Unable to publish an agent in Microsoft Foundry

Rahul Bansal 0 Reputation points
2026-07-31T20:23:48.6933333+00:00

I have created an agent from scratch in New Foundry, When I goto Agent -> Details I still see this message "Unlock more with the new agent format" and I am unable to publish it as in the screenshot attached. I have tried to fix the issue with AI chats opus model but no resolution. Please help fix this issue.User's image

Microsoft Foundry
Microsoft Foundry

A unified Azure platform for creating and managing AI models, agents, and applications with built‑in enterprise security, monitoring, and governance

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  1. Nithin 245 Reputation points
    2026-08-17T03:59:14.2366667+00:00

    Hi Rahul,

    This occurs because your agent is built on the legacy agent schema, which blocks publishing until migrated to the new Azure AI Foundry Agent format supporting Agent-to-Agent (A2A) and Routines.

    Quick Fixes / Solutions:

    1. Click "Create new agent": Select the purple Create new agent button directly inside the banner to clone your system prompt, model selection, and tool configurations into the updated schema.
    2. Verify Connections & Tools: Confirm your deployed model and any connected tools (e.g., Azure AI Search, OpenAPI actions) are linked in the newly created agent draft.
    3. Publish Upgraded Agent: Navigate to the new agent's Deploy / Publish panel to complete the deployment.

    Ref: Azure AI Agent Service Overview | Azure AI Agent Quickstart

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  2. Anshika Varshney 15,460 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-07-31T21:17:04.6366667+00:00

    Hello @Rahul Bansal

    Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

    If you created the agent in the new Foundry experience but still see the "Unlock more with the new agent format" banner and the Publish option is unavailable, this may indicate that the agent was either not created as a new-format Agent Application or that there is a publishing eligibility/configuration issue.

    As initial troubleshooting, please try:

    1. Refresh the Foundry portal in an InPrivate/Incognito browser session.
    2. Verify that your project and agent are in a supported region for publishing.
    3. Check whether the agent has been assigned an identity under the agent configuration.
    4. Confirm that you can create and publish a newly created test agent in the same project.
    5. Try recreating the agent in a different project to determine whether the issue is project-specific.

    Could you please help us with the following details?

    • A screenshot of the Agent Details page showing the banner.
    • The Foundry region where the project and agent are created.
    • Whether the agent was created under Agents → Create Agent or through another workflow.
    • Any error message shown in the browser console (F12 → Console) when opening the agent details page.
    • Confirmation of whether you have the Foundry Project Manager role on the parent Foundry resource.

    Once you share the requested screenshots and details, we can investigate further and determine whether this is a configuration issue or a potential backend/product problem.

    Thank you!

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  3. Jose Benjamin Solis Nolasco 10,891 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-07-31T20:27:12.25+00:00

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A,

    Hello @Rahul Bansal , I hope you are doing well.

    Based on the screenshot, the issue appears to be related to the agent's format rather than the model configuration.

    The message "Unlock more with the new agent format" indicates that the agent was created using the older/legacy agent format. Microsoft Foundry's current publishing experience requires the agent to be migrated to the new agent format.

    Since the portal is explicitly providing the "Create new agent" option, I recommend the following:

    1. Select Create new agent from the message shown in the Agent > Details page.
    2. Create the new agent based on the existing agent configuration.
    3. Review the migrated agent's model, instructions, tools, connections, and other configuration.
    4. Save/create a new version of the agent.
    5. Test the new agent in Foundry.
    6. Once the new-format agent is working as expected, try the publishing operation again.

    Microsoft's migration guidance also documents the transition from classic agents to the new Foundry Agent Service. In the newer model, agents use explicit versions and structured definitions, and some capabilities have changed between the classic and new agent models.

    You can review the migration guidance here:

    Migrate to the new Foundry Agent Service

    If my answer helped you, please consider marking it as accepted. This helps others in the community find similar solutions.

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  4. AI answer

    2026-07-31T20:24:08.0833333+00:00

    That message indicates the agent is still in the older agent application format. The current publish flow for Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams does not support new publishing for agents in that older format.

    What to do:

    1. Create a copy of the agent in the new format.
      • The portal message itself is consistent with the documented behavior: older-format agents must be upgraded to the new format before they can be published.
    2. If publishing from the portal, verify the agent has a unique identity.
      • A documented publishing failure cause is that agent.identity is null.
      • If the agent does not have a unique identity, use the migration path for the new format.
    3. If the publish option is disabled, check RBAC on the correct scope.
      • For Agent Applications, Publish Agent is disabled when the Foundry Project Manager role is missing on the Foundry resource scope.
      • Assigning the role only on the project scope is not sufficient.
    4. After republishing in the new format, recheck permissions for the published identity.
      • Publishing changes identity. The published agent gets its own dedicated identity.
      • Permissions from the project identity do not transfer automatically, so any downstream Azure resource access must be reassigned to the published agent identity.
    5. If the issue is specifically that the new format cannot be created in the new portal, use the migration guidance referenced by the portal message.
      • Existing older-format agents continue to work and can still be updated, but new publishing to Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot requires the new format.

    Key point: this is not a prompt/configuration issue inside the agent instructions. It is a format and publishing-model issue. The fix is to migrate or recreate the agent in the new format, then publish.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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