Notable Changes

• We've redesigned how plugins and functions integrate with the kernel to simplify their addition and minimize confusion. Now, use kernel.add_plugin() or kernel.add_plugins() to add plugins and kernel.add_function() or kernel.add_functions for functions. You can add an OpenAPI plugin via kernel.add_plugin_from_openapi() and an OpenAI plugin via kernel.add_plugin_from_openai(). You can add a plugin in three ways:
  • Directly as a KernelPlugin instance—other parameters will be ignored.
  • As a custom class with methods decorated by kernel_function.
  • As a dictionary where one or more methods are decorated with kernel_function.
  • See the add_plugin and add_function kernel code for implementation details.
• To enhance load performance, only the Kernel is loaded in the root init, with all other components moved to sub-packages. SK imports use full paths for clarity and modularity. Init files are generally positioned at the root+1 level (e.g., semantic_kernel.functions) to provide developers with necessary components, except in the connectors and utils directories where deeper navigation is required. For instance, OpenAI and Azure OpenAI specific functionalities are accessed via from semantic_kernel.connectors.ai.open_ai import .... In contrast, sample code employs abbreviated paths to streamline the import process.

What's Changed

• Python: Bump pyarrow from 14.0.2 to 15.0.2 in /python by @dependabot in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5647
• Python: .Net: Fixed typos based on new spell checker vocabulary by @dmytrostruk in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5717
• Python: Bump transformers from 4.39.1 to 4.39.2 in /python by @dependabot in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5720
• Python: small fix for CH serialization by @eavanvalkenburg in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5738
• Python: Small docstring fix by @nickwalkmsft in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5741
• Python: Update to AOAI OYD 2024-02-15-preview API version by @abhahn in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5684
• Python: Fix the command for pipeline checks in DEV_SETUP.md by @tomoam in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5726
• Python: Add missing await to openapi client by @moonbox3 in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5759
• Python: dev_setup and readme updates by @eavanvalkenburg in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5770
• Python: updated decorator to allow no brackets by @eavanvalkenburg in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5776
• Python: removed pipeline by @eavanvalkenburg in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5779
• Python: two small updates to python workflows by @eavanvalkenburg in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5775
• Python: remove path by @eavanvalkenburg in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5793
• Python: Bump pillow from 10.2.0 to 10.3.0 in /python by @dependabot in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5758
• Python: Bump ruff from 0.3.4 to 0.3.5 in /python by @dependabot in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5816
• Python: Allow args to pass to func calling stepwise planner by @moonbox3 in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5830
• Python: Updated plugins by @eavanvalkenburg in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5827
• Python: Bump project version for release. Fix missing imports in notebooks. by @moonbox3 in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5871
• Python: Bump openai from 1.14.3 to 1.18.0 in /python by @dependabot in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5878
• Python: Bump openapi-core from 0.19.0 to 0.19.1 in /python by @dependabot in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5879
• Python: init cleanup by @eavanvalkenburg in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5872

New Contributors

• @nickwalkmsft made their first contribution in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5741
• @abhahn made their first contribution in https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/pull/5684

Full Changelog: https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel/compare/python-0.9.5b1...python-0.9.6b1