What causes "AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT is not set." in microsoft/semantic-kernel?

Set AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT to your Azure OpenAI resource URL before running

microsoft/semantic-kernel · error · InvalidOperationException

AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT is not set.

Error message

AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT is not set.

What it means

The Sequential Orchestration migration sample throws InvalidOperationException when AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT is unset. This sample demonstrates the translation-assistant pipeline pattern, comparing SK's SequentialOrchestration with the Agent Framework's sequential agent workflow. Both paths require the endpoint to build chat clients via AzureCliCredential.

Source

Thrown at dotnet/samples/AgentFrameworkMigration/AgentOrchestrations/Step02_Sequential/Program.cs:14

// Copyright (c) Microsoft. All rights reserved.

using Azure.AI.OpenAI;
using Azure.Identity;
using Microsoft.Agents.AI;
using Microsoft.Agents.AI.Workflows;
using Microsoft.Extensions.AI;
using Microsoft.SemanticKernel;
using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Agents;
using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Agents.Orchestration;
using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Agents.Orchestration.Sequential;
using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Agents.Runtime.InProcess;

var endpoint = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT") ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT is not set.");
var deploymentName = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME") ?? "gpt-4o-mini";

var agentInstructions = "You are a translation assistant who only responds in {0}. Respond to any input by outputting the name of the input language and then translating the input to {0}.";

// This sample compares running sequential orchestrations using
// Semantic Kernel and the Agent Framework.
Console.WriteLine("=== Semantic Kernel Sequential Orchestration ===");
await SKSequentialOrchestration();

Console.WriteLine("\n=== Agent Framework Sequential Agent Workflow ===");
await AFSequentialAgentWorkflow();

# region SKSequentialOrchestration
#pragma warning disable SKEXP0110 // Type is for evaluation purposes only and is subject to change or removal in future updates. Suppress this diagnostic to proceed.
async Task SKSequentialOrchestration()
{
    SequentialOrchestration orchestration = new([
        GetSKTranslationAgent("French"),

View on GitHub (pinned to c028a0c7dc)

Solutions

Set AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT to your Azure OpenAI resource URL before running
Optionally set AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME (defaults to gpt-4o-mini)
Verify az login has been run for the AzureCliCredential token
Confirm the variable is exported in the same shell session where dotnet run executes

Example fix

// before
var endpoint = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT") ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT is not set.");

// after — fail with actionable guidance
var endpoint = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT");
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(endpoint))
    throw new InvalidOperationException(
        "AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT is not set. " +
        "Set it: export AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT='https://<resource>.cognitiveservices.azure.com/'");

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

var endpoint = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT");
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(endpoint))
{
    Console.Error.WriteLine("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT is not set.");
    Console.Error.WriteLine("Set: export AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT='https://<resource>.cognitiveservices.azure.com/'");
    return;
}

Type guard

static bool IsAzureOpenAIEndpointConfigured() =>
    !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"));

Try / catch

try
{
    var endpoint = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT")
        ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT is not set.");
}
catch (InvalidOperationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"))
{
    Console.Error.WriteLine($"{ex.Message} See README.md for setup.");
    return;
}

Prevention

Source a shared env-var script (e.g. setenv.sh) before running any orchestration sample
Document the same AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT requirement across all AgentOrchestration samples in one place
Add a pre-flight check that validates both the endpoint and az login status before running
Use a wrapper script that sets defaults and runs dotnet run

When it happens

Trigger: Executing AgentOrchestrations/Step02_Sequential without AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT in the process environment. The throw at line 14 prevents both SKSequentialOrchestration() and AFSequentialAgentWorkflow() from running.

Common situations: Running in a container or CI without env var injection; switching between sample folders and assuming the variable persists; the README mentions interactive prompting (line 346) but the code throws instead.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/semantic-kernel@c028a0c7dc (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d24aaa541ee6e989. Report an issue: GitHub.