functions-markdown-migration-guide.md

title	Functions.Markdown to Functions.Yaml Package Migration Guide
description	Describes the steps to migrate from the APIs of the Functions.Markdown NuGet package to the APIs of the Functions.Yaml package.
author	SergeyMenshykh
ms.topic	conceptual
ms.author	semenshi
ms.date	05/07/2025
ms.service	semantic-kernel

Functions.Markdown to Functions.Yaml Package Migration Guide

The Functions.Markdown NuGet package is deprecated and will be removed in a future release as part of the clean-up initiative. The recommended replacement is the Functions.Yaml package.

Markdown Prompt Templates

Before migrating your code to the new APIs from the Functions.Yaml package, consider migrating your markdown prompt templates to the new YAML format first. So, if you have a Markdown prompt template like this:

This is a semantic kernel prompt template
```sk.prompt
Hello AI, tell me about {{$input}}
```
```sk.execution_settings
{
    "service1" : {
        "model_id": "gpt4",
        "temperature": 0.7,
        "function_choice_behavior": {
            "type": "auto",
        }
    }
}
```
```sk.execution_settings
{
    "service2" : {
        "model_id": "gpt-4o-mini",
        "temperature": 0.7
    }
}

the YAML equivalent prompt template would look like this:

name: TellMeAbout
description: This is a semantic kernel prompt template
template: Hello AI, tell me about {{$input}}
template_format: semantic-kernel
execution_settings:
  service1:
    model_id: gpt4
    temperature: 0.7
    function_choice_behavior:
      type: auto
  service2:
    model_id: gpt-4o-mini
    temperature: 0.7

KernelFunctionMarkdown.FromPromptMarkdown method

If your code uses the KernelFunctionMarkdown.FromPromptMarkdown method to create a Kernel Function from prompt, replace it with the KernelFunctionYaml.FromPromptYaml method:

// Before
string promptTemplateConfig = """
This is a semantic kernel prompt template
```sk.prompt
Hello AI, tell me about {{$input}}
```
""";

KernelFunction function = KernelFunctionMarkdown.FromPromptMarkdown(promptTemplateConfig, "TellMeAbout");

//After
string promptTemplateConfig = 
"""
name: TellMeAbout
description: This is a semantic kernel prompt template
template: Hello AI, tell me about {{$input}}
""";

KernelFunction function = KernelFunctionYaml.FromPromptYaml(promptTemplateConfig);

Notice that the KernelFunctionYaml.FromPromptYaml method does not accept function name as a parameter. The function name is now part of the YAML configuration.

MarkdownKernelExtensions.CreateFunctionFromMarkdown method

Similarly, if your code uses the MarkdownKernelExtensions.CreateFunctionFromMarkdown Kernel extension method to create a Kernel Function from prompt, replace it with the PromptYamlKernelExtensions.CreateFunctionFromPromptYaml method:

// Before
string promptTemplateConfig = """
This is a semantic kernel prompt template
```sk.prompt
Hello AI, tell me about {{$input}}
```
""";

Kernel kernel = new Kernel();

KernelFunction function = kernel.CreateFunctionFromMarkdown(promptTemplateConfig, "TellMeAbout");

//After
string promptTemplateConfig = 
"""
name: TellMeAbout
description: This is a semantic kernel prompt template
template: Hello AI, tell me about {{$input}}
""";

Kernel kernel = new Kernel();

KernelFunction function = kernel.CreateFunctionFromPromptYaml(promptTemplateConfig);

Notice that the PromptYamlKernelExtensions.CreateFunctionFromPromptYaml method does not accept function name as a parameter. The function name is now part of the YAML configuration.