On Tuesday, OpenAI held a live stream to announce a series of new developments aimed at enhancing the capabilities available to developers. The San Francisco-based AI leader is launching a new application programming interface (API) along with an open-source software development kit (SDK) designed to facilitate the creation of artificial intelligence (AI) agents and to manage workflows involving multiple agents. Additionally, the company provided a preview of three key tools that are set to be integrated into the new Responses API, enabling developers to craft software and applications with agent-driven functionalities.
The official OpenAI Developers account shared highlights from the announcement in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter). Alongside the new API and SDK, the company introduced three innovative tools: web search, file search, and computer use, all of which can be accessed through the forthcoming Responses API.
The web search tool grants developers the ability to enhance their AI agents with real-time web lookup capabilities, allowing them to fetch current information. This feature utilizes the same underlying model as OpenAI’s existing web search functionalities and is currently available in a preview version. Meanwhile, the file search tool allows users to extract specific information from large documents, incorporating query optimization and custom re-ranking options to improve retrieval accuracy.
Moreover, the computer use tool operates on the same model that powers OpenAI’s Operator agent. It facilitates the development of agents capable of performing tasks on computers and interacting with graphical user interfaces (GUIs). This tool is designed for QA testing and data entry tasks and is accessible to developers operating within usage tiers three to five as a research preview.
The Responses API represents the latest offering from OpenAI, designed to supersede the existing Chat Completions and Assistant APIs. Essentially, this API encompasses all the features of its predecessors while introducing enhanced tool usage capabilities. OpenAI assures developers that transitioning their code to the Responses API will be seamless, minimizing the risk of disruptions or data loss. The company has plans to phase out the Assistant API, whereas the Chat Completions API will remain available for developers not requiring agentic functionalities.
Lastly, the Agents SDK has been created to empower developers to establish and oversee multi-agent workflows. This new SDK allows for the pairing of multiple agents to complete more intricate tasks and serves as an upgraded version of the previous agentic system known as Swarm. It includes various foundational elements such as Agents (AI models with defined instructions and tools), Handoffs (which enable task delegation between agents), and Guardrails (that validate inputs from agents).
