.NET: Introduce Core implementation methods for session methods on AIAgent

dotnet/samples/GettingStarted/AgentProviders/Agent_With_CustomImplementation/Program.cs

@@ -28,10 +28,10 @@ internal sealed class UpperCaseParrotAgent : AIAgent
     {
         public override string? Name => "UpperCaseParrotAgent";
 
-        public override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+        protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionCoreAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
             => new(new CustomAgentSession());
 
-        public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
+        protected override JsonElement SerializeSessionCore(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
         {
             if (session is not CustomAgentSession typedSession)
             {
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerialize
             return typedSession.Serialize(jsonSerializerOptions);
         }
 
-        public override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+        protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
             => new(new CustomAgentSession(serializedState, jsonSerializerOptions));
 
         protected override async Task<AgentResponse> RunCoreAsync(IEnumerable<ChatMessage> messages, AgentSession? session = null, AgentRunOptions? options = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.A2A/A2AAgent.cs

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public A2AAgent(A2AClient a2aClient, string? id = null, string? name = null, str
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public sealed override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected sealed override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionCoreAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
         => new(new A2AAgentSession());
 
     /// <summary>
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(string contextId)
         => new(new A2AAgentSession() { ContextId = contextId });
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
+    protected override JsonElement SerializeSessionCore(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
     {
         _ = Throw.IfNull(session);
 
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerialize
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
         => new(new A2AAgentSession(serializedState, jsonSerializerOptions));
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.Abstractions/AIAgent.cs

@@ -139,7 +139,18 @@ public static AgentRunContext? CurrentRunContext
     /// may be deferred until first use to optimize performance.
     /// </para>
     /// </remarks>
-    public abstract ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default);
+    public ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+        => this.CreateSessionCoreAsync(cancellationToken);
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Core implementation of session creation logic.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="cancellationToken">The <see cref="CancellationToken"/> to monitor for cancellation requests. The default is <see cref="CancellationToken.None"/>.</param>
+    /// <returns>A value task that represents the asynchronous operation. The task result contains a new <see cref="AgentSession"/> instance ready for use with this agent.</returns>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// This is the primary session creation method that implementations must override.
+    /// </remarks>
+    protected abstract ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionCoreAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default);
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Serializes an agent session to its JSON representation.
@@ -154,7 +165,19 @@ public static AgentRunContext? CurrentRunContext
     /// allowing conversations to resume across application restarts or be migrated between
     /// different agent instances. Use <see cref="DeserializeSessionAsync"/> to restore the session.
     /// </remarks>
-    public abstract JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null);
+    public JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
+        => this.SerializeSessionCore(session, jsonSerializerOptions);
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Core implementation of session serialization logic.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="session">The <see cref="AgentSession"/> to serialize.</param>
+    /// <param name="jsonSerializerOptions">Optional settings to customize the serialization process.</param>
+    /// <returns>A <see cref="JsonElement"/> containing the serialized session state.</returns>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// This is the primary session serialization method that implementations must override.
+    /// </remarks>
+    protected abstract JsonElement SerializeSessionCore(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null);
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Deserializes an agent session from its JSON serialized representation.
@@ -170,7 +193,20 @@ public static AgentRunContext? CurrentRunContext
     /// allowing conversations to resume across application restarts or be migrated between
     /// different agent instances.
     /// </remarks>
-    public abstract ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default);
+    public ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+        => this.DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(serializedState, jsonSerializerOptions, cancellationToken);
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Core implementation of session deserialization logic.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="serializedState">A <see cref="JsonElement"/> containing the serialized session state.</param>
+    /// <param name="jsonSerializerOptions">Optional settings to customize the deserialization process.</param>
+    /// <param name="cancellationToken">The <see cref="CancellationToken"/> to monitor for cancellation requests. The default is <see cref="CancellationToken.None"/>.</param>
+    /// <returns>A value task that represents the asynchronous operation. The task result contains a restored <see cref="AgentSession"/> instance with the state from <paramref name="serializedState"/>.</returns>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// This is the primary session deserialization method that implementations must override.
+    /// </remarks>
+    protected abstract ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default);
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Run the agent with no message assuming that all required instructions are already provided to the agent or on the session.

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.Abstractions/DelegatingAIAgent.cs

@@ -74,14 +74,14 @@ protected DelegatingAIAgent(AIAgent innerAgent)
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc />
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default) => this.InnerAgent.CreateSessionAsync(cancellationToken);
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionCoreAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default) => this.InnerAgent.CreateSessionAsync(cancellationToken);
 
     /// <inheritdoc />
-    public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
+    protected override JsonElement SerializeSessionCore(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
         => this.InnerAgent.SerializeSession(session, jsonSerializerOptions);
 
     /// <inheritdoc />
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
         => this.InnerAgent.DeserializeSessionAsync(serializedState, jsonSerializerOptions, cancellationToken);
 
     /// <inheritdoc />

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.CopilotStudio/CopilotStudioAgent.cs

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ public CopilotStudioAgent(CopilotClient client, ILoggerFactory? loggerFactory =
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public sealed override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected sealed override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionCoreAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
         => new(new CopilotStudioAgentSession());
 
     /// <summary>
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(string conversationId)
         => new(new CopilotStudioAgentSession() { ConversationId = conversationId });
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
+    protected override JsonElement SerializeSessionCore(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
     {
         Throw.IfNull(session);
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerialize
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
         => new(new CopilotStudioAgentSession(serializedState, jsonSerializerOptions));
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.DurableTask/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 - Renamed AgentThread to AgentSession ([#3430](https://github.com/microsoft/agent-framework/pull/3430))
 - Moved AgentSession.Serialize to AIAgent.SerializeSession ([#3650](https://github.com/microsoft/agent-framework/pull/3650))
 - Renamed serializedSession parameter to serializedState on DeserializeSessionAsync for consistency ([#3681](https://github.com/microsoft/agent-framework/pull/3681))
+- Introduce Core method pattern for Session management methods on AIAgent ([#3699](https://github.com/microsoft/agent-framework/pull/3699))
 
 ## v1.0.0-preview.251204.1
 

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.DurableTask/DurableAIAgent.cs

@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ internal DurableAIAgent(TaskOrchestrationContext context, string agentName)
     /// </summary>
     /// <param name="cancellationToken">The cancellation token.</param>
     /// <returns>A value task that represents the asynchronous operation. The task result contains a new agent session.</returns>
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionCoreAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
     {
         AgentSessionId sessionId = this._context.NewAgentSessionId(this._agentName);
         return ValueTask.FromResult<AgentSession>(new DurableAgentSession(sessionId));
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ public override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken can
     /// <param name="session">The session to serialize.</param>
     /// <param name="jsonSerializerOptions">Optional JSON serializer options.</param>
     /// <returns>A <see cref="JsonElement"/> containing the serialized session state.</returns>
-    public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
+    protected override JsonElement SerializeSessionCore(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
     {
         if (session is null)
         {
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerialize
     /// <param name="jsonSerializerOptions">Optional JSON serializer options.</param>
     /// <param name="cancellationToken">The cancellation token.</param>
     /// <returns>A value task that represents the asynchronous operation. The task result contains the deserialized agent session.</returns>
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(
         JsonElement serializedState,
         JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
     {

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.DurableTask/DurableAIAgentProxy.cs

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ internal class DurableAIAgentProxy(string name, IDurableAgentClient agentClient)
 
     public override string? Name { get; } = name;
 
-    public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
+    protected override JsonElement SerializeSessionCore(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
     {
         if (session is null)
         {
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@ public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerialize
         return durableSession.Serialize(jsonSerializerOptions);
     }
 
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(
         JsonElement serializedState,
         JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
     {
         return ValueTask.FromResult<AgentSession>(DurableAgentSession.Deserialize(serializedState, jsonSerializerOptions));
     }
 
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionCoreAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
     {
         return ValueTask.FromResult<AgentSession>(new DurableAgentSession(AgentSessionId.WithRandomKey(this.Name!)));
     }

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GitHub.Copilot/GitHubCopilotAgent.cs

@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ public GitHubCopilotAgent(
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public sealed override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected sealed override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionCoreAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
         => new(new GitHubCopilotAgentSession());
 
     /// <summary>
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(string sessionId)
         => new(new GitHubCopilotAgentSession() { SessionId = sessionId });
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
+    protected override JsonElement SerializeSessionCore(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
     {
         _ = Throw.IfNull(session);
 
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerialize
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(
         JsonElement serializedState,
         JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null,
         CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.Purview/PurviewAgent.cs

@@ -30,19 +30,19 @@ public PurviewAgent(AIAgent innerAgent, PurviewWrapper purviewWrapper)
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
+    protected override JsonElement SerializeSessionCore(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
     {
         return this._innerAgent.SerializeSession(session, jsonSerializerOptions);
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
     {
         return this._innerAgent.DeserializeSessionAsync(serializedState, jsonSerializerOptions, cancellationToken);
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionCoreAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
     {
         return this._innerAgent.CreateSessionAsync(cancellationToken);
     }

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.Workflows/WorkflowHostAgent.cs

@@ -65,10 +65,10 @@ private async ValueTask ValidateWorkflowAsync()
         protocol.ThrowIfNotChatProtocol(allowCatchAll: true);
     }
 
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> CreateSessionCoreAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
         => new(new WorkflowSession(this._workflow, this.GenerateNewId(), this._executionEnvironment, this._checkpointManager, this._includeExceptionDetails, this._includeWorkflowOutputsInResponse));
 
-    public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
+    protected override JsonElement SerializeSessionCore(AgentSession session, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null)
     {
         _ = Throw.IfNull(session);
 
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ public override JsonElement SerializeSession(AgentSession session, JsonSerialize
         return workflowSession.Serialize(jsonSerializerOptions);
     }
 
-    public override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+    protected override ValueTask<AgentSession> DeserializeSessionCoreAsync(JsonElement serializedState, JsonSerializerOptions? jsonSerializerOptions = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
         => new(new WorkflowSession(this._workflow, serializedState, this._executionEnvironment, this._checkpointManager, this._includeExceptionDetails, this._includeWorkflowOutputsInResponse, jsonSerializerOptions));
 
     private async ValueTask<WorkflowSession> UpdateSessionAsync(IEnumerable<ChatMessage> messages, AgentSession? session = null, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)