4.2.1. Assistants and Threads

The Assistants API provides a stateful conversation model where Azure manages context for you. Unlike raw chat completions where you must send the full conversation history each request, Assistants maintain state in "threads" automatically.

Core concepts:

• Assistant: Configuration object with instructions, model, and tools
• Thread: A conversation container that persists messages
• Message: User or assistant content within a thread
• Run: Executes the assistant logic on a thread

Why use Assistants over raw chat completions:

• Automatic context management (no manual history truncation)
• Built-in tool support (code interpreter, file search)
• Persistent threads for long-running conversations