Azure MCP Server installs statistics

Azure MCP Server Extension for Visual Studio Code

All Azure MCP tools in a single server. The Azure MCP Server implements the MCP specification to create a seamless connection between AI agents and Azure services. Azure MCP Server can be used alone or with the GitHub Copilot for Azure extension in VS Code.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Local Setup
• Remote Setup
• Usage
  • Getting Started
  • Sovereign Cloud Support
  • What can you do with the Azure MCP Server?
  • Complete List of Supported Azure Services
• Support and Reference
  • Documentation
  • Feedback and Support
  • Security
  • Permissions and Risk
  • Data Collection
  • Compliance Responsibility
  • Third Party Components
  • Export Control
  • No Warranty / Limitation of Liability
  • Contributing
  • Code of Conduct

Overview

Azure MCP Server supercharges your agents with Azure context across numerous Azure services.

Local Setup

• Install the Azure MCP Server Visual Studio Code extension
• Start (or Auto-Start) the MCP Server

  VS Code (version 1.103 or above): You can now configure MCP servers to start automatically using the chat.mcp.autostart setting, instead of manually restarting them after configuration changes.

  Enable Autostart

  1. Open Settings in VS Code.
  2. Search for chat.mcp.autostart.
  3. Select newAndOutdated to automatically start MCP servers without manual refresh.
  4. You can also set this from the refresh icon tooltip in the Chat view, which also shows which servers will auto-start.

  Manual Start (if autostart is off)

  1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P).
  2. Run MCP: List Servers.
  3. Select Azure MCP Server ext, then click Start Server.
  4. Check That It's Running
     • Go to the Output tab in VS Code.
     • Look for log messages confirming the server started successfully.
• (Optional) Configure tools and behavior
  • Full options: control how tools are exposed and whether mutations are allowed:

    // Server Mode: collapse per service (default), single tool, or expose every tool
    "azureMcp.serverMode": "namespace", // one of: "single" | "namespace" (default) | "all"
    // Filter which namespaces to expose
    "azureMcp.enabledServices": ["storage", "keyvault"],
    // Run the server in read-only mode (prevents write operations)
    "azureMcp.readOnly": false,
    // ⚠️ DANGEROUS: Disable SSRF protections for specific namespaces.
    // Only use this if you understand the security implications.
    // Forwards to --dangerously-disable-ssrf-protections-by-namespace.
    "azureMcp.dangerouslyDisableSsrfProtectionsByNamespace": ["storage"]
    

  • Changes take effect after restarting the Azure MCP server from the MCP: List Servers view. (Step 2) You’re all set! Azure MCP Server is now ready to help you work smarter with Azure resources in VS Code.

Remote Setup

Host the Azure MCP Server as a remote endpoint when your client requires HTTP-based MCP servers (for example, Microsoft Foundry and Microsoft Copilot Studio) or when you want to share a single deployment across users and environments. The server can be self-hosted on Azure Container Apps.

See the remote hosting azd templates for deployment options.

Usage

Getting Started

1. Open GitHub Copilot in VS Code and switch to Agent mode.
2. Click refresh on the tools list
   • You should see the Azure MCP Server in the list of tools
3. Try a prompt that tells the agent to use the Azure MCP Server, such as List my Azure Storage containers
   • The agent should be able to use the Azure MCP Server tools to complete your query
4. Check out the documentation and review the troubleshooting guide for commonly asked questions
5. We're building this in the open. Your feedback is much appreciated, and will help us shape the future of the Azure MCP server
   • 👉 Open an issue in the public repository

Sovereign Cloud Support

Azure MCP Server supports connecting to Azure sovereign clouds. By default, it authenticates against the Azure Public Cloud.…