microsoft/semantic-kernel · error · ValueError

Agent does not exist. Please create the agent before getting

Error message

Agent does not exist. Please create the agent before getting it.

What it means

Raised by the internal _get_agent when self.agent_model.agent_id is falsy. _get_agent calls bedrock_client.get_agent(agentId=...), which requires an ID. This method is called transitively by _wait_for_agent_status (status polling) and is the data-refresh path. Without an agent_id, there is no agent to fetch.

Source

Thrown at python/semantic_kernel/agents/bedrock/bedrock_agent_base.py:147

        try:
            await run_in_executor(
                None,
                partial(
                    self.bedrock_client.delete_agent,
                    agentId=self.agent_model.agent_id,
                    **kwargs,
                ),
            )

            self.agent_model.agent_id = None
        except ClientError as e:
            logger.error(f"Failed to delete agent {self.agent_model.agent_id}.")
            raise e

    async def _get_agent(self) -> None:
        """Get an agent."""
        if not self.agent_model.agent_id:
            raise ValueError("Agent does not exist. Please create the agent before getting it.")

        try:
            response = await run_in_executor(
                None,
                partial(
                    self.bedrock_client.get_agent,
                    agentId=self.agent_model.agent_id,
                ),
            )

            # Update the agent model
            self.agent_model = BedrockAgentModel(**response["agent"])
        except ClientError as e:
            logger.error(f"Failed to get agent {self.agent_model.agent_id}.")
            raise e

    async def _wait_for_agent_status(
        self,

View on GitHub (pinned to c028a0c7dc)

Solutions

1. Ensure the agent is created (has a valid agent_id) before any status-polling or prepare operation.
2. Use create_and_prepare_agent which handles the full create -> wait -> prepare lifecycle.
3. If referencing an existing agent, construct the model with the real agent_id.

Example fix

// before
agent = BedrockAgent({'agentName': 'x'})
await agent._get_agent()  # no agent_id -> raises

// after
agent = await BedrockAgent.create_and_prepare_agent(name='x', instructions='...')
await agent._get_agent()  # agent_id is set

def assert_agent_exists(agent) -> None:
    if not agent.agent_model.agent_id:
        raise ValueError("Agent has no agent_id; cannot refresh agent state.")

def agent_has_id(agent) -> bool:
    return bool(getattr(getattr(agent, "agent_model", None), "agent_id", None))

try:
    await agent._get_agent()
except ValueError as e:
    if "create the agent before getting" in str(e):
        agent = await BedrockAgent.create_and_prepare_agent(name=..., instructions=...)
        await agent._get_agent()
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: Triggered when _get_agent() is invoked on a BedrockAgent without an agent_id — typically indirectly via _wait_for_agent_status -> _get_agent during prepare/create flows, or if called directly on an unprovisioned agent.

Common situations: Calling prepare_agent_and_wait_until_prepared (which polls status via _get_agent) on an agent constructed without agent_id; manually invoking _get_agent; a create flow that failed mid-way leaving agent_id unset.

Related errors

• Agent does not exist. Please create the agent before prepari
• Agent does not exist. Please create the agent before deletin
• Agent does not exist. Please create the agent before creatin
• The Bedrock agent requires a message to be invoked.
• The streaming configuration must be null for non-streaming r

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/semantic-kernel@c028a0c7dc (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/28d678fafb92b2b9. Report an issue: GitHub.