Code Execution - AutoGen

Overview

AutoGen for .NET integrates with dotnet-interactive to execute code snippets dynamically. This enables agents to:

Run C# and F# code
Execute Python scripts (with Python kernel)
Run PowerShell commands
Access execution results
Handle compilation and runtime errors

Installation

Install the AutoGen.DotnetInteractive package:

dotnet add package AutoGen.DotnetInteractive

For Python support, also add the dotnet-tools feed:

dotnet nuget add source https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/dnceng/public/_packaging/dotnet-tools/nuget/v3/index.json --name dotnet-tools

Basic C# Execution

Create a kernel

using AutoGen.Core;
using AutoGen.DotnetInteractive;
using AutoGen.DotnetInteractive.Extension;

var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
    .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder()
    .Build();

Execute code

var code = @"
Console.WriteLine(""Hello from C#!"");
var sum = 1 + 2;
Console.WriteLine($""Sum: {sum}"");
";

var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(code, "csharp");
Console.WriteLine(result);
// Output:
// Hello from C#!
// Sum: 3

Agent with Code Execution

Create an agent that can execute code snippets:

using AutoGen.Core;
using AutoGen.DotnetInteractive;
using AutoGen.DotnetInteractive.Extension;
using AutoGen.OpenAI;
using AutoGen.OpenAI.Extension;

public class CodeExecutionExample
{
    public static async Task RunAsync()
    {
        var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
            .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder()
            .Build();

        var coder = new OpenAIChatAgent(
            chatClient: GetOpenAIClient(),
            name: "coder",
            systemMessage: @"
                You are a C# coding assistant.
                When writing code, put it between ```csharp and ```
            ")
            .RegisterMessageConnector()
            .RegisterPrintMessage();

        // Add code execution middleware
        var codeAgent = coder.RegisterMiddleware(
            async (messages, options, innerAgent, ct) =>
            {
                var lastMessage = messages.LastOrDefault();
                if (lastMessage?.GetContent() is string content)
                {
                    // Extract code block
                    var codeBlock = lastMessage.ExtractCodeBlock(
                        "```csharp",
                        "```");

                    if (codeBlock != null)
                    {
                        // Execute the code
                        var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(
                            codeBlock,
                            "csharp");

                        return new TextMessage(
                            Role.Assistant,
                            result,
                            from: coder.Name);
                    }
                }

                return await innerAgent.GenerateReplyAsync(messages, options, ct);
            });

        // Use the agent
        var response = await codeAgent.SendAsync(@"
            Write C# code to calculate the first 10 Fibonacci numbers
        ");

        Console.WriteLine(response.GetContent());
    }
}

Supported Languages

C# (Default)

var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
    .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder() // Includes C#
    .Build();

var csharpCode = @"
using System;
using System.Linq;

var numbers = Enumerable.Range(1, 10);
var sum = numbers.Sum();
Console.WriteLine($""Sum: {sum}"");
";

var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(csharpCode, "csharp");

F#

var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
    .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder() // Includes F#
    .Build();

var fsharpCode = @"
let numbers = [1..10]
let sum = List.sum numbers
printfn ""Sum: %d"" sum
";

var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(fsharpCode, "fsharp");

PowerShell

var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
    .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder()
    .AddPowershellKernel()
    .Build();

var powershellCode = @"
$numbers = 1..10
$sum = ($numbers | Measure-Object -Sum).Sum
Write-Host ""Sum: $sum""
";

var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(
    powershellCode,
    "pwsh");

Python

var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
    .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder()
    .AddPythonKernel(venv: "python3") // Requires Python installed
    .Build();

var pythonCode = @"
numbers = list(range(1, 11))
total = sum(numbers)
print(f'Sum: {total}')
";

var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(
    pythonCode,
    "python3");

Python support requires Python to be installed on the system.

Code Extraction

Extract code blocks from markdown:

using AutoGen.DotnetInteractive.Extension;

var message = new TextMessage(Role.Assistant, 
    "Some message with code content");

// Extract code blocks from message content
var code = message.ExtractCodeBlock("csharp", "");

if (code != null)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Found code");
    Console.WriteLine(code);
}

Complete Example: Code Assistant

Full example with multiple languages:

using AutoGen.Core;
using AutoGen.DotnetInteractive;
using AutoGen.DotnetInteractive.Extension;
using AutoGen.OpenAI;
using AutoGen.OpenAI.Extension;
using OpenAI;

public class MultiLanguageCodeAssistant
{
    public static async Task RunAsync()
    {
        var apiKey = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("OPENAI_API_KEY");
        var openAIClient = new OpenAIClient(apiKey);

        // Create kernel with multiple language support
        var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
            .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder() // C# and F#
            .AddPythonKernel(venv: "python3")      // Python
            .AddPowershellKernel()                  // PowerShell
            .Build();

        // Create coding agent
        var coder = new OpenAIChatAgent(
            chatClient: openAIClient.GetChatClient("gpt-4"),
            name: "coder",
            systemMessage: @"
                You are a multi-language coding assistant.
                Support C#, F#, Python, and PowerShell.
                Wrap code in appropriate markdown blocks:
                - ```csharp for C#
                - ```fsharp for F#
                - ```python for Python
                - ```powershell for PowerShell
            ")
            .RegisterMessageConnector()
            .RegisterPrintMessage();

        // Add code execution middleware
        var executor = coder.RegisterMiddleware(
            async (messages, options, innerAgent, ct) =>
            {
                var lastMessage = messages.LastOrDefault();
                if (lastMessage?.GetContent() is not string content)
                {
                    return await innerAgent.GenerateReplyAsync(
                        messages, options, ct);
                }

                // Try to extract and execute code for each language
                var languages = new[]
                {
                    ("```csharp", "csharp"),
                    ("```fsharp", "fsharp"),
                    ("```python", "python3"),
                    ("```powershell", "pwsh")
                };

                foreach (var (marker, kernel_name) in languages)
                {
                    var code = lastMessage.ExtractCodeBlock(marker, "```");
                    if (code != null)
                    {
                        try
                        {
                            var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(
                                code,
                                kernel_name);

                            return new TextMessage(
                                Role.Assistant,
                                $"Execution result:\n{result}",
                                from: coder.Name);
                        }
                        catch (Exception ex)
                        {
                            return new TextMessage(
                                Role.Assistant,
                                $"Execution error: {ex.Message}",
                                from: coder.Name);
                        }
                    }
                }

                // No code found, generate reply normally
                return await innerAgent.GenerateReplyAsync(
                    messages, options, ct);
            });

        // Test with different languages
        Console.WriteLine("=== C# Example ===");
        await executor.SendAsync(
            "Write C# code to calculate factorial of 5");

        Console.WriteLine("\n=== Python Example ===");
        await executor.SendAsync(
            "Write Python code to create a list of squares from 1 to 5");

        Console.WriteLine("\n=== F# Example ===");
        await executor.SendAsync(
            "Write F# code to filter even numbers from 1 to 10");
    }
}

Error Handling

Handle compilation and runtime errors:

var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
    .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder()
    .Build();

var buggyCode = @"
int x = 10;
int y = 0;
int result = x / y; // Division by zero
Console.WriteLine(result);
";

try
{
    var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(
        buggyCode,
        "csharp");
    Console.WriteLine(result);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error executing code: {ex.Message}");
    // Handle error appropriately
}

State Preservation

The kernel maintains state across executions:

var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
    .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder()
    .Build();

// First execution: define variable
await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(
    "var greeting = \"Hello\";",
    "csharp");

// Second execution: use the variable
var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(
    "Console.WriteLine(greeting + \" World!\");",
    "csharp");

Console.WriteLine(result);
// Output: Hello World!

Advanced: Custom Kernel Configuration

using Microsoft.DotNet.Interactive;
using Microsoft.DotNet.Interactive.Commands;
using Microsoft.DotNet.Interactive.CSharp;

var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
    .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder()
    .Build();

// Add custom using statements
await kernel.SendAsync(
    new SubmitCode("using System.Text.Json;", "csharp"));

// Add NuGet packages
await kernel.SendAsync(
    new SubmitCode(
        "#r \"nuget: Newtonsoft.Json, 13.0.3\"",
        "csharp"));

// Now use the package
var code = @"
using Newtonsoft.Json;
var obj = new { Name = "John", Age = 30 };
var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);
Console.WriteLine(json);
";

var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(code, "csharp");
Console.WriteLine(result);
// Output: {"Name":"John","Age":30}

Integration with Group Chat

Code execution in multi-agent scenarios:

var kernel = DotnetInteractiveKernelBuilder
    .CreateDefaultInProcessKernelBuilder()
    .Build();

var coder = new OpenAIChatAgent(/*...*/)
    .RegisterMessageConnector()
    .RegisterPrintMessage();

var executor = new DefaultReplyAgent(
    name: "executor",
    defaultReply: "Code executed")
    .RegisterMiddleware(async (messages, options, agent, ct) =>
    {
        var lastMessage = messages.LastOrDefault();
        var code = lastMessage?.ExtractCodeBlock("```csharp", "```");
        
        if (code != null)
        {
            var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(
                code, "csharp");
            return new TextMessage(
                Role.Assistant,
                $"Execution result:\n{result}",
                from: "executor");
        }
        
        return await agent.GenerateReplyAsync(messages, options, ct);
    })
    .RegisterPrintMessage();

var reviewer = new OpenAIChatAgent(/*...*/)
    .RegisterMessageConnector()
    .RegisterPrintMessage();

var group = new GroupChat(
    members: [coder, executor, reviewer],
    admin: adminAgent);

var result = await group.CallAsync(
    new[] { new TextMessage(Role.User, "Write code to sort an array") },
    maxRound: 10);

Best Practices

Security

Validate and sanitize code before execution
Run in isolated environments for untrusted code
Implement timeouts to prevent infinite loops
Limit resource usage (memory, CPU)
Never execute code with elevated privileges

Performance

Reuse kernel instances when possible
Clear kernel state periodically if needed
Consider compilation caching for repeated code
Monitor memory usage for long-running kernels

Error Handling

try
{
    var result = await kernel.RunSubmitCodeCommandAsync(
        code, language);
    return new TextMessage(
        Role.Assistant,
        $"Success:\n{result}");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    return new TextMessage(
        Role.Assistant,
        $"Error: {ex.Message}\nPlease fix the code.");
}

Code Extraction

Always validate extracted code is non-null
Support multiple code block formats
Handle mixed language documents
Preserve indentation and formatting

Next Steps

Function Calling

Combine code execution with function calls

Group Chat

Use code execution in multi-agent workflows

Agents

Learn more about agent capabilities

Examples

See complete code execution examples

Documentation Index

​Overview

​Installation

​Basic C# Execution

​Agent with Code Execution

​Supported Languages

​C# (Default)

​F#

​PowerShell

​Python

​Code Extraction

​Complete Example: Code Assistant

​Error Handling

​State Preservation

​Advanced: Custom Kernel Configuration

​Integration with Group Chat

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

Function Calling

Group Chat

Agents

Examples

Overview

Installation

Basic C# Execution

Agent with Code Execution

Supported Languages

C# (Default)

F#

PowerShell

Python

Code Extraction

Complete Example: Code Assistant

Error Handling

State Preservation

Advanced: Custom Kernel Configuration

Integration with Group Chat

Best Practices

Next Steps