside the run. This is useful for UI integration (e.g., “Stop” buttons in chat interfaces). StopMessageTermination: Stops when a StopMessage is produced by an agent. TextMessageTermination: Stops when a TextMessage is produced by an agent. FunctionCallTermination: Stops when a ToolCallExecutionEvent containing a FunctionExecutionResult with a matching name is produced by an agent. Stage 5: Optionally manage the state This is useful in web application where stateless endpoints respond to requests and need to load the state of the application from persistent storage. The state can be saved by using the save_state() call in the AssistantAgent. assistant_agent.save_state() Finally, Logging and Serializing is also available for debugging and sharing. A well-designed Agentic Solution is crucial to be both optimal and effective in accomplishing the assigned goal. References Autogen - https://microsoft.github.io/autogen/stable/index.htmlJuly 2025 Recap: Azure Database for PostgreSQL
Hello Azure Community, July delivered a wave of exciting updates to Azure Database for PostgreSQL! From Fabric mirroring support for private networking to cascading read replicas, these new features are all about scaling smarter, performing faster, and building better. This blog covers what’s new, why it matters, and how to get started. Catch Up on POSETTE 2025 In case you missed POSETTE: An Event for Postgres 2025 or couldn't watch all of the sessions live, here's a playlist with the 11 talks all about Azure Database for PostgreSQL. And, if you'd like to dive even deeper, the Ultimate Guide will help you navigate the full catalog of 42 recorded talks published on YouTube. Feature Highlights Upsert and Script activity in ADF and Azure Synapse – Generally Available Power BI Entra authentication support – Generally Available New Regions: Malaysia West & Chile Central Latest Postgres minor versions: 17.5, 16.9, 15.13, 14.18 and 13.21 Cascading Read Replica – Public Preview Private Endpoint and VNet support for Fabric Mirroring - Public Preview Agentic Web with NLWeb and PostgreSQL PostgreSQL for VS Code extension enhancements Improved Maintenance Workflow for Stopped Instances Upsert and Script activity in ADF and Azure Synapse – Generally Available We’re excited to announce the general availability of Upsert method and Script activity in Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse Analytics for Azure Database for PostgreSQL. These new capabilities bring greater flexibility and performance to your data pipelines: Upsert Method: Easily merge incoming data into existing PostgreSQL tables without writing complex logic reducing overhead and improving efficiency. Script Activity: Run custom SQL scripts as part of your workflows, enabling advanced transformations, procedural logic, and fine-grained control over data operations. Together, these features streamline ETL and ELT processes, making it easier to build scalable, declarative, and robust data integration solutions using PostgreSQL as either a source or sink. Visit our documentation guide for Upsert Method and script activity to know more. Power BI Entra authentication support – Generally Available You can now use Microsoft Entra ID authentication to connect to Azure Database for PostgreSQL from Power BI Desktop. This update simplifies access management, enhances security, and helps you support your organization’s broader Entra-based authentication strategy. To learn more, please refer to our documentation. New Regions: Malaysia West & Chile Central Azure Database for PostgreSQL has now launched in Malaysia West and Chile Central. This expanded regional presence brings lower latency, enhanced performance, and data residency support, making it easier to build fast, reliable, and compliant applications, right where your users are. This continues to be our mission to bring Azure Database for PostgreSQL closer to where you build and run your apps. For the full list of regions visit: Azure Database for PostgreSQL Regions. Latest Postgres minor versions: 17.5, 16.9, 15.13, 14.18 and 13.21 PostgreSQL latest minor versions 17.5, 16.9, 15.13, 14.18 and 13.21 are now supported by Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server. These minor version upgrades are automatically performed as part of the monthly planned maintenance in Azure Database for PostgreSQL. This upgrade automation ensures that your databases are always running on the most secure and optimized versions without requiring manual intervention. This release fixes two security vulnerabilities and over 40 bug fixes and improvements. To learn more, please refer PostgreSQL community announcement for more details about the release. Cascading Read Replica – Public Preview Azure Database for PostgreSQL supports cascading read replica in public preview capacity. This feature allows you to scale read-intensive workloads more effectively by creating replicas not only from the primary database but also from existing read replicas, enabling two-level replication chains. With cascading read replicas, you can: Improve performance for read-heavy applications. Distribute read traffic more efficiently. Support complex deployment topologies. Data replication is asynchronous, and each replica can serve as a source for additional replicas. This setup enhances scalability and flexibility for your PostgreSQL deployments. For more details read the cascading read replicas documentation. Private Endpoint and VNET Support for Fabric Mirroring - Public Preview Microsoft Fabric now supports mirroring for Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instances deployed with Virtual Network (VNET) integration or Private Endpoints. This enhancement broadens the scope of Fabric’s real-time data replication capabilities, enabling secure and seamless analytics on transactional data, even within network-isolated environments. Previously, mirroring was only available for flexible server instances with public endpoint access. With this update, organizations can now replicate data from Azure Database for PostgreSQL hosted in secure, private networks, without compromising on data security, compliance, or performance. This is particularly valuable for enterprise customers who rely on VNETs and Private Endpoints for database connectivity from isolated networks. For more details visit fabric mirroring with private networking support blog. Agentic Web with NLWeb and PostgreSQL We’re excited to announce that NLWeb (Natural Language Web), Microsoft’s open project for natural language interfaces on websites now supports PostgreSQL. With this enhancement, developers can leverage PostgreSQL and NLWeb to transform any website into an AI-powered application or Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. This integration allows organizations to utilize a familiar, robust database as the foundation for conversational AI experiences, streamlining deployment and maximizing data security and scalability. For more details, read Agentic web with NLWeb and PostgreSQL blog. PostgreSQL for VS Code extension enhancements PostgreSQL for VS Code extension is rolling out new updates to improve your experience with this extension. We are introducing key connections, authentication, and usability improvements. Here’s what we improved: SSH connections - You can now set up SSH tunneling directly in the Advanced Connection options, making it easier to securely connect to private networks without leaving VS Code. Clearer authentication setup - A new “No Password” option eliminates guesswork when setting up connections that don’t require credentials. Entra ID fixes - Improved default username handling, token refresh, and clearer error feedback for failed connections. Array and character rendering - Unicode and PostgreSQL arrays now display more reliably and consistently. Azure Portal flow - Reuses existing connection profiles to avoid duplicates when launching from the portal. Don’t forget to update to the latest version in the Marketplace to take advantage of these enhancements and visit our GitHub to learn more about this month’s release. Improved Maintenance Workflow for Stopped Instances We’ve improved how scheduled maintenance is handled for stopped or disabled PostgreSQL servers. Maintenance is now applied only when the server is restarted - either manually or through the 7-day auto-restart rather than forcing a restart during the scheduled maintenance window. This change reduces unnecessary disruptions and gives you more control over when updates are applied. You may notice a slightly longer restart time (5–8 minutes) if maintenance is pending. For more information, refer Applying Maintenance on Stopped/Disabled Instances. Azure Postgres Learning Bytes 🎓 Set Up HA Health Status Monitoring Alerts This section will talk about setting up HA health status monitoring alerts using Azure Portal. These alerts can be used to effectively monitor the HA health states for your server. To monitor the health of your High Availability (HA) setup: Navigate to Azure portal and select your Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instance. Create an Alert Rule Go to Monitoring > Alerts > Create Alert Rule Scope: Select your PostgreSQL Flexible Server Condition: Choose the signal from the drop down (CPU percentage, storage percentage etc.) Logic: Define when the alert should trigger Action Group: Specify where the alert should be sent (email, webhook, etc.) Add tags Click on “Review + Create” Verify the Alert Check the Alerts tab in Azure Monitor to confirm the alert has been triggered. For deeper insight into resource health: Go to Azure Portal > Search for Service Health > Select Resource Health. Choose Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server from the dropdown. Review the health status of your server. For more information, check out the HA Health status monitoring documentation guide. Conclusion That’s a wrap for our July 2025 feature updates! Thanks for being part of our journey to make Azure Database for PostgreSQL better with every release. We’re always working to improve, and your feedback helps us do that. 💬 Got ideas, questions, or suggestions? We’d love to hear from you: https://aka.ms/pgfeedback 📢 Want to stay on top of Azure Database for PostgreSQL updates? Follow us here for the latest announcements, feature releases, and best practices: Azure Database for PostgreSQL Blog Stay tuned for more updates in our next blog!AI Agents in Production: From Prototype to Reality - Part 10
This blog post, the tenth and final installment in a series on AI agents, focuses on deploying AI agents to production. It covers evaluating agent performance, addressing common issues, and managing costs. The post emphasizes the importance of a robust evaluation system, providing potential solutions for performance issues, and outlining cost management strategies such as response caching, using smaller models, and implementing router models.AI Agents: The Multi-Agent Design Pattern - Part 8
This blog post, Part 8 in a series on AI agents, explores the Multi-Agent Design Pattern, outlining the benefits and key components of building systems with multiple interacting agents. It details the scenarios where multi-agent systems excel (large workloads, complex tasks, diverse expertise), highlights their advantages over single-agent approaches (specialization, scalability, fault tolerance), and discusses the fundamental building blocks for implementation, including agent communication, coordination mechanisms, and architectural considerations. The post introduces common multi-agent patterns (group chat, hand-off, collaborative filtering) and illustrates these concepts with a refund process example. Finally, it includes a practical assignment and provides links to further resources and previous posts in the series.AI Agents: Planning and Orchestration with the Planning Design Pattern - Part 7
This blog post, Part 7 in a series on AI agents, focuses on the Planning Design Pattern for effective task orchestration. It explains how to define clear goals, decompose complex tasks into manageable subtasks, and leverage structured output (e.g., JSON) for seamless communication between agents. The post includes code snippets demonstrating how to create a planning agent, orchestrate multi-agent workflows, and implement iterative planning for dynamic adaptation. It also links to a practical example notebook (07-autogen.ipynb) and further resources like AutoGen Magnetic One, encouraging readers to explore advanced planning concepts. Links to the previous posts in the series are provided for easy access to foundational AI agent concepts.AI Agents: Mastering Agentic RAG - Part 5
This blog post, Part 5 of a series on AI agents, explores Agentic RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), a paradigm shift in how LLMs interact with external data. Unlike traditional RAG, Agentic RAG allows LLMs to autonomously plan their information retrieval process through an iterative loop of actions and evaluations. The post highlights the importance of the LLM "owning" the reasoning process, dynamically selecting tools and refining queries. It covers key implementation details, including iterative loops, tool integration, memory management, and handling failure modes. Practical use cases, governance considerations, and code examples demonstrating Agentic RAG with AutoGen, Semantic Kernel, and Azure AI Agent Service are provided. The post concludes by emphasizing the transformative potential of Agentic RAG and encourages further exploration through linked resources and previous blog posts in the series.AI Agents: Mastering the Tool Use Design Pattern - Part 4
This blog post, Part 4 of a series on AI agents, delves into the Tool Use Design Pattern, a key concept in enabling agents to interact with external systems and perform a wider range of tasks. The post explains how tools, ranging from simple functions to complex API calls, are invoked by AI agents through model-generated function calls. Several use cases are presented, highlighting the versatility of this pattern, from dynamic information retrieval and code execution to workflow automation and customer support. The post further details the implementation of function/tool calling, including choosing a suitable LLM, defining a function schema, and writing the function code. Examples using Semantic Kernel and Azure AI Agent Service illustrate how agentic frameworks simplify tool integration. Finally, the post addresses security considerations and provides links to valuable resources, including the "AI Agents for Beginners" GitHub repository and related workshops, for further learning.
