Generally Available: Govern Model Context Protocol (MCP) endpoints using Azure API Management

Model Context Protocol (MCP) governance in Azure API Management (APIM) is now generally available. This release extends Azure API Management’s proven governance, security, and observability model to a new generation of AI-driven workloads. Enterprises can now apply consistent policies, authentication, and monitoring across both traditional APIs and AI systems that connect through MCP. What’s New: * **Expose APIs through MCP**: Publish any managed API as an MCP-compliant endpoint so AI agents can securely discover and invoke enterprise capabilities using standard protocols. * **Proxy and govern external MCP services**:Apply Azure API Management policies, authentication, and observability to third-party MCP servers—such as those hosted on Azure Functions, Container Apps etc. or externally hosted MCP servers. * **Unify access and governance**: Use the same products, policies, and subscription model to manage both API and MCP traffic, ensuring consistent control and visibility across your organization. * **Discover and govern through API Center**: Register MCP endpoints in Azure API Center to build a private catalog of enterprise MCP integrations, making them easy to discover, onboard, and reuse across teams while maintaining centralized governance and compliance. Available across Azure API Managementclassic and v2 tiers, including the Developer tier and the Self-hosted Gateway. [Learn more](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/api-management/mcp-server-overview).