Responses API migration: start with the official request and output shapes

Use the current migration guide

OpenAI recommends the Responses API for new projects while continuing to support Chat Completions. Its official migration guide explains the changes in inputs, outputs and tool handling that developers need to account for when moving an integration.

A secondary tutorial can help organize a project, but its model names, release claims and pricing should be checked against current official documentation. This guide focuses on the migration behavior documented by OpenAI instead of repeating unverified tier or price claims from the collected tutorial.

Inspect a small request before adding tools

Responses returns typed output items rather than the Chat Completions choices structure. The SDK provides an output_text helper for retrieving text. Tool calls and other output items still need to be handled according to their type rather than assumed to be an ordinary message.

Begin with an example that exercises the exact output your application needs. Check how the application handles a successful text answer and an output it does not expect. Then add the required tools one at a time, preserving enough local diagnostic information to understand a failed operation without copying private request data into public logs.

Make state and storage explicit

OpenAI’s guide says Responses stores responses by default and documents store: false for disabling storage. It also describes options for carrying conversation state between requests. Review those behaviors before migrating an application that has its own retention or conversation requirements.

A useful migration test should include a multi-turn interaction and the failure cases your existing integration already handles. Confirm that the revised application preserves the intended context and produces the expected result. Treat a working first call as the beginning of the migration: the important result is an integration whose output handling, tool behavior and storage choices match the application you intend to ship.