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--- title: Connect and Govern Existing MCP server - Azure API Management description: Learn how to expose and govern an existing Model Context Protocol (MCP) server in Azure API Management. ms.service: azure-api-management ms.topic: how-to ms.date: 04/28/2026 ms.collection: ce-skilling-ai-copilot ms.update-cycle: 180-days ms.custom: --- # Expose and govern an existing MCP server [!INCLUDE [api-management-availability-premium-dev-standard-basic-premiumv2-standardv2-basicv2](../../includes/api-management-availability-premium-dev-standard-basic-premiumv2-standardv2-basicv2.md)] This article shows how to use API Management to expose and govern an existing remote [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://www.anthropic.com/news/model-context-protocol) server - a tool server hosted outside of API Management. Expose and govern the server's tools through API Management so that MCP clients can call them by using the MCP protocol. Example scenarios include: - Proxy [LangChain](https://python.langchain.com/) or [LangServe](https://python.langchain.com/docs/langserve/) tool servers through API Management with per-server authentication and rate limits. - Securely expose Azure Logic Apps–based tools to copilots by using IP filtering and OAuth. - Centralize MCP server tools from Azure Functions and open-source runtimes into [Azure API Center](../api-center/register-discover-mcp-server.md). - Enable GitHub Copilot, Claude by Anthropic, or ChatGPT to interact securely with tools across your enterprise. API Management also supports MCP servers natively exposed in API Management from managed REST APIs. For more information, see [Expose a REST API as an MCP server](export-rest-mcp-server.md). Learn more about: * [MCP server support in API Management](mcp-server-overview.md) * [AI gateway capabilities](genai-gateway-capabilities.md) ## Limitations * The external MCP server must conform to MCP version `2025-06-18` or later. The server can support: * Either no authorization, or authorization protocols that comply with the following standards: [https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-06-18/basic/authorization#standards-compliance](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-06-18/basic/authorization#standards-compliance). * Streamable HTTP or SSE transport types. * For external MCP servers, API Management currently supports MCP server tools and resources, but it doesn't support MCP prompts. * API Management currently doesn't support MCP server capabilities in [workspaces](workspaces-overview.md). ## Prerequisites + If you don't already have an API Management instance, complete the following quickstart: [Create an Azure API Management instance](get-started-create-service-instance.md). The instance must be in one of the service tiers that supports MCP servers. + Access to an external MCP-compatible server (for example, hosted in Azure Logic Apps, Azure Functions, LangServe, or other platforms). + Appropriate credentials to the MCP server (such as OAuth 2.0 client credentials or API keys, depending on the server) for secure access. + If you enable diagnostic logging through Application Insights or Azure Monitor at the global scope (all APIs) for your API Management instance, set the **Number of payload bytes to log** setting for Frontend Response to 0. This setting prevents unintended logging of response bodies across all APIs and helps ensure proper functioning of MCP servers. To log payloads selectively for specific APIs, configure the setting individually at the API scope, allowing targeted control over response logging. + To test the MCP server, use Visual Studio Code with access to [GitHub Copilot](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/setup) or a tool such as MCP Inspector. ## Expose an existing MCP server Follow these steps to expose an existing MCP server in API Management: 1. In the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com), go to your API Management instance. 1. In the left-hand menu, under **APIs**, select **MCP servers** > **+ Create MCP server**. 1. Select **Expose an existing MCP server**. 1. In **Backend MCP server**: 1. Enter the existing **MCP server base URL**. For example, `https://learn.microsoft.com/api/mcp` for the Microsoft Learn MCP server. 1. In **Transport type**, **Streamable HTTP** is selected by default. 1. In **New MCP server**: 1. Enter a **Name** for the MCP server in API Management. 1. In **Base path**, enter a route prefix for tools. For example, `mytools`. 1. Optionally, enter a **Description** for the MCP server. 1. In **Products**, optionally select one or more products to associate with the MCP server. Associating the MCP server with a product allows you to manage access and subscriptions for the MCP server through that product. 1. Select **Create**. :::image type="content" source="media/expose-existing-mcp-server/create-mcp-server.png" alt-text="Screenshot of creating an MCP server in the portal." ::: * The portal creates the MCP server and exposes the remote server's operations as tools. * The portal lists the MCP server in the **MCP Servers** pane. The **Server URL** column shows the MCP server URL to call for testing or within a client application. > [!NOTE] > You can select the operations exposed as tools for AI agents and LLMs to call later in the **Tools** blade of your MCP server. :::image type="content" source="media/expose-existing-mcp-server/mcp-server-list.png" alt-text="Screenshot of the MCP server list in the portal." lightbox="media/expose-existing-mcp-server/mcp-server-list.png"::: [!INCLUDE [api-management-configure-test-mcp-server](../../includes/api-management-configure-test-mcp-server.md)]