.NET: Sample on Worflows mixing Agents And Executors, showcasing best patte…

[joslat]

Closes #1561 1561

Motivation and Context

Why is this change required?

Developers learning the Agent Framework face a critical learning gap when trying to integrate custom executors with AI agents in workflows. While existing samples demonstrate:
• Executor-only workflows (01_ExecutorsAndEdges, 02_Streaming)
• Agent-only workflows (03_AgentsInWorkflows, 04_AgentWorkflowPatterns)
• Concurrent fan-out/fan-in patterns (Concurrent, WorkflowAsAnAgent)

No foundational sample exists that teaches the sequential chaining pattern: Executor → Agent → Executor → Agent.

What problem does it solve?

This sample addresses three fundamental knowledge gaps:

1. Type Mismatch Problem: Executors naturally work with simple types (string, int, custom objects), while agents expect ChatMessage or List. Without guidance, developers don't understand why direct connections fail.
2. Chat Protocol Requirements: Agents use ChatProtocolExecutor internally and require both:
   • Message accumulation via context.SendMessageAsync(chatMessage)
   • Processing trigger via context.SendMessageAsync(new TurnToken())
   No existing sample explains or demonstrates this protocol.
3. Adapter Pattern Implementation: Developers need translator executors to bridge the gap, but no sample shows:
   • Why adapters are necessary
   • How to implement them correctly
   • How to chain multiple agents through executors

What scenario does it contribute to?

This sample demonstrates a real-world content moderation pipeline that:
• ✅ Accepts user input through an executor
• ✅ Processes data with deterministic executors (text transformation)
• ✅ Converts types using adapter executor (string → ChatMessage + TurnToken)
• ✅ Leverages AI agent for security analysis (jailbreak detection)
• ✅ Processes agent output with another adapter executor
• ✅ Chains to a second AI agent for final response
• ✅ Outputs formatted results through a final executor
Real-world use cases enabled:
• Content moderation and safety screening
• Multi-stage data enrichment (fetch → analyze → format → validate)
• Compliance checking with AI-powered decision making
• Quality assurance pipelines with AI reviewers

Related Issues

This PR addresses the foundational gap identified in the workflow samples learning path, specifically the missing bridge between basic executor/agent concepts (samples 01-04) and advanced patterns.
See #1561

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

This PR adds a foundational workflow sample demonstrating how to combine executors and agents sequentially, addressing a critical learning gap in the Agent Framework documentation. The sample implements a content moderation pipeline that shows developers how to bridge type mismatches between executors (working with simple types) and agents (requiring ChatMessage/TurnToken) using adapter executors.

Key Changes:

• Introduces sample 07_MixedWorkflowAgentsAndExecutors showing sequential Executor → Agent → Executor → Agent chaining
• Demonstrates adapter pattern for type conversion (string to ChatMessage) and chat protocol handling (TurnToken)
• Implements practical content moderation pipeline with jailbreak detection and safety-aware responses

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
07_MixedWorkflowAgentsAndExecutors/README.md	Comprehensive documentation explaining adapter pattern, chat protocol requirements, and workflow architecture
07_MixedWorkflowAgentsAndExecutors/Program.cs	Sample implementation with custom executors, adapter executors, and AI agents demonstrating sequential chaining
07_MixedWorkflowAgentsAndExecutors/07_MixedWorkflowAgentsAndExecutors.csproj	Project configuration with required dependencies
Workflows/README.md	Updated table of contents to include new sample
agent-framework-dotnet.slnx	Added project reference to solution

[joslat]

@markwallace-microsoft, can we try to merge again? it failed due to "#1562 was automatically removed from the merge queue due to failed status checks."
But here I see everything green...

Wait, I see the issue : Error: /home/runner/work/agent-framework/agent-framework/dotnet/samples/GettingStarted/Workflows/_Foundational/07_MixedWorkflowAgentsAndExecutors/Program.cs(135,65): error CS0121: The call is ambiguous between the following methods or properties: 'InProcessExecution.StreamAsync(Workflow, string?, CancellationToken)' and 'InProcessExecution.StreamAsync(Workflow, TInput, string?, CancellationToken)' [/home/runner/work/agent-framework/agent-framework/dotnet/samples/GettingStarted/Workflows/_Foundational/07_MixedWorkflowAgentsAndExecutors/07_MixedWorkflowAgentsAndExecutors.csproj]
0 Warning(s)
1 Error(s)

This is a bit weird mesage, not? Let me see if i can improve this...

[joslat]

Hi @alliscode & @markwallace-microsoft :)

Fixed the last pending issue due to an ambiguous signature with:
await using StreamingRun run = await InProcessExecution.StreamAsync(workflow, input);

I guess this was added recently as when getting the last MAF bits it was not building :) - now it builds again.