Add blog post announcing the new architecture preview

README.md

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ AutoGen is an open-source programming framework for building AI agents and facil
 
 
 > [!NOTE]
-> *Note for contributors and users*</b>: [microsoft/autogen](https://aka.ms/autogen-gh) is the official repository of AutoGen project and it is under active development and maintenance under MIT license. We welcome contributions from developers and organizations worldwide. Our goal is to foster a collaborative and inclusive community where diverse perspectives and expertise can drive innovation and enhance the project's capabilities. We acknowledge the invaluable contributions from our existing contributors, as listed in [contributors.md](./CONTRIBUTORS.md). Whether you are an individual contributor or represent an organization, we invite you to join us in shaping the future of this project. For further information please also see [Microsoft open-source contributing guidelines](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen?tab=readme-ov-file#contributing).
+> *Note for contributors and users*</b>: [microsoft/autogen](https://aka.ms/autogen-gh) is the original repository of AutoGen project and it is under active development and maintenance under MIT license. We welcome contributions from developers and organizations worldwide. Our goal is to foster a collaborative and inclusive community where diverse perspectives and expertise can drive innovation and enhance the project's capabilities. We acknowledge the invaluable contributions from our existing contributors, as listed in [contributors.md](./CONTRIBUTORS.md). Whether you are an individual contributor or represent an organization, we invite you to join us in shaping the future of this project. For further information please also see [Microsoft open-source contributing guidelines](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen?tab=readme-ov-file#contributing).
 >
 > -_Maintainers (Sept 6th, 2024)_
 
@@ -242,8 +242,6 @@ In addition, you can find:
 
 - [Research](https://microsoft.github.io/autogen/docs/Research), [blogposts](https://microsoft.github.io/autogen/blog) around AutoGen, and [Transparency FAQs](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen/blob/main/TRANSPARENCY_FAQS.md)
 
-- [Discord](https://aka.ms/autogen-dc)
-
 - [Contributing guide](https://microsoft.github.io/autogen/docs/Contribute)
 
 - [Roadmap](https://github.com/orgs/microsoft/projects/989/views/3)

dotnet/nuget/NUGET.md

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 `AutoGen for .NET` is the official .NET SDK for [AutoGen](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen). It enables you to create LLM agents and construct multi-agent workflows with ease. It also provides integration with popular platforms like OpenAI, Semantic Kernel, and LM Studio.
 
 ### Gettings started
-- Find documents and examples on our [document site](https://microsoft.github.io/autogen-for-net/) 
-- Join our [Discord channel](https://discord.gg/pAbnFJrkgZ) to get help and discuss with the community
+- Find documents and examples on our [document site](https://microsoft.github.io/autogen-for-net/)
 - Report a bug or request a feature by creating a new issue in our [github repo](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen)
 - Consume the nightly build package from one of the [nightly build feeds](https://microsoft.github.io/autogen-for-net/articles/Installation.html#nighly-build)

website/blog/2024-10-02-new-autogen-architecture-preview/index.mdx

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+---
+title: New AutoGen Architecture Preview
+authors:
+  - autogen-team
+tags: [AutoGen]
+---
+
+# New AutoGen Architecture Preview
+
+<center>
+
+![What are they doing?](img/robots.jpeg)
+
+</center>
+
+One year ago, we launched AutoGen, a programming framework designed to build
+agentic AI systems. The release of AutoGen sparked massive interest within the
+developer community. As an early release, it provided us with a unique
+opportunity to engage deeply with users, gather invaluable feedback, and learn
+from a diverse range of use cases and contributions. By listening and engaging
+with the community, we gained insights into what people were building or
+attempting to build, how they were approaching the creation of agentic systems,
+and where they were struggling. This experience was both humbling and
+enlightening, revealing significant opportunities for improvement in our initial
+design, especially for power users developing production-level applications with
+AutoGen.
+
+Through engagements with the community, we learned many lessons:
+
+- Developers value modular and reusable agents. For example, our built-in agents
+  that could be directly plugged in or easily customized for specific use cases
+  were particularly popular. At the same time, there was a desire for more
+  customizability, such as integrating custom agents built using other
+  programming languages or frameworks.
+- Chat-based agent-to-agent communication was an intuitive collaboration
+  pattern, making it easy for developers to get started and involve humans in
+  the loop. As developers began to employ agents in a wider range of scenarios,
+  they sought more flexibility in collaboration patterns. For instance,
+  developers wanted to build predictable, ordered workflows with agents, and to
+  integrate them with new user interfaces that are not chat-based.
+- Although it was easy for developers to get started with AutoGen, debugging and
+  scaling agent teams applications proved more challenging.
+- There were many opportunities for improving code quality.
+
+These learnings, along with many others from other agentic efforts across
+Microsoft, prompted us to take a step back and lay the groundwork for a new
+direction. A few months ago, we started dedicating time to distilling these
+learnings into a roadmap for the future of AutoGen. This led to the development
+of AutoGen 0.4, a complete redesign of the framework from the foundation up.
+AutoGen 0.4 embraces the actor model of computing to support distributed, highly
+scalable, event-driven agentic systems. This approach offers many advantages,
+such as:
+
+- **Composability**. Systems designed in this way are more composable, allowing
+  developers to bring their own agents implemented in different frameworks or
+  programming languages and to build more powerful systems using complex agentic
+  patterns.
+- **Flexibility**. It allows for the creation of both deterministic, ordered
+  workflows and event-driven or decentralized workflows, enabling customers to
+  bring their own orchestration or integrate with other systems more easily. It
+  also opens more opportunities for human-in-the-loop scenarios, both active and
+  reactive.
+- **Debugging and Observability**. Event-driven communication moves message delivery
+  away from agents to a centralized component, making it easier to observe and
+  debug their activities regardless of agent implementation.
+- **Scalability**. An event-based architecture enables distributed and
+  cloud-deployed agents, which is essential for building scalable AI services
+  and applications.
+
+Today, we are delighted to share our progress and invite everyone to collaborate
+with us and provide feedback to evolve AutoGen and help shape the future of
+multi-agent systems.
+
+As the first step, we are opening a [pull request](#) into the main branch with the
+current state of development of 0.4. After approximately a week, we plan to
+merge this into main and continue development. There's still a lot left to do
+before 0.4 is ready for release though, so keep in mind this is a work in
+progress.
+
+Starting in AutoGen 0.4, the project will have three main libraries:
+
+- **Core** - the building blocks for an event-driven agentic system.
+- **AgentChat** - a task-driven, high-level API built with core, including group
+  chat, code execution, pre-built agents, and more. This is the most similar API
+  to AutoGen 0.2 and will be the easiest API to migrate to.
+- **Extensions** - implementations of core interfaces and third-party integrations
+  (e.g., Azure code executor and OpenAI model client).
+
+AutoGen 0.2 is still available, developed and maintained out of the [0.2 branch](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen/tree/0.2).
+For everyone looking for a stable version, we recommend continuing to use 0.2
+for the time being. It can be installed using:
+
+```sh
+pip install autogen-agentchat~=0.2
+```
+
+This new package name was used to align with the new packages that will come with 0.4:
+`autogen-core`, `autogen-agentchat`, and `autogen-ext`.
+
+Lastly, we will be using [GitHub
+Discussion](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen/discussions) as the official
+community forum for the new version and, going forward, all discussions related
+to the AutoGen project. We look forward to meeting you there.

website/blog/authors.yml

@@ -152,3 +152,7 @@ bboynton97:
   title: AI Engineer at AgentOps
   url: https://github.com/bboynton97
   image_url: https://github.com/bboynton97.png
+
+autogen-team:
+  name: AutoGen Team
+  title: The humans behind the agents

website/docs/Getting-Started.mdx

@@ -131,7 +131,6 @@ The figure below shows an example conversation flow with AutoGen.
 - Understand the use cases for [multi-agent conversation](/docs/Use-Cases/agent_chat) and [enhanced LLM inference](/docs/Use-Cases/enhanced_inference)
 - Read the [API](/docs/reference/agentchat/conversable_agent/) docs
 - Learn about [research](/docs/Research) around AutoGen
-- Chat on [Discord](https://aka.ms/autogen-dc)
 - Follow on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/pyautogen)
 - See our [roadmaps](https://aka.ms/autogen-roadmap)
 

website/docs/contributor-guide/contributing.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ The project welcomes contributions from developers and organizations worldwide.
 - Code review of pull requests.
 - Documentation, examples and test cases.
 - Readability improvement, e.g., improvement on docstr and comments.
-- Community participation in [issues](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen/issues), [discussions](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen/discussions), [discord](https://aka.ms/autogen-dc), and [twitter](https://twitter.com/pyautogen).
+- Community participation in [issues](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen/issues), [discussions](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen/discussions), and [twitter](https://twitter.com/pyautogen).
 - Tutorials, blog posts, talks that promote the project.
 - Sharing application scenarios and/or related research.
 
@@ -31,4 +31,4 @@ To see what we are working on and what we plan to work on, please check our
 
 ## Becoming a Reviewer
 
-There is currently no formal reviewer solicitation process. Current reviewers identify reviewers from active contributors. If you are willing to become a reviewer, you are welcome to let us know on discord.
+There is currently no formal reviewer solicitation process. Current reviewers identify reviewers from active contributors.

website/docs/contributor-guide/maintainer.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 ## Pull Requests
 
-- For new PR, decide whether to close without review. If not, find the right reviewers. One source to refer to is the roles on Discord. Another consideration is to ask users who can benefit from the PR to review it.
+- For new PR, decide whether to close without review. If not, find the right reviewers. Another consideration is to ask users who can benefit from the PR to review it.
 
 - For old PR, check the blocker: reviewer or PR creator. Try to unblock. Get additional help when needed.
 - When requesting changes, make sure you can check back in time because it blocks merging.
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@
 
 ## Issues and Discussions
 
-- For new issues, write a reply, apply a label if relevant. Ask on discord when necessary. For roadmap issues, apply the roadmap label and encourage community discussion. Mention relevant experts when necessary.
+- For new issues, write a reply, apply a label if relevant. For roadmap issues, apply the roadmap label and encourage community discussion. Mention relevant experts when necessary.
 
-- For old issues, provide an update or close. Ask on discord when necessary. Encourage PR creation when relevant.
+- For old issues, provide an update or close. Encourage PR creation when relevant.
 - Use “good first issue” for easy fix suitable for first-time contributors.
 - Use “task list” for issues that require multiple PRs.
-- For discussions, create an issue when relevant. Discuss on discord when appropriate.
+- For discussions, create an issue when relevant.

website/docs/tutorial/what-next.md

@@ -32,8 +32,7 @@ topics:
 ## Get Help
 
 If you have any questions, you can ask in our [GitHub
-Discussions](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen/discussions), or join
-our [Discord Server](https://aka.ms/autogen-dc).
+Discussions](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen/discussions).
 
 [![](https://img.shields.io/discord/1153072414184452236?logo=discord&style=flat.png)](https://aka.ms/autogen-dc)
 

website/docusaurus.config.js

@@ -145,11 +145,6 @@ module.exports = {
           label: "GitHub",
           position: "right",
         },
-        {
-          href: "https://aka.ms/autogen-dc",
-          label: "Discord",
-          position: "right",
-        },
         {
           href: "https://twitter.com/pyautogen",
           label: "Twitter",
@@ -177,8 +172,8 @@ module.exports = {
             //     //   href: 'https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/pymarlin',
             //     // },
             {
-              label: "Discord",
-              href: "https://aka.ms/autogen-dc",
+              label: "GitHub Discussion",
+              href: "https://github.com/microsoft/autogen/discussions",
             },
             {
               label: "Twitter",