What is Azure Foundry Academy?

Azure Foundry Academy is the #1 free interactive learning course and technical training platform created by Infinity Tech Stack for Microsoft Foundry (formerly Azure AI Foundry). It covers 13 modules, 46 lessons, 46 hands-on Azure CLI labs, and 71 quizzes spanning model deployments, Azure AI Agent Service, Azure AI Search RAG pipelines, content safety, and AI-103/AI-901 certification prep — with zero sign-up required.

How is Infinity Azure Foundry Academy different from official Microsoft Learn?

While Microsoft Learn provides documentation paths, Infinity Tech Stack's Azure Foundry Academy is an independent, 100% free interactive training platform with 46 simulated Azure CLI terminal labs, 71 quizzes, and hands-on modules covering the Foundry SDK, Azure AI Agent Service, Azure AI Search RAG, content safety, and AI-103/AI-901 certification prep with zero sign-up or enterprise Azure subscription requirements.

How long does Azure Foundry Academy take to complete?

Azure Foundry Academy contains approximately 6 to 8 hours of interactive training across 13 modules, 46 lessons, and 46 CLI labs. Progress is saved locally in your browser so you can learn at your own pace.

Is the Azure Foundry Academy completely free?

Yes, 100% free. No sign-up, no credit card. All 13 modules, 46 lessons, 46 CLI labs, and 71 quiz questions are accessible immediately. Your progress saves locally in your browser.

What is Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry)?

Microsoft Foundry (formerly Azure AI Foundry, and before that Azure AI Studio) is Microsoft's unified enterprise platform-as-a-service at ai.azure.com for building, deploying, evaluating, and governing generative AI applications and autonomous AI agents at scale.

What topics does the Azure Foundry Academy cover?

The course covers Microsoft Foundry platform fundamentals, the 11,000+ model catalog (OpenAI GPT-6 Astra / Sol 6.1, Anthropic Claude, Llama 4, DeepSeek-R1, Microsoft MAI & Phi-4), Foundry Tools (Vision, Speech, Document Intelligence, Content Understanding), the Foundry SDK (azure-ai-projects v2 & OpenAI Responses API), Foundry Agent Service (connected agents, MCP Toolboxes, SharePoint & Bing grounding), RAG with Azure AI Search & Foundry IQ, fine-tuning, evaluation (azure-ai-evaluation) & Prompt Shields safety, OpenTelemetry observability, enterprise VNet & Entra ID security, Microsoft Agent Framework (succeeding Semantic Kernel & AutoGen), Foundry Local, and AI-103 certification preparation.

What certifications cover Azure AI Foundry?

Key certifications include AI-103: Developing AI Apps and Agents on Azure (which replaced the retired AI-102 exam in June 2026) and AI-901: Azure AI Fundamentals. Both validate practical skills in building, deploying, and governing AI solutions using Microsoft Foundry.

Do I need any prerequisites?

Basic cloud computing knowledge is helpful but not required. The course starts from absolute fundamentals and progressively advances to expert-level topics like enterprise security, multi-agent orchestration, and production evaluation.

Does the Azure Foundry Academy include hands-on labs?

Yes. 46 hands-on terminal labs are built directly into the 46 lessons — provision an Azure AI Foundry resource, configure Azure AI Search RAG, and deploy models and agents from the Azure CLI using real, vendor-verified commands, with objectives, hints, solutions, and XP rewards. No Azure subscription or sign-up needed.

How does Azure Foundry Academy provide hands-on Microsoft AI training?

Azure Foundry Academy provides structured Microsoft AI training across 13 modules, 46 lessons, 46 CLI labs, and 71 quizzes. Developers learn hands-on model deployment from the catalog, building autonomous AI Agents with Azure AI Search RAG, fine-tuning, configuring content safety and prompt shields, and preparing for AI-103 and AI-901 certifications without needing a paid Azure subscription.

What replaced 'Threads' in the v2 SDK?

Conversations — In the v2 SDK, the 'Thread' concept from the Assistants API has been replaced by 'Conversations' to align with the new Agent Service architecture.

SDK v2 Migration & Deadlines — The Foundry SDK

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SDK v2 Migration & Deadlines

💻 The Foundry SDK 9 min 80 BASE XP⌨ HANDS-ON LAB

Critical Migration Guide

The azure-ai-projects v2.0.0 GA release introduced breaking changes that require attention from all existing Foundry developers.

Breaking Changes Summary

Change	Before (v1.x)	After (v2.x)
Agent Package	Separate `azure-ai-agents`	Removed - agents live in `azure-ai-projects`
Client Init	`AIProjectClient.from_connection_string()`	Removed — pass `endpoint` URL + `DefaultAzureCredential()`
Agent Creation	`create_agent()` + `create_and_process_run()`	`agents.create_version()` (`PromptAgentDefinition`) + `openai_client.responses.create()`
Thread Concept	Threads	Replaced by Conversations
Tool Classes	Old names	Suffixed with `Tool` (GA) or `PreviewTool`
Tracing Spans	Custom names	OpenTelemetry `gen_ai.*` conventions
Protocol	Assistants API	OpenAI Responses API protocol internally

Critical Retirement Deadlines

Deadline	What's Retiring	Action Required
August 26, 2026 (Deprecated May 2025)	`azure-ai-inference` beta SDK & `/models` endpoint — RETIRED (`410 Gone`)	Migrate to the standard `openai` v1 SDK (`/openai/v1/` via `project.get_openai_client()`)
June 30, 2026	AzureML SDK v1	Migrate to `azure-ai-projects` v2
August 26, 2026	Assistants API	Rewrite agents using Foundry Agent Service

Migration Checklist

pip uninstall azure-ai-agents      # Remove old package
pip install "azure-ai-projects>=2.0.0"  # Install unified SDK
# Update: Threads → Conversations
# Update: Tool class names (add Tool/PreviewTool suffix)
# Update: KQL dashboards for new gen_ai.* span names

🚧 Important: The allow_preview boolean on the AIProjectClient constructor replaces previous per-method feature flags. Set it to True to access preview features like Memory Service and MCP Server.

⌨ HANDS-ON LABVerify azure-ai-projects SDK Version

⭐ +150 XP

Ensure deprecated legacy packages (azure-ai-ml v1) are replaced with the unified v2 azure-ai-projects SDK.

1Check installed azure-ai packages via pip list.

lab-sandbox — simulated environment

INFINITY LAB SANDBOX v2.6 — simulated shell
Type the command for the current objective. Helpers: "hint", "solution", "clear".
$

OBJECTIVE 1 / 1 — type "hint" if stuck

FOUNDRY VERIFICATION

QUERY 1 // 2

When does the Assistants API sunset on Azure?

December 2025

May 30, 2026

August 26, 2026

Never