Will azure-ai-agents SDK (Foundry Agent Service classic) continue working after the Assistants API retirement on August 26, 2026?

Nadson Costa 0 Reputation points
2026-06-30T11:45:38.51+00:00

We are using the azure-ai-agents Python SDK (AgentsClient) to connect to the Foundry Agent Service (classic), which according to the official docs is deprecated and retiring on March 31, 2027.

However, we noticed that the Assistants API (Azure OpenAI classic) has a separate earlier retirement date of August 26, 2026, and the Foundry Agent Service was originally described as "built off of the Assistants API in Azure OpenAI".

Our questions:

  1. Does the Foundry Agent Service (classic) — accessed via azure-ai-agents SDK — depend on the Assistants API infrastructure internally?
  2. If yes, will the Foundry Agent Service (classic) break before its official March 2027 retirement date when the Assistants API is retired in August 2026?
  3. Or are these two completely independent retirement tracks, and the azure-ai-agents SDK will remain fully functional until March 31, 2027?

We need to plan our migration timeline accordingly and want to confirm the effective deadline for our workloads.

Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models
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  1. Sina Salam 30,486 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-06-30T17:16:33.5033333+00:00

    Hello Nadson Costa,

    Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A and thank you for posting your questions here.

    I understand that you need to confirm whether your workload will continue working after the Azure OpenAI Assistants API retirement on August 26, 2026.

    The key point is this: Foundry Agent Service classic and Azure OpenAI Assistants API have different retirement dates, but you should not rely on the March 31, 2027 classic Agents retirement date if your workload depends on Assistants API behavior, assistant/thread/run semantics, or Azure OpenAI Assistants-derived infrastructure. The Assistants API is officially deprecated and retires on August 26, 2026, while Foundry Agent Service classic is deprecated and retires on March 31, 2027. - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry-classic/openai/concepts/assistants, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry-classic/agents/whats-new

    The production-safe resolution is to migrate now to the generally available Microsoft Foundry Agent Service using the Responses API, because current migration guidance directs customers to move classic/Assistants workloads to the new Foundry Agents experience, which is built on the Responses API instead of the older Assistants API. - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry/agents/how-to/migrate, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry/how-to/navigate-from-classic

    I hope this is helpful. Please! Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions, steps or clarifications.

    Please do not close the thread by upvoting and accepting the answer if any part of it is helpful.

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