Task Agent - AI-Powered Task Management

An intelligent task management assistant built with Microsoft Agentic AI Framework and Azure OpenAI, demonstrating Clean Architecture and autonomous AI agent capabilities with Azure Content Safety protection.

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🚀 Quick Start

# Navigate to the project
cd TaskAgentWeb

# Restore dependencies
dotnet restore

# Configure your Azure OpenAI and Content Safety credentials in appsettings.Development.json
# Run the application
dotnet run

Visit http://localhost:5000 and start managing your tasks with natural language!

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✨ Features

• 💬 Natural Language Interface: Talk to your task manager like a person
• 🛡️ Multi-Layer Security: Azure Content Safety protection (Prompt Shield + Content Moderation)
• ✅ Complete CRUD: Create, read, update, and delete tasks
• 📊 Smart Filtering: Filter by status and priority
• 📈 Task Analytics: Get summaries and statistics
• 🎨 Beautiful Tables: Markdown-formatted responses with emojis
• 💡 Contextual Suggestions: Agent provides helpful next actions
• 🗄️ SQL Server Persistence: Entity Framework Core with LocalDB

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🛡️ Content Safety

This application implements 2-layer defense using Azure AI Content Safety with parallel execution:

Layer 1: Prompt Shield

• Detects prompt injection attacks (jailbreaks, instruction override, role manipulation)
• REST API: /contentsafety/text:shieldPrompt (API version 2024-09-01)
• Blocks malicious attempts to manipulate the AI system
• Optimized: Trusts Azure's pre-trained model without system context (reduces false positives)

Layer 2: Content Moderation

• Analyzes text for harmful content (Hate, Violence, Sexual, Self-Harm)
• SDK: Azure.AI.ContentSafety v1.0.0
• Configurable severity thresholds (0-6 scale)

Architecture: Content safety checks run automatically via middleware before any AI processing.

Performance:

• Parallel Execution: Both layers validate simultaneously using Task.WhenAll (~50% faster)
• IHttpClientFactory: Named HttpClient for optimal connection pooling and DNS refresh
• Response Time: ~200-400ms for safe prompts (vs ~400-800ms sequential)

Testing: See CONTENT_SAFETY.md for 75+ test cases, known limitations, and troubleshooting guide.

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🏗️ Architecture

Built with Clean Architecture for maintainability and testability:

TaskAgent.Domain (Entities, Business Logic)
    ↓
TaskAgent.Application (Use Cases, Interfaces)
    ↓
TaskAgent.Infrastructure (Data Access, Azure Services)
    ↓
TaskAgent.WebApp (UI, Controllers, AI Agent)

Key Components:

• Domain: TaskItem entity with business rules, Status/Priority enums
• Application: DTOs (using record types), ITaskRepository, IThreadPersistenceService, 6 AI function tools
• Infrastructure: TaskDbContext, TaskRepository, ContentSafetyService with HttpClientFactory, InMemoryThreadPersistenceService
• Presentation: MVC controllers, Razor views, TaskAgentService, configuration validation extensions

Conversation Persistence:

• Thread state serialized/deserialized across requests using AgentThread.Serialize()
• IThreadPersistenceService abstraction for storage flexibility
• In-memory implementation for single-server deployments
• Production: Use Redis/SQL for multi-server scenarios

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Technology	Purpose
.NET 9.0	Modern web framework
ASP.NET Core MVC	Web application
Entity Framework Core 9.0	Database ORM
SQL Server LocalDB	Data persistence
Microsoft Agentic AI Framework	Autonomous agents
Azure OpenAI (GPT-4o-mini)	Language model
Azure AI Content Safety	Security & moderation
Bootstrap 5	Responsive UI
Marked.js	Markdown rendering

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⚙️ Setup

Prerequisites

• .NET 9.0 SDK
• SQL Server LocalDB (included with Visual Studio)
• Azure OpenAI resource with deployed model
• Azure AI Content Safety resource

Configuration

1. Update appsettings.Development.json:

{
  "AzureOpenAI": {
    "Endpoint": "https://your-openai-resource.openai.azure.com/",
    "ApiKey": "your-openai-api-key",
    "ModelDeployment": "gpt-4o-mini"
  },
  "ContentSafety": {
    "Endpoint": "https://your-contentsafety-resource.cognitiveservices.azure.com/",
    "ApiKey": "your-contentsafety-api-key",
    "HateThreshold": 2,
    "ViolenceThreshold": 2,
    "SexualThreshold": 2,
    "SelfHarmThreshold": 2
  }
}

2. Database (auto-created on first run, or manually):

dotnet ef database update

3. Run:

dotnet run

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🤖 AI Agent Capabilities

The Task Agent provides 6 function tools:

Function	Description
CreateTask	Create new tasks with title, description, priority
ListTasks	Show all tasks with optional filters
GetTaskDetails	Get detailed info about a specific task
UpdateTask	Modify task status or priority
DeleteTask	Remove tasks
GetTaskSummary	View statistics and analytics

Example Interactions:

You: Create a high priority task to review the quarterly report
Agent: ✅ Task created! ID: 1, Priority: High

You: Show me all my tasks
Agent: [Displays beautiful Markdown table with all tasks]
      💡 Suggestions: • Filter by priority • Update oldest task

You: Mark task 1 as in progress
Agent: ✅ Task updated! Status changed to InProgress

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🎨 Agent Features

Markdown Tables

Lists 2+ tasks in beautiful formatted tables with emojis:

• Status: ⏳ Pending, 🔄 InProgress, ✅ Completed
• Priority: 🟢 Low, 🟡 Medium, 🔴 High

Contextual Suggestions

Agent provides 1-2 smart suggestions after each operation:

• After creating: "View all tasks" or "Create follow-up"
• After listing: "Filter by priority" or "Update oldest task"
• After completing: "View remaining tasks" or "Get summary"

Smart Insights

• Detects many pending tasks → suggests prioritizing
• Celebrates milestones → "🎉 Great! You've completed 5 tasks!"
• Encourages progress

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📂 Project Structure

TaskAgentWeb/
├── TaskAgent.Domain/                      # Entities, Enums
├── TaskAgent.Application/                 # DTOs (record types), Interfaces, Functions
│   └── Interfaces/                       # ITaskRepository, IThreadPersistenceService
├── TaskAgent.Infrastructure/              # DbContext, Repositories, Azure Services
│   ├── Services/                         # ContentSafetyService, InMemoryThreadPersistenceService
│   ├── Models/                           # ContentSafetyConfig, PromptShieldResponse
│   └── InfrastructureServiceExtensions.cs # Named HttpClient registration, DI
└── TaskAgent.WebApp/                      # Controllers, Views, Services
    ├── Controllers/                       # ChatController, HomeController
    ├── Services/                         # TaskAgentService, ErrorResponseFactory
    ├── Middleware/                       # ContentSafetyMiddleware
    ├── Extensions/                       # ConfigurationValidationExtensions, etc.
    ├── Views/                            # Razor UI
    ├── wwwroot/                          # CSS, JavaScript
    └── PresentationServiceExtensions.cs   # DI, AI Agent registration

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🔒 Security

Content Safety

• 2-Layer Defense: Automatic Prompt Shield + Content Moderation
• Fail-Secure: Blocks requests on Prompt Shield errors; Fail-Open on Content Moderation for availability
• Optimized Detection: Prompt Shield uses pre-trained model (no system context) to reduce false positives
• Performance: HttpClientFactory with Named HttpClient for connection pooling and DNS refresh
• Immutable DTOs: Record types for thread-safety and proper equality semantics
• See: CONTENT_SAFETY.md for testing guide and limitations

Application Security

• Input validation via EF Core parameterized queries
• XSS protection with DOMPurify sanitization
• Configuration validation on startup (via extension methods)
• Never commit API keys to source control
• Use environment variables or Azure Key Vault in production

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� License

Educational sample project for learning Microsoft Agentic AI Framework.

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Built with ❤️ using .NET 9, Microsoft Agentic AI Framework, and Clean Architecture