Stacks and Flows

Decision Page · Source-verified

OpenAI Agents API: managed agent runtime or your own stack?

OpenAI's Agents API packages a managed Codex-derived agent harness with sandbox choices and long-running execution. The decision is whether that managed runtime boundary matches your control and portability requirements.

What the sources establish

  • OpenAI describes the Agents API as a managed agent harness, currently in public beta.
  • Teams can use an OpenAI-managed sandbox, their own infrastructure, or partner environments.
  • Vercel documents an integration in which OpenAI owns the loop and session state while Vercel Sandbox supplies isolated execution; E2B documents an application-managed workbench with one sandbox per chat.
  • Long-running tasks and subagents are supported, but application policy, data boundaries, and acceptance tests remain the adopter's responsibility.

Harness versus execution environment

The Agents API can own the loop, context management, subagent coordination, and session lifecycle while code execution happens in an OpenAI sandbox, your infrastructure, or a partner environment. Choosing a harness does not settle where files, tools, and commands run.

Data boundary to name explicitly

Record where prompts, session state, source files, secrets, tool results, intermediate artifacts, logs, and final outputs cross provider boundaries. Vercel and E2B integrations illustrate different lifecycle ownership; they do not create one universal data path.

What the launch does not settle

Public beta status does not establish workload fit, output quality, portability, or acceptance criteria. Those still need a bounded pilot with named data and permission constraints.

Decision detail

  1. Use it when managed orchestration and a Codex-derived runtime reduce meaningful platform work.
  2. Do not use it as a substitute for workload-specific authorization, evaluation, or portability planning.
  3. Pilot one bounded workflow before committing the surrounding stack.
  4. Keep an application-owned exit path while the service remains in public beta.

Evidence

These claims are source-verified. We do not label this page hands-on or benchmarked because no reproducible test artifact is attached.

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