Async function calling does not work in nested chat [Bug]:

[deepak-akkil]

Describe the bug

Nested chat does not work with async tool usage

Steps to reproduce

Convert Scenario 2 example of nested chat available here to use async functions: https://microsoft.github.io/autogen/docs/notebooks/agentchat_nestedchat/

Use the following steps:
a) change function definition of check_harmful_content to be async
b) change user_proxy.initiate_chat to await user_proxy.a_initiate_chat

Observed Behavior:
The system gets stuck after triggering nested chat but before tool usage. After a timeout period returns with the error message:

RuntimeError: This event loop is already running
sys:1: RuntimeWarning: coroutine 'ConversableAgent.a_execute_function' was never awaited

in the line in ConversableAgent
_, func_return = loop.run_until_complete(self.a_execute_function(function_call))

Temporary work around:

import nest_asyncio
nest_asyncio.apply()

Model Used

gpt-4-turbo-preview

Expected Behavior

Async function calling works even in nested chat

Screenshots and logs

No response

Additional Information

No response

[ekzhu]

@qingyun-wu