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title Host servers built with MCP SDKs on Azure Functions
description Learn how to host servers built with Anthropic MCP SDKs on Azure Functions. This quickstart shows how to deploy MCP SDK based servers as custom handlers in Azure Functions, using serverless scale and security features.
ms.date 12/02/2025
ms.update-cycle 180-days
ms.topic quickstart
ai-usage ai-assisted
ms.collection
ce-skilling-ai-copilot
ms.custom
ignite-2025
zone_pivot_groups programming-languages-set-functions

Quickstart: Host servers built with MCP SDKs on Azure Functions

In this quickstart, you learn how to host on Azure Functions Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers that you create by using official MCP SDKs. Flex Consumption plan hosting lets you take advantage of Azure Functions' serverless scale, pay-for-what-you-use billing model, and built-in security features. It's perfect for MCP servers that use the streamable-http transport.

This article uses a sample MCP server project built by using official MCP SDKs.

Tip

Functions also provides an MCP extension that enables you to create MCP servers by using Azure Functions programming model. For more information, see Quickstart: Build a custom remote MCP server using Azure Functions.

Because the new server runs in a Flex Consumption plan, which follows a pay-for-what-you-use billing model, completing this quickstart incurs a small cost of a few cents or less in your Azure account.

::: zone pivot="programming-language-java,programming-language-javascript,programming-language-powershell"

Important

While hosting your MCP servers using Custom Handlers is supported for all languages, this quickstart scenario currently only has examples for C#, Python, and TypeScript. To complete this quickstart, select one of these supported languages at the top of the article. ::: zone-end
::: zone pivot="programming-language-csharp,programming-language-python,programming-language-typescript"

Prerequisites

::: zone-end
::: zone pivot="programming-language-csharp"

::: zone pivot="programming-language-typescript"

Note

This sample requires that you have permission to create a Microsoft Entra app in the Azure subscription you use.

Get started with a sample project

The easiest way to get started is to clone an MCP server sample project built with official MCP SDKs:

  1. In Visual Studio Code, open a folder or workspace where you want to create your project. ::: zone-end
    ::: zone pivot="programming-language-csharp"

  2. In the Terminal, run this command to initialize the .NET sample:

    azd init --template mcp-sdk-functions-hosting-dotnet -e mcpsdkserver-dotnet

    This command pulls the project files from the template repository and initializes the project in the current folder. The -e flag sets a name for the current environment. In azd, the environment maintains a unique deployment context for your app, and you can define more than one. It's also used in names of the resources you create in Azure.
    ::: zone-end

::: zone pivot="programming-language-typescript"
2. In the Terminal, run this command to initialize the TypeScript sample:

```bash
azd init --template mcp-sdk-functions-hosting-node -e mcpsdkserver-node
```

This command pulls the project files from the [template repository](https://github.com/Azure-Samples/mcp-sdk-functions-hosting-node) and initializes the project in the current folder. The `-e` flag sets a name for the current environment. In `azd`, the environment maintains a unique deployment context for your app, and you can define more than one. It's also used in names of the resources you create in Azure.

::: zone-end ::: zone pivot="programming-language-python"
2. In the Terminal, run this command to initialize the Python sample:

```bash
azd init --template mcp-sdk-functions-hosting-python -e mcpsdkserver-python
```

This command pulls the project files from the [template repository](https://github.com/Azure-Samples/mcp-sdk-functions-hosting-python) and initializes the project in the current folder. The `-e` flag sets a name for the current environment. In `azd`, the environment maintains a unique deployment context for your app, and you can define more than one. It's also used in names of the resources you create in Azure.

::: zone-end ::: zone pivot="programming-language-csharp,programming-language-python,programming-language-typescript"

The code project template is for an MCP server with tools that access public weather APIs.

Run the MCP server locally

Visual Studio Code integrates with Azure Functions Core Tools to let you run this project on your local development computer.

  1. Open Terminal in the editor (Ctrl+Shift+` ) ::: zone-end ::: zone pivot="programming-language-csharp"
  2. In the root directory, run func start to start the server. The Terminal panel displays the output from Core Tools. ::: zone-end ::: zone pivot="programming-language-typescript"
  3. In the root directory, run npm install to install dependencies, then run npm run build.
  4. To start the server, run func start. ::: zone-end ::: zone pivot="programming-language-python"
  5. In the root directory, run uv run func start to create virtual environment, install dependencies, and start the server. ::: zone-end
    ::: zone pivot="programming-language-csharp,programming-language-python,programming-language-typescript"

Test server by using GitHub Copilot

To verify your server by using GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code, follow these steps:

  1. Open the mcp.json file in the .vscode directory.

  2. Start the server by selecting the Start button above the local-mcp-server configuration.

  3. In the Copilot Chat window, make sure that the Agent model is selected, select the Configure tools icon, and verify that MCP Server:local-mcp-server is enabled in the chat.

  4. Run this prompt in chat:

    Return the weather forecast for New York City using #local-mcp-server

    Copilot should call one of the weather tools to help answer this question. When prompted to run the tool, select Allow in this Workspace so you don't have to keep regranting this permission.

After you verify the tool functionality locally, you can stop the server and deploy the project code to Azure.

Deploy to Azure

This project is configured to use the azd up command to deploy this project to a new function app in a Flex Consumption plan in Azure. The project includes a set of Bicep files that azd uses to create a secure deployment that follows best practices.

  1. Sign in to Azure:

    azd auth login

  2. Configure Visual Studio Code as a preauthorized client application:

    azd env set PRE_AUTHORIZED_CLIENT_IDS aebc6443-996d-45c2-90f0-388ff96faa56

    A preauthorized application can authenticate to and access your MCP server without requiring more consent prompts.

  3. Run azd up to deploy the project to Azure:

    azd up

  4. When prompted, provide these required deployment parameters:

    Parameter Description
    Azure subscription Subscription in which your resources are created.
    Azure location Azure region in which to create the resource group that contains the new Azure resources. Only regions that currently support the Flex Consumption plan are shown.

    After the command completes successfully, you see links to the resources you created and the endpoint for your deployed MCP server. Make a note of your function app name, which you need for the next section.

    [!TIP] If an error occurs when running the azd up command, just rerun the command. You can run azd up repeatedly because it skips creating any resources that already exist. You can also call azd up again when deploying updates to your service.

Connect to the remote MCP server

Your MCP server is now running in Azure. To connect GitHub Copilot to your remote server, configure it in your workspace settings.

  1. In the mcp.json file, switch to the remote server by selecting Stop for the local-mcp-server configuration and Start on the remote-mcp-server configuration.

  2. When prompted for The domain of the function app, enter the name of your function app you noted in the previous section. When prompted to authenticate to Microsoft, select Allow then choose your Azure account.

  3. Verify the remote server by asking a question like:

    Return the weather forecast for Seattle using #remote-mcp-server.

    Copilot calls one of the weather tools to answer the query.

Tip

You can see output of a server by selecting More... > Show Output. The output provides useful information about possible connection failures. You can also select the gear icon to change log levels to Traces to get more details on the interactions between the client (Visual Studio Code) and the server.

Review the code (optional)

You can review the code that defines the MCP server: ::: zone-end
::: zone pivot="programming-language-csharp" The MCP server code is defined in the project root. The server uses the official C# MCP SDK to define these weather-related tools:

:::code language="csharp" source="~/functions-host-mcp-sdk-dotnet/Tools/WeatherTools.cs" :::

You can view the complete project template in the Azure Functions .NET MCP SDK hosting GitHub repository. ::: zone-end
::: zone pivot="programming-language-python" The MCP server code is defined in the server.py file. The server uses the official Python MCP SDK to define weather-related tools. This is the definition of the get_forecast tool:

:::code language="python" source="~/functions-host-mcp-sdk-python/server.py" range="1-13,23-29,76-110" :::

You can view the complete project template in the Azure Functions Python MCP SDK hosting GitHub repository. ::: zone-end
::: zone pivot="programming-language-typescript" The MCP server code is defined in the src folder. The server uses the official Node.js MCP SDK to define weather-related tools. This is the definition of the get-forecast tool:

:::code language="typescript" source="~/functions-host-mcp-sdk-node/src/server.ts" range="1-13,60-137,218-219" :::

You can view the complete project template in the Azure Functions TypeScript MCP SDK hosting GitHub repository.
::: zone-end
::: zone pivot="programming-language-csharp,programming-language-python,programming-language-typescript"

Clean up resources

When you're done working with your MCP server and related resources, use this command to delete the function app and its related resources from Azure to avoid incurring further costs:

azd down

::: zone-end