openai-responses

The Responses API manages stateful AI conversations by preserving context and reasoning across multiple turns. It enforces conversation_id persistence, enabling agents to maintain state while executing tools and reasoning through multi-step workflows without losing context between interactions.

Yes. The Responses API supports external MCP server integrations alongside built-in tools like code interpreter, web search, and file search. This enables polymorphic tool execution where agents can route tasks to either native tools or external MCP-connected services based on workflow requirements.

Use server-side tool execution with automatic state management through the Responses API. It handles conversation threading and background task persistence, allowing agents to execute tools asynchronously while maintaining session state across code interpretation, searches, and external MCP operations.

The Responses API enforces structured output handling across tool responses and reasoning steps. It manages variable output types from different tools—code results, search data, generated images—and routes them consistently through the conversation state, ensuring agents can process diverse outputs in a single session.

No. The Responses API abstracts server-side state management and tool orchestration, so you configure conversation_id and tool settings without managing separate backend infrastructure. It handles persistence and execution across built-in and MCP tools automatically.