microsoft/autogen · error · ArgumentException

InteractiveService is not initialized.

Error message

InteractiveService is not initialized.

What it means

Thrown by DotnetInteractiveFunction.RunCode when its internal _interactiveService field is null. The function was constructed without an InteractiveService, so there is no kernel to submit the C# code to, and it throws ArgumentException('InteractiveService is not initialized.').

Source

Thrown at dotnet/src/AutoGen.DotnetInteractive/DotnetInteractiveFunction.cs:77

            var document = new InteractiveDocument();

            using var stream = File.OpenWrite(_notebookPath);
            Notebook.Write(document, stream, this._kernelInfoCollection);
            stream.Flush();
            stream.Dispose();
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Run existing dotnet code from message. Don't modify the code, run it as is.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="code">code.</param>
    [Function]
    public async Task<string> RunCode(string code)
    {
        if (this._interactiveService == null)
        {
            throw new ArgumentException("InteractiveService is not initialized.");
        }

        var result = await this._interactiveService.SubmitCSharpCodeAsync(code, default);
        if (result != null)
        {
            // if result contains Error, return entire message
            if (result.StartsWith("Error:"))
            {
                return result;
            }

            // add cell if _notebookPath is not null
            if (this._notebookPath != null)
            {
                await AddCellAsync(code, "csharp");
            }

            // if result is over 100 characters, only return the first 100 characters.

View on GitHub (pinned to 027ecf0a37)

Solutions

1. Construct DotnetInteractiveFunction with a live InteractiveService (or however the public API requires it) before registering it as a tool
2. Call and await service.StartAsync(workingDirectory) first so the kernel is actually running
3. Verify the service is non-null and started in a startup check before the agent loop begins

Example fix

// before: var func = new DotnetInteractiveFunction(); // no service
// after:
var service = new InteractiveService(installDir);
await service.StartAsync(workDir);
var func = new DotnetInteractiveFunction(service);

// Verify the function is backed by a running service before the agent loop starts
if (dotnetInteractiveFunction is null || !IsServiceAttached(dotnetInteractiveFunction))
    throw new InvalidOperationException("DotnetInteractiveFunction lacks an InteractiveService");
// simplest robust check: construct it yourself from a started service

try { var result = await func.RunCode(code); }
catch (ArgumentException e) when (e.Message == "InteractiveService is not initialized.")
{ /* construct function with a started InteractiveService and retry */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Creating DotnetInteractiveFunction via a constructor/path that leaves _interactiveService null, then invoking the RunCode tool (directly or through an LLM function call).

Common situations: Partially initializing the function object (e.g. for testing), dependency-injection misconfiguration, or constructing the function before the interactive session is available and forgetting to attach it.

Related errors

• Kernel is not running
• Failed to restore dotnet interactive tool.
• Installing directory is not set
• No coder message found
• Please set OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable.

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/autogen@027ecf0a37 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/45cd3df64bee0956. Report an issue: GitHub.