Clarify shallow-copy behavior of tools and handoffs in Agent.clone() by abdul-kabir-jawed · Pull Request #1296 · openai/openai-agents-python

abdul-kabir-jawed · 2025-07-29T14:15:50Z

This PR clarifies that tools and handoffs in Agent.clone() are shallow-copied:

New list objects are created.
Inner tool and handoff objects are shared.

Includes:

Updated docstring in Agent.clone()
Minimal test verifying shallow-copy behavior

seratch

Can you fix the lint error?

uv run ruff check
src/agents/agent.py:230:81: W291 Trailing whitespace
    |
228 |         Notes:
229 |             - Uses `dataclasses.replace`, which performs a **shallow copy**.
230 |             - Mutable attributes like `tools` and `handoffs` are shallow‑copied: 
    |                                                                                 ^ W291
231 |               new list objects are created only if overridden, but their contents 
232 |               (tool functions and handoff objects) are shared with the original.
    |
    = help: Remove trailing whitespace

src/agents/agent.py:231:82: W291 Trailing whitespace
    |
229 |             - Uses `dataclasses.replace`, which performs a **shallow copy**.
230 |             - Mutable attributes like `tools` and `handoffs` are shallow‑copied: 
231 |               new list objects are created only if overridden, but their contents 
    |                                                                                  ^ W291
232 |               (tool functions and handoff objects) are shared with the original.
233 |             - To modify these independently, pass new lists when calling `clone()`.
    |
    = help: Remove trailing whitespace

Found 2 errors.
No fixes available (2 hidden fixes can be enabled with the `--unsafe-fixes` option).
make: *** [Makefile:16: lint] Error 1
Error: Process completed with exit code 2.

Fixed ruff lint errors (W291) caused by trailing whitespace in the docstring.

abdul-kabir-jawed

Fixed the lint issues. Ready for review again!

seratch · 2025-07-30T20:25:53Z

still failing

abdul-kabir-jawed

Appreciate the review! I’ve addressed the test failure and pushed a fix. Waiting for checks to pass.

seratch · 2025-07-30T23:55:02Z

lint is now fine, but the test is failing (thanks for adding the tests!)

abdul-kabir-jawed

The updated test file should resolve the failure. Could you please review the latest Actions logs once the checks rerun? If the test still fails, I’d appreciate it if you could share the specific error message, and I’ll address it promptly

seratch · 2025-07-31T22:31:31Z

tests:

=================================== FAILURES ===================================
________________________ test_agent_clone_shallow_copy _________________________

    def test_agent_clone_shallow_copy():
        target_agent = Agent(name="Target")
        original = Agent(
            name="Original",
            instructions="Testing clone shallow copy",
            tools=[greet],
            handoffs=[handoff(target_agent)],
        )
    
        cloned = original.clone(name="Cloned")
    
        # Ensure new lists, but same inner objects
>       assert cloned.tools is not original.tools
E       AssertionError: assert [FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema={'properties': {'name': {'title': 'Name', 'type': 'stri....<locals>._create_function_tool.<locals>._on_invoke_tool at 0x7f8e0ae87ce0>, strict_json_schema=True, is_enabled=True)] is not [FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema={'properties': {'name': {'title': 'Name', 'type': 'stri....<locals>._create_function_tool.<locals>._on_invoke_tool at 0x7f8e0ae87ce0>, strict_json_schema=True, is_enabled=True)]
E        +  where [FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema={'properties': {'name': {'title': 'Name', 'type': 'stri....<locals>._create_function_tool.<locals>._on_invoke_tool at 0x7f8e0ae87ce0>, strict_json_schema=True, is_enabled=True)] = Agent(name='Cloned', handoff_description=None, tools=[FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema={'...ails=[], output_guardrails=[], output_type=None, hooks=None, tool_use_behavior='run_llm_again', reset_tool_choice=True).tools
E        +  and   [FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema={'properties': {'name': {'title': 'Name', 'type': 'stri....<locals>._create_function_tool.<locals>._on_invoke_tool at 0x7f8e0ae87ce0>, strict_json_schema=True, is_enabled=True)] = Agent(name='Original', handoff_description=None, tools=[FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema=...ails=[], output_guardrails=[], output_type=None, hooks=None, tool_use_behavior='run_llm_again', reset_tool_choice=True).tools

tests/test_agent_clone_shallow_copy.py:21: AssertionError

old_versions:

=================================== FAILURES ===================================
________________________ test_agent_clone_shallow_copy _________________________

    def test_agent_clone_shallow_copy():
        target_agent = Agent(name="Target")
        original = Agent(
            name="Original",
            instructions="Testing clone shallow copy",
            tools=[greet],
            handoffs=[handoff(target_agent)],
        )
    
        cloned = original.clone(name="Cloned")
    
        # Ensure new lists, but same inner objects
>       assert cloned.tools is not original.tools
E       AssertionError: assert [FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema={'properties': {'name': {'title': 'Name', 'type': 'stri....<locals>._create_function_tool.<locals>._on_invoke_tool at 0x7f52688de310>, strict_json_schema=True, is_enabled=True)] is not [FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema={'properties': {'name': {'title': 'Name', 'type': 'stri....<locals>._create_function_tool.<locals>._on_invoke_tool at 0x7f52688de310>, strict_json_schema=True, is_enabled=True)]
E        +  where [FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema={'properties': {'name': {'title': 'Name', 'type': 'stri....<locals>._create_function_tool.<locals>._on_invoke_tool at 0x7f52688de310>, strict_json_schema=True, is_enabled=True)] = Agent(name='Cloned', handoff_description=None, tools=[FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema={'...ails=[], output_guardrails=[], output_type=None, hooks=None, tool_use_behavior='run_llm_again', reset_tool_choice=True).tools
E        +  and   [FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema={'properties': {'name': {'title': 'Name', 'type': 'stri....<locals>._create_function_tool.<locals>._on_invoke_tool at 0x7f52688de310>, strict_json_schema=True, is_enabled=True)] = Agent(name='Original', handoff_description=None, tools=[FunctionTool(name='greet', description='', params_json_schema=...ails=[], output_guardrails=[], output_type=None, hooks=None, tool_use_behavior='run_llm_again', reset_tool_choice=True).tools

tests/test_agent_clone_shallow_copy.py:21: AssertionError

seratch · 2025-08-01T11:47:34Z

The lint job is failing now. Can you resolve it?

…penai#1296)

Clarify shallow-copy behavior of tools and handoffs in Agent.clone()

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seratch requested changes Jul 29, 2025

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seratch added documentation Improvements or additions to documentation feature:core labels Jul 29, 2025

fix: remove trailing whitespace in Agent.clone docstring

5a8a747

Fixed ruff lint errors (W291) caused by trailing whitespace in the docstring.

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fix: remove trailing whitespace in Agent.clone docstring

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abdul-kabir-jawed commented Jul 30, 2025

View reviewed changes

Merge branch 'main' into docs/agent-clone-shallow-copy

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abdul-kabir-jawed added 8 commits July 31, 2025 02:32

Your message describing the change

b01105c

Update agent.py

89c4183

fix(agent.py): remove trailing whitespace in clone method docstring

eb69161

fix(agent.py): remove trailing whitespace in clone method docstring

10d167b

Merge branch 'main' into docs/agent-clone-shallow-copy

3743e3f

Delete uv.lock

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Create uv.lock

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Update pyproject.toml

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abdul-kabir-jawed commented Jul 30, 2025

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abdul-kabir-jawed requested a review from seratch July 30, 2025 22:32

abdul-kabir-jawed added 2 commits July 31, 2025 15:43

Update test_agent_clone_shallow_copy.py

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Merge branch 'main' into docs/agent-clone-shallow-copy

fd071ee

abdul-kabir-jawed commented Jul 31, 2025

View reviewed changes

abdul-kabir-jawed added 2 commits August 1, 2025 15:00

Update test_agent_clone_shallow_copy.py

88647d0

Merge branch 'main' into docs/agent-clone-shallow-copy

fb9a13c

abdul-kabir-jawed added 2 commits August 1, 2025 19:16

Update test_agent_clone_shallow_copy.py

055dd51

Merge branch 'main' into docs/agent-clone-shallow-copy

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seratch enabled auto-merge (squash) August 1, 2025 15:12

seratch approved these changes Aug 1, 2025

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seratch merged commit af76c36 into openai:main Aug 1, 2025

vcshih pushed a commit to veris-ai/openai-agents-python that referenced this pull request Aug 15, 2025

Clarify shallow-copy behavior of tools and handoffs in Agent.clone() (o…

2c04ff6

…penai#1296)

This was referenced Aug 16, 2026

docs: document Agent.clone list property sharing openai/openai-agents-js#1705

Merged

docs: correct Agent.clone list attribute semantics #4474

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Clarify shallow-copy behavior of tools and handoffs in Agent.clone() - #1296

Clarify shallow-copy behavior of tools and handoffs in Agent.clone()#1296
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