| title | Set Up the API Center Portal |
|---|---|
| description | How to set up the API Center portal, a managed website that enables discovery of the API inventory in your Azure API center. |
| ms.service | azure-api-center |
| ms.topic | how-to |
| ms.date | 02/25/2026 |
| ms.update-cycle | 180-days |
| ms.custom | |
| ms.collection |
This article shows you how to set up and customize the API Center portal (preview), an Azure-managed website for discovering APIs, MCP servers, and related assets in your API center.
The API Center portal supports and streamlines the work of developers who use and create APIs within your organization. Users with access can:
- Search for APIs by name or use AI-assisted semantic search.
- Filter APIs by type or lifecycle stage.
- View API details and definitions including endpoints, methods, parameters, and response formats.
- Download API definitions to their computer or open in Visual Studio Code.
- Try out APIs with API key or OAuth 2.0 authentication.
:::image type="content" source="media/self-host-api-center-portal/api-center-portal-signed-in.png" alt-text="Screenshot of the API Center portal after user sign-in.":::
Note
The API Center portal is currently in preview.
Tip
Both Azure API Management and Azure API Center provide API portal experiences for developers. Compare the portals.
[!INCLUDE api-center-portal-prerequisites]
First, choose how you want users to access the API Center portal. You can set up Microsoft Entra ID as an identity provider or allow anonymous access.
[!INCLUDE api-center-portal-app-registration]
To enable anonymous access, follow these steps.
Caution
If you configure anonymous access, anyone can view the APIs in your API center without signing in. Don't expose sensitive information in API definitions or settings.
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In the Azure portal, go to your API center.
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In the sidebar menu, select API Center portal > Settings.
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On the Access tab, select Allow anonymous access.
:::image type="content" source="media/set-up-api-center-portal/configure-access-anonymous.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing configuration of anonymous access in the portal.":::
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To configure access, select Confirm and Enable.
After configuring access, open the API Center portal by selecting View API Center portal on the Settings page, or visit:
https://<service-name>.portal.<location>.azure-apicenter.ms
(Replace <service-name> and <location> with your API center name and deployment location.)
By default, the portal home page is publicly reachable. If Microsoft Entra ID is configured for access, users must select Sign-in to access APIs. See Enable sign-in to portal by Microsoft Entra users and groups for details on configuring user access.
[!INCLUDE api-center-portal-user-sign-in]
The following sections show you how to customize the API Center portal experience for users. For more extensive customization, you can also choose to self-host the API Center portal.
Important
Select Save + publish after making changes. Changes aren't visible until published. :::image type="content" source="media/set-up-api-center-portal/save-and-publish.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Save + Publish button in the Azure portal.":::
On the Site profile tab of the API Center portal settings, optionally provide a custom name to appear in the top bar of the portal.
:::image type="content" source="media/set-up-api-center-portal/custom-name.png" alt-text="Screenshot of custom name in API Center portal.":::
On the Visibility tab, control which APIs are discoverable (visible) to API Center portal users. Visibility settings apply to all users of the API Center portal.
Note
The API Center portal uses the Azure API Center data plane API to retrieve and display APIs in your API center. By default, it makes all APIs visible to users with access.
To make only specific APIs visible, add filter conditions for APIs based on built-in properties. For example, display APIs only of certain types, like REST or GraphQL, or based on certain specification formats, such as OpenAPI.
:::image type="content" source="media/set-up-api-center-portal/add-visibility-condition.png" alt-text="Screenshot of adding API visibility conditions in the portal.":::
If you enable semantic search on the Semantic search tab, the API Center portal supplements basic name-based API search with AI-assisted semantic search built on API names, descriptions, and optionally custom metadata. Semantic search is available in the Standard plan only.
Users can search for APIs by using natural language queries to find APIs based on their intent. For example, if a developer searches for "I need an API for inventory management," the portal can suggest relevant APIs, even if the API names or descriptions don't include those exact words.
Tip
If you use the Free plan of Azure API Center, you can upgrade to the Standard plan to enable full service features including semantic search in the API Center portal.
To use AI-assisted search when signed in to the API Center portal, select the search box, choose Search with AI, and enter a query.
:::image type="content" source="media/set-up-api-center-portal/semantic-search.png" alt-text="Screenshot of semantic search results in API Center portal.":::
On the Metadata tab, optionally select custom metadata properties that you want to expose in API details and semantic search.
You can configure user settings to granularly authorize access to APIs and specific versions in your API center. For example, configure certain API versions to use API keys for authentication, and create an access policy that permits specific users to authenticate by using those keys.
Access policies also apply to the "Try this API" capability for APIs in the API Center portal, ensuring that only portal users with the appropriate access policy can use the test console for those API versions. Learn more about authorizing access to APIs.
[!INCLUDE api-center-portal-compare-apim-dev-portal]