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Background mode enables long-running tasks on reasoning models like GPT-5.4 without worrying about timeouts or connectivity issues. The API returns immediately and Agno polls for the result automatically.
background.py
"""
Background Mode
===============

Background mode enables long-running tasks on reasoning models like GPT-5.4
without worrying about timeouts or connectivity issues. The API returns
immediately and Agno polls for the result automatically.

Requires: openai>=2.0.0
"""

from agno.agent import Agent
from agno.models.openai import OpenAIResponses

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Create Agent with background mode enabled
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

agent = Agent(
    model=OpenAIResponses(
        id="gpt-5.4",
        background=True,
        background_poll_interval=2.0,  # seconds between polls (default)
    ),
    markdown=True,
)

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Run Agent
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
if __name__ == "__main__":
    agent.print_response("Explain the history of quantum computing in detail")

​
Run the Example

1

Set up your virtual environment

uv venv --python 3.12
source .venv/bin/activate

uv venv --python 3.12
.venv\Scripts\activate
2

Install dependencies

uv pip install -U agno openai
3

Export your OpenAI API key

export OPENAI_API_KEY="your_openai_api_key_here"

$Env:OPENAI_API_KEY="your_openai_api_key_here"
4

Run the example

Save the code above as background.py, then run:
python background.py
Full source: cookbook/90_models/openai/responses/background.py