Report · marked 25 Aug 2026
microsoft/autogen
Solid foundations, held back in a few specific places.
Python · 60,627 stars · 1,837 files · branch main
74
/100
B+
Instructions
23/27Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing. Losing marks on agent instruction file.Setup
4/20Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human. Losing marks on deterministic install and discoverable commands.Verification loop
21/25Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy. Losing marks on lint and format rules and static type checking.Context economy
17/20Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it. Losing marks on file sizes fit in context and repository weight.Navigability
10/10How quickly anything new can orient itself. Full marks.
Higher is better. Accent marks what is costing you most.
Fix these first
01
Deterministic install
Commit the lockfile your package manager generates. Without it, an agent's install and your install are different builds, and 'works on my machine' becomes unfalsifiable.
02
Discoverable commands
Declare the handful of commands that matter in package.json scripts, a Makefile, or a justfile. Naming them turns guesswork into a lookup.
03
Agent instruction file
Rename or symlink to AGENTS.md so tools other than one vendor's can read it. Keeping Copilot instructions alongside it costs nothing.
The full marking
Every deduction below names the file or setting it came from.
Instructions 23/27 A
Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing.
✗Agent instruction file
8/12
Copilot instructions is present, but not the vendor-neutral AGENTS.md.
Rename or symlink to AGENTS.md so tools other than one vendor's can read it. Keeping Copilot instructions alongside it costs nothing.
✓Instruction quality
12/12
Specific enough that an agent can act on it.
8,770 characters, a workable length
names the actual commands to run
uses headings, so an agent can skim it
includes copyable code blocks
✓README as an entry point
3/3
README has a clear getting-started section.
Setup 4/20 F
Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human.
✗Deterministic install
0/6
No lockfile. An agent installing dependencies may not get what CI got.
Commit the lockfile your package manager generates. Without it, an agent's install and your install are different builds, and 'works on my machine' becomes unfalsifiable.
✗Discoverable commands
0/6
No declared commands. An agent has to infer how to build and run this from the file tree.
Declare the handful of commands that matter in package.json scripts, a Makefile, or a justfile. Naming them turns guesswork into a lookup.
✗Environment config
2/4
Env vars are mentioned in the README but there's no example file to copy.
Add a .env.example listing every variable with a safe placeholder value. It's the cheapest possible fix and it unblocks the whole first run.
✗Pinned runtime version
0/2
No pinned runtime version.
Add a .nvmrc, .python-version, or equivalent so the agent's toolchain matches yours.
✓Reproducible environment
2/2
.devcontainer/devcontainer.json gives a known-good environment.
Verification loop 21/25 A-
Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy.
✓Tests exist
8/8
303 test files against 1177 source files.
e.g. dotnet/test/.editorconfig, dotnet/test/AutoGen.Anthropic.Tests/AnthropicClientAgentTest.cs, dotnet/test/AutoGen.Anthropic.Tests/AnthropicClientTest.cs
✓Test command is discoverable
7/7
An agent can find and run `pytest`.
✓Continuous integration
4/4
12 GitHub Actions workflows define what "passing" means.
✗Lint and format rules
0/3
No linter or formatter config. Style is tribal knowledge, so agent output will drift from yours.
A formatter config is the cheapest way to stop reviewing whitespace in agent diffs. It moves style from opinion to a command.
✗Static type checking
2/3
Type checking is configured, but not in strict mode.
A type checker gives an agent an error message instead of a runtime surprise. It's the second-fastest feedback loop after the compiler.
Context economy 17/20 A
Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it.
✓No committed build output
6/6
No generated directories committed.
✓.gitignore hygiene
3/3
.gitignore covers 111 patterns.
✗File sizes fit in context
4/6
2 source files are over 100KB.
A single file that fills the context window forces an agent to work from fragments, and it will confidently edit code it never saw. Splitting the worst offenders pays for itself immediately.
python/packages/autogen-agentchat/tests/test_assistant_agent.py — 134KB
python/packages/autogen-ext/tests/models/test_openai_model_client.py — 127KB
✗Repository weight
4/5
About 148.7MB checked out, which is comfortable.
Here is your AGENTS.md
Drafted from what is actually in this repository: the install
command from your lockfile, the commands you already declare, your real directory layout. Anything
marked TODO needs a person. Save it at the root as AGENTS.md.
# AGENTS.md A programming framework for agentic AI ## Setup ``` # TODO: the install command. No lockfile was found, so this could not be inferred. ``` ## Commands ``` # TODO: nothing declares a build or test command, so an agent has to guess. # This is the single most valuable section of this file. Fill it in. ``` ## Layout - `python/` 672 source files - `dotnet/` 503 source files - `docs/` 1 source file ## Conventions - Tests live alongside the code they cover, following `dotnet/test/.editorconfig`. - CI defines what passing means. See `.github/workflows/checks.yml`, and keep it green. - TODO: add the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong here. ## Gotchas - `python/packages/autogen-agentchat/tests/test_assistant_agent.py` is 134KB. It will not fit comfortably in context, so read it in parts. - No lockfile is committed, so an install here may not match what CI produced. --- Drafted by agentreadme.com from what is in this repository. Everything marked TODO needs a human. Check it in as AGENTS.md at the root.
Open the raw markdown
or
curl -o AGENTS.md agentreadme.com/draft/microsoft/autogen.md
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Every deduction above names the file it came from, so this can be settled by looking. If a check missed something, that is a rule worth fixing.