Microsoft BizTalk Server Product Lifecycle Update
For more than 25 years, Microsoft BizTalk Server has supported mission-critical integration workloads for organizations around the world. From business process automation and B2B messaging to connectivity across industries such as financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and government, BizTalk Server has played a foundational role in enterprise integration strategies. To help customers plan confidently for the future, Microsoft is sharing an update to the BizTalk Server product lifecycle and long-term support timelines. BizTalk Server 2020 will be the final version of BizTalk Server. Guidance to support long-term planning for mission-critical workloads This announcement does not change existing support commitments. Customers can continue to rely on BizTalk Server for many years ahead, with a clear and predictable runway to plan modernization at a pace that aligns with their business and regulatory needs. Lifecycle Phase End Date What’s Included Mainstream Support April 11, 2028 Security + non-security updates and Customer Service & Support (CSS) support Extended Support April 9, 2030 CSS support, Security updates, and paid support for fixes (*) End of Support April 10, 2030 No further updates or support (*) Paid Extended Support will be available for BizTalk Server 2020 between April 2028 and April 2030 for customers requiring hotfixes for non-security updates. CSS will continue providing their typical support. BizTalk Server 2016 is already out of mainstream support, and we recommend those customers evaluate a direct modernization path to Azure Logic Apps. Continued Commitment to Enterprise Integration Microsoft remains fully committed to supporting mission-critical integration, including hybrid connectivity, future-ready orchestration, and B2B/EDI modernization. Azure Logic Apps, part of Azure Integration Services — which includes API Management, Service Bus, and Event Grid — delivers the comprehensive integration platform for the next decade of enterprise connectivity. Host Integration Server: Continued Support for Mainframe Workloads Host Integration Server (HIS) has long provided essential connectivity for organizations with mainframe and midrange systems. To ensure continued support for those workloads, Host Integration Server 2028 will ship as a standalone product with its own lifecycle, decoupled from BizTalk Server. This provides customers with more flexibility and a longer planning horizon. Recognizing Mainframe modernization customers might be looking to integrate with their mainframes from Azure, Microsoft provides Logic Apps connectors for mainframe and midrange systems, and we are keen on adding more connectors in this space. Let us know about your HIS plans, and if you require specific features for Mainframe and midranges integration from Logic Apps at: https://aka.ms/lamainframe Azure Logic Apps: The Successor to BizTalk Server Azure Logic Apps, part of Azure Integration Services, is the modern integration platform that carries forward what customers value in BizTalk while unlocking new innovation, scale, and intelligence. With 1,400+ out-of-box connectors supporting enterprise, SaaS, legacy, and mainframe systems, organizations can reuse existing BizTalk maps, schemas, rules, and custom code to accelerate modernization while preserving prior investments including B2B/EDI and healthcare transactions. Logic Apps delivers elastic scalability, enterprise-grade security and compliance, and built-in cost efficiency without the overhead of managing infrastructure. Modern DevOps tooling, Visual Studio Code support, and infrastructure-as-code (ARM/Bicep) ensure consistent, governed deployments with end-to-end observability using Azure Monitor and OpenTelemetry. Modernizing Logic Apps also unlocks agentic business processes, enabling AI-driven routing, predictive insights, and context-aware automation without redesigning existing integrations. Logic Apps adapts to business and regulatory needs, running fully managed in Azure, hybrid via Arc-enabled Kubernetes, or evaluated for air-gapped environments. Throughout this lifecycle transition, customers can continue to rely on the BizTalk investments they have made while moving toward a platform ready for the next decade of integration and AI-driven business. Charting Your Modernization Path Microsoft remains fully committed to supporting customers through this transition. We recognize that BizTalk systems support highly customized and mission-critical business operations. Modernization requires time, planning, and precision. We hope to provide: Proven guidance and recommended design patterns A growing ecosystem of tooling supporting artifact reuse Unified Support engagements for deep migration assistance A strong partner ecosystem specializing in BizTalk modernization Potential incentive programs to help facilitate migration for eligible customers (details forthcoming) Customers can take a phased approach — starting with new workloads while incrementally modernizing existing BizTalk deployments. We’re Here to Help Migration resources are available today: Overview: https://aka.ms/btmig Best practices: https://aka.ms/BizTalkServerMigrationResources Video series: https://aka.ms/btmigvideo Feature request survey: https://aka.ms/logicappsneeds Reactor session: Modernizing BizTalk: Accelerate Migration with Logic Apps - YouTube We encourage customers to engage their Microsoft accounts team early to assess readiness, identify modernization opportunities, and explore assistance programs. Your Modernization Journey Starts Now BizTalk Server has played a foundational role in enterprise integration success for more than two decades. As you plan ahead, Microsoft is here to partner with you every step of the way, ensuring operational continuity today while unlocking innovation tomorrow. To begin your transition, please contact your Microsoft account team or visit our migration hub. Thank you for your continued trust in Microsoft and BizTalk Server. We look forward to partnering closely with you as you plan the future of your integration platforms. Frequently Asked Questions Do I need to migrate now? No. BizTalk Server 2020 is fully supported through April 11, 2028, with paid Extended Support available through April 9, 2030, for non-security hotfixes. CSS will continue providing their typical support. You have a long and predictable runway to plan your transition. Will there be a new BizTalk Server version? No. BizTalk Server 2020 is the final version of the product. What happens after April 9, 2030? BizTalk Server will reach End of Support, and security updates or technical assistance will no longer be provided. Workloads will continue running but without Microsoft servicing. Is paid support available past 2028? Yes. Paid extended support will be available through April 2030 for BizTalk Server 2020 customers looking for non-security hotfixes. CSS will continue to provide the typical support. What about BizTalk Server 2016 or earlier versions? Those versions are already out of mainstream support. We strongly encourage moving directly to Logic Apps rather than upgrading to BizTalk Server 2020. Will Host Integration Server continue? Yes. Host Integration Server (HIS) 2028 will be released as a standalone product with its own lifecycle and support commitments. Can I reuse BizTalk Server artifacts in Logic Apps? Yes. Most of BizTalk maps, schemas, rules, assemblies, and custom code can be reused with minimal effort using Microsoft and partner migration tooling. We welcome feature requests here: https://aka.ms/logicappsneeds Does modernization require moving fully to the cloud? No. Logic Apps supports hybrid deployments for scenarios requiring local processing or regulatory compliance, and fully disconnected environments are under evaluation. More information of the Hybrid deployment model here: https://aka.ms/lahybrid. Does modernization unlock AI capabilities? Yes. Logic Apps enables AI-driven automations through Agent Loop, improving routing, decisioning, and operational intelligence. Where do I get planning support? Your Microsoft account team can assist with assessment and planning. Migration resources are also linked in this announcement to help you get started. Microsoft CorporationData Mapper Test Executor: A New Addition to Logic Apps Standard Test Framework
Why Does It Matter? Testing complex data transformations has always been a challenge for Logic Apps developers. With workflows relying on XSLT, Liquid templates, and custom maps, validating these transformations often required manual steps or external tools. The Data Mapper Test Executor changes that by bringing first-class support for map testing directly into the Logic Apps Standard Automated Test Framework. This means faster feedback loops, improved reliability, and a more streamlined developer experience. Key Highlights Native Support for Data Mapper Testing Execute unit tests for XSLT 1.0/2.0/3.0 and Logic Apps Data Mapper (.lml) files without leaving your development environment. Integrated with Automated Test Framework SDK Leverages the latest SDK capabilities for consistent test execution and reporting. Enhanced Validation Supports schema validation and transformation checks, ensuring your maps behave as expected across scenarios. Performance Optimizations Built-in caching and resource management for efficient test runs. How to Get Started Install and reference the Latest Automated Test Framework SDK Make sure you’re referencing the version 1.0.1 or higher of the framework to access the new executor class. You can find the latest version in the NuGet gallery. <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Azure.Workflows.WebJobs.Tests.Extension" Version="1.0.1" /> Add the Data Mapper Test Executor to Your Test Project Include the new class in your unit test suite for Logic Apps workflows. Write Your First Test Check the sample code below with three different methods, highlighting the options that can be used with the DataMapTestExecutor using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Threading.Tasks; using Microsoft.Azure.Workflows.UnitTesting.Definitions; using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting; using la1.Tests.Mocks.Stateful1; using Microsoft.Azure.Workflows.UnitTesting; using System.IO; using System.Text; using Microsoft.Azure.Workflows.Data.Entities; using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq; namespace la1.Tests { /// <summary> /// The unit test class. /// </summary> [TestClass] public class DataMapTest { /// <summary> /// The map to test. /// </summary> public const string MapName = "source_order_to_canonical_order"; public string PathToMapDefinition { get; private set; } public string PathToCompiledXslt { get; private set; } public string PathToXsltTestInputs { get; private set; } /// <summary> /// The data map test executor. /// </summary> public TestExecutor TestExecutor; [TestInitialize] public void Setup() { this.TestExecutor = new TestExecutor("Stateful1/testSettings.config"); this.PathToMapDefinition = Path.Combine(this.TestExecutor.rootDirectory, this.TestExecutor.logicAppName, "Artifacts", "MapDefinitions", $"{DataMapTest.MapName}.lml"); this.PathToCompiledXslt = Path.Combine(this.TestExecutor.rootDirectory, this.TestExecutor.logicAppName, "Artifacts", "Maps", $"{DataMapTest.MapName}.xslt"); this.PathToXsltTestInputs = Path.Combine(this.TestExecutor.rootDirectory, "Tests", "la1", "Stateful1", "DataMapTest", "test-input.json"); } /// <summary> /// Sample comparing compiled XSLT to generated XSLT using map name. /// </summary> [TestMethod] public async Task DataMapTest_GenerateXslt() { var dataMapTestExecutor = this.TestExecutor.CreateMapExecutor(); var xsltBytes = await dataMapTestExecutor .GenerateXslt(mapName: DataMapTest.MapName) .ConfigureAwait(continueOnCapturedContext: false); Assert.IsNotNull(xsltBytes); Assert.AreEqual(expected: File.ReadAllText(this.PathToCompiledXslt), actual: Encoding.UTF8.GetString(xsltBytes)); } /// <summary> /// Sample comparing compiled XSLT to generated XSLT using map content. /// </summary> [TestMethod] public async Task DataMapTest_GenerateXsltWithMapContent() { var mapContent = File.ReadAllText(this.PathToMapDefinition); var generateXsltInput = new GenerateXsltInput { MapContent = mapContent }; var dataMapTestExecutor = this.TestExecutor.CreateMapExecutor(); var xsltBytes = await dataMapTestExecutor .GenerateXslt(generateXsltInput: generateXsltInput) .ConfigureAwait(continueOnCapturedContext: false); Assert.IsNotNull(xsltBytes); Assert.AreEqual(expected: File.ReadAllText(this.PathToCompiledXslt), actual: Encoding.UTF8.GetString(xsltBytes)); } /// <summary> /// Sample running data map using map name and test inputs. /// </summary> [TestMethod] public async Task DataMapTest_RunMap() { var dataMapTestExecutor = this.TestExecutor.CreateMapExecutor(); var mapOutput = await dataMapTestExecutor .RunMapAsync( mapName: DataMapTest.MapName, inputContent: File.ReadAllBytes(this.PathToXsltTestInputs)) .ConfigureAwait(continueOnCapturedContext: false); Assert.IsNotNull(mapOutput); Assert.IsTrue(mapOutput.Type == JTokenType.Object); Assert.AreEqual(expected: "FC-20250603-001", actual: mapOutput["orderId"]); Assert.AreEqual(expected: "VIP-789456", actual: mapOutput["customerId"]); Assert.AreEqual(expected: "NEW", actual: mapOutput["status"]); } /// <summary> /// Sample running data map using generated XSLT content and test inputs. /// </summary> [TestMethod] public async Task DataMapTest_RunMapWithXsltContentBytes() { var dataMapTestExecutor = this.TestExecutor.CreateMapExecutor(); var mapContent = File.ReadAllText(this.PathToMapDefinition); var generateXsltInput = new GenerateXsltInput { MapContent = mapContent }; var xsltContent = await dataMapTestExecutor .GenerateXslt(generateXsltInput: generateXsltInput) .ConfigureAwait(continueOnCapturedContext: false); var mapOutput = await dataMapTestExecutor .RunMapAsync( xsltContent: xsltContent, inputContent: File.ReadAllBytes(this.PathToXsltTestInputs)) .ConfigureAwait(continueOnCapturedContext: false); Assert.IsNotNull(mapOutput); Assert.IsTrue(mapOutput.Type == JTokenType.Object); Assert.AreEqual(expected: "FC-20250603-001", actual: mapOutput["orderId"]); Assert.AreEqual(expected: "VIP-789456", actual: mapOutput["customerId"]); Assert.AreEqual(expected: "NEW", actual: mapOutput["status"]); } } } The default TestExecutor should be updated with a new method, so you can use the same class to create UnitTestExecutor and DataMapTestExecutor instances: public DataMapTestExecutor CreateMapExecutor() { // Set the path for workflow-related input files in the workspace and build the full paths to the required JSON files. var appDirectoryPath = Path.Combine(this.rootDirectory, this.logicAppName); return new DataMapTestExecutor(appDirectoryPath: appDirectoryPath); } Note: This feature is available starting with the latest SDK release. Update your dependencies before making changes to your code, to get full intelisense support. Limitations Loop Structures: Dynamic execution within repeating structures is not yet supported. Non-Mocked Connectors: All actions in the execution path should be mocked. Unsupported Actions: Integration Account maps, custom code actions, and EDI encode/decode remain out of scope for this release. Preview Caveats: If you’re using private preview components, expect limited testing compared to GA releases. Learn More Logic Apps Standard Automated Test Framework SDK
Announcing the General Availability (GA) of the Premium v2 tier of Azure API Management
Superior capacity, highest entity limits, unlimited included calls, and the most comprehensive set of features set the Premium v2 tier apart from other API Management tiers. Customers rely on the Premium v2 tier for running enterprise-wide API programs at scale, with high availability, and performance. The Premium v2 tier has a new architecture that eliminates management traffic from the customer VNet, making private networking much more secure and easier to setup. During the creation of a Premium v2 instance, you can choose between VNet injection or VNet integration (introduced in the Standard v2 tier) options. In addition, today we are also adding three new features to Premium v2: Inbound Private Link: You can now enable private endpoint connectivity to restrict inbound access to your Premium v2 instance. It can be enabled along with VNet injection or VNet integration or without a VNet. Availability zone support: Premium v2 now supports availability zones (zone redundancy) to enhance the reliability and resilience of your API gateway. Custom CA certificates: Azure API management v2 gateway can now validate TLS connections with the backend service using custom CA certificates. New and improved VNet injection Using VNet injection in Premium v2 no longer requires configuring routes or service endpoints. Customers can secure their API workloads without impacting API Management dependencies, while Microsoft can secure the infrastructure without interfering with customer API workloads. In short, the new VNet injection implementation enables both parties to manage network security and configuration settings independently and without affecting each other. You can now configure your APIs with complete networking flexibility: force tunnel all outbound traffic to on-premises, send all outbound traffic through an NVA, or add a WAF device to monitor all inbound traffic to your API Management Premium v2—all without constraints. Inbound Private Link Customers can now configure an inbound private endpoint for their API Management Premium v2 instance to allow your API consumers securely access the API Management gateway over Azure Private Link. The private endpoint uses an IP address from an Azure virtual network in which it's hosted. Network traffic between a client on your private network and API Management traverses over the virtual network and a Private Link on the Microsoft backbone network, eliminating exposure from the public internet. Further, you can configure custom DNS settings or an Azure DNS private zone to map the API Management hostname to the endpoint's private IP address. With a private endpoint and Private Link, you can: Create multiple Private Link connections to an API Management instance. Use the private endpoint to send inbound traffic on a secure connection. Apply different API Management policies based on whether traffic comes from the private endpoint. Limit incoming traffic only to private endpoints, preventing data exfiltration. Combine with inbound virtual network injection or outbound virtual network integration to provide end-to-end network isolation of your API Management clients and backend services. More details can be found here Today, only the API Management instance’s Gateway endpoint supports inbound private link connections. Each API management instance can support at most 100 Private Link connections. Availability zones Azure API Management Premium v2 now supports Availability Zones (AZ) redundancy to enhance the reliability and resilience of your API gateway. When deploying an API Management instance in an AZ-enabled region, users can choose to enable zone redundancy. This distributes the service's units, including Gateway, management plane, and developer portal, across multiple, physically separate AZs within that region. Learn how to enable AZs here. CA certificates If the API Management Gateway needs to connect to the backends secured with TLS certificates issued by private certificate authorities (CA), you need to configure custom CA certificates in the API Management instance. Custom CA certificates can be added and managed as Authorization Credentials in the Backend entities. The Backend entity has been extended with new properties allowing customers to specify a list of certificate thumbprints or subject name + issuer thumbprint pairs that Gateway should trust when establishing TLS connection with associated backend endpoint. More details can be found here. Region availability The Premium v2 tier is now generally available in six public regions (Australia East, East US2, Germany West Central, Korea Central, Norway East and UK South) with additional regions coming soon. For pricing information and regional availability, please visit the API Management pricing page. Learn more API Management v2 tiers FAQ API Management v2 tiers documentation API Management overview documentationLogic Apps Aviators Newsletter - January 2026
In this issue: Ace Aviator of the Month News from our product group Community Playbook News from our community Ace Aviator of the Month January's Ace Aviator: Sagar Sharma What's your role and title? What are your responsibilities? I’m a cross-domain Business Solution Architect specializing in delivering new business capabilities to customers. I design end-to-end architectures specially on Azure platforms and also in the Integration domain using azure integration services. My role involves marking architectural decisions, defining standards, ensuring platform reliability, guiding teams, and helping organizations transition from legacy integration systems to modern cloud-native patterns. Can you give us some insights into your day-to-day activities and what a typical day in your role looks like? My day usually blends architecture work with hands-on collaboration. I review integration designs, refine patterns, help teams troubleshoot integration flows, and ensure deployments run smoothly through DevOps pipelines. A good part of my time is spent translating business needs into integration patterns and making sure the overall platform stays secure, scalable, and maintainable. What motivates and inspires you to be an active member of the Aviators/Microsoft community? The community has shaped a big part of my career. Many of my early breakthroughs came from blogs, samples, and talks shared by others. Contributing back feels like closing the loop. I enjoy sharing real-world lessons, learning from peers, and helping others adopt integration patterns with confidence. The energy of the community and the conversations it creates keep me inspired. Looking back, what advice do you wish you had been given earlier that you'd now share with those looking to get into STEM/technology? Focus on core concepts—messaging, APIs, security, and distributed systems—because tools evolve, but fundamentals stay relevant. Share your learning early, even if it feels small. Be curious about the “why” behind patterns. Build side projects, not just follow tutorials. And don’t fear a nonlinear career path—diverse experience is an asset in technology. What has helped you grow professionally? Hands-on customer work, strong mentors, and consistent learning habits have been key. Community involvement—writing, speaking, and collaborating—has pushed me to structure my knowledge and stay current. And working in environments that encourage experimentation has helped me develop faster and with more confidence. If you had a magic wand that could create a feature in Logic Apps, what would it be and why? I’d love to see a unified, out-of-the-box business transaction tracing experience across Logic Apps, Service Bus, APIM, Functions, and downstream services. Something that automatically correlates events, visualizes the full journey of a transaction, and simplifies root-cause analysis. This would make operational troubleshooting dramatically easier in enterprise environments. News from our product group Microsoft BizTalk Server Product Lifecycle Update BizTalk Server 2020 will be the final release, with support extending through 2030. Microsoft encourages a gradual transition to Azure Logic Apps, offering migration tooling, hybrid deployment options, and reuse of existing BizTalk artifacts. Customers can modernize at their own pace while maintaining operational continuity. Data Mapper Test Executor: A New Addition to Logic Apps Standard Test Framework The Data Mapper Test Executor adds native support for testing XSLT and Data Mapper transformations directly within the Logic Apps Standard test framework. It streamlines validation, improves feedback cycles, and integrates with the latest SDK to enable reliable, automated testing of map generation and execution. Announcing General Availability of AI & RAG Connectors in Logic Apps (Standard) Logic Apps Standard AI and RAG connectors are now GA333, enabling native document processing, semantic search, embeddings, and agentic workflows. These capabilities let teams build intelligent, context‑aware automations using their own data, reducing complexity and enhancing decisioning across enterprise integrations. Logic Apps Labs The Logic Apps Labs, which introduces Azure Logic Apps agentic workflows learning path, offering guided modules on building conversational and autonomous agents, extending capabilities with MCP tools, and orchestrating multi‑agent workflows. It serves as a starting point for hands‑on labs covering design, deployment, and advanced patterns for intelligent automation. News from our community Handling Empty SQL Query Results in Azure Logic Apps Post by Anitha Eswaran If a SQL stored procedure returns no rows, you can detect the empty result set in Logic Apps by checking whether the output’s ResultSets object is {}. When empty, the workflow can be cleanly terminated or used to trigger alerts, ensuring predictable behavior and more resilient integrations. Azure Logic Apps MCP Server Post by Laveesh Bansal Our own Laveesh Bansal spent some time creating an Azure Logic Apps MCP Server that enables natural‑language debugging, workflow inspection, and updates without using the portal. It supports both Standard and Consumption apps, integrates with AI clients like Copilot and Claude, and offers tools for local or cloud‑hosted setups, testing, and workflow lifecycle operations. Azure Logic Apps: Change Detection in JSON Objects and Arrays Post by Suraj Somani Logic Apps offers native functions to detect changes in JSON objects and arrays without worrying about field or item order. Using equals() for objects and intersection() for arrays, you can determine when data has truly changed and trigger workflows only when updates occur, improving efficiency and reducing unnecessary processing. Logic Apps Standard: A clever hack to use JSON schemas in your Artifacts folder for JSON message validation (Part 1) Post by Şahin Özdemir Şahin outlines a workaround for using JSON schemas stored in the Artifacts folder to validate messages in Logic Apps Standard. It revisits integration needs from BizTalk migrations and shows how to bring structured validation into modern workflows without relying on Integration Accounts. This is a two part series and you can find part two here. Let's integrate SAP with Microsoft Video by Sebastian Meyer Sebastian has a new video out, and in this episode he and Martin Pankraz break down SAP GROW and RISE for Microsoft integration developers, covering key differences and integration options across IDoc, RFC, BAPI, SOAP, HTTPS, and OData, giving a concise overview of today’s SAP landscape and what it means for building integrations on Azure. Logic Apps Initialize variables action has a max limit of 20 variables Post by Sandro Pereira Logic Apps allows only 20 variables per Initialize variables action, and exceeding it triggers a validation error. This limit applies per action, not per workflow. Using objects, parameters, or Compose actions often reduces the need for many scalars and leads to cleaner, more maintainable workflows. Did you know that? It is a Friday Fact!Azure API Management Your Auth Gateway For MCP Servers
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is quickly becoming the standard for integrating Tools 🛠️ with Agents 🤖 and Azure API Management is at the fore-front, ready to support this open-source protocol 🚀. You may have already encountered discussions about MCP, so let's clarify some key concepts: Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a standardized way, (a protocol), for AI models to interact with external tools, (and either read data or perform actions) and to enrich context for ANY language models. AI Agents/Assistants are autonomous LLM-powered applications with the ability to use tools to connect to external services required to accomplish tasks on behalf of users. Tools are components made available to Agents allowing them to interact with external systems, perform computation, and take actions to achieve specific goals. Azure API Management: As a platform-as-a-service, API Management supports the complete API lifecycle, enabling organizations to create, publish, secure, and analyze APIs with built-in governance, security, analytics, and scalability. New Cool Kid in Town - MCP AI Agents are becoming widely adopted due to enhanced Large Language Model (LLM) capabilities. However, even the most advanced models face limitations due to their isolation from external data. Each new data source requires custom implementations to extract, prepare, and make data accessible for any model(s). - A lot of heavy lifting. Anthropic developed an open-source standard - the Model Context Protocol (MCP), to connect your agents to external data sources such as local data sources (databases or computer files) or remote services (systems available over the internet through e.g. APIs). MCP Hosts: LLM applications such as chat apps or AI assistant in your IDEs (like GitHub Copilot in VS Code) that need to access external capabilities MCP Clients: Protocol clients that maintain 1:1 connections with servers, inside the host application MCP Servers: Lightweight programs that each expose specific capabilities and provide context, tools, and prompts to clients MCP Protocol: Transport layer in the middle At its core, MCP follows a client-server architecture where a host application can connect to multiple servers. Whenever your MCP host or client needs a tool, it is going to connect to the MCP server. The MCP server will then connect to for example a database or an API. MCP hosts and servers will connect with each other through the MCP protocol. You can create your own custom MCP Servers that connect to your or organizational data sources. For a quick start, please visit our GitHub repository to learn how to build a remote MCP server using Azure Functions without authentication: https://aka.ms/mcp-remote Remote vs. Local MCP Servers The MCP standard supports two modes of operation: Remote MCP servers: MCP clients connect to MCP servers over the Internet, establishing a connection using HTTP and Server-Sent Events (SSE), and authorizing the MCP client access to resources on the user's account using OAuth. Local MCP servers: MCP clients connect to MCP servers on the same machine, using stdio as a local transport method. Azure API Management as the AI Auth Gateway Now that we have learned that MCP servers can connect to remote services through an API. The question now rises, how can we expose our remote MCP servers in a secure and scalable way? This is where Azure API Management comes in. A way that we can securely and safely expose tools as MCP servers. Azure API Management provides: Security: AI agents often need to access sensitive data. API Management as a remote MCP proxy safeguards organizational data through authentication and authorization. Scalability: As the number of LLM interactions and external tool integrations grows, API Management ensures the system can handle the load. Security remains to be a critical piece of building MCP servers, as agents will need to securely connect to protected endpoints (tools) to perform certain actions or read protected data. When building remote MCP servers, you need a way to allow users to login (Authenticate) and allow them to grant the MCP client access to resources on their account (Authorization). MCP - Current Authorization Challenges State: 4/10/2025 Recent changes in MCP authorization have sparked significant debate within the community. 🔍 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 with the Authorization Changes: The MCP server is now treated as both a resource server AND an authorization server. This dual role has fundamental implications for MCP server developers and runtime operations. 💡 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: To address these challenges, we recommend using 𝗔𝘇𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗣𝗜 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 as your authorization gateway for remote MCP servers. 🔗For an enterprise-ready solution, please check out our azd up sample repo to learn how to build a remote MCP server using Azure API Management as your authentication gateway: https://aka.ms/mcp-remote-apim-auth The Authorization Flow The workflow involves three core components: the MCP client, the APIM Gateway, and the MCP server, with Microsoft Entra managing authentication (AuthN) and authorization (AuthZ). Using the OAuth protocol, the client starts by calling the APIM Gateway, which redirects the user to Entra for login and consent. Once authenticated, Entra provides an access token to the Gateway, which then exchanges a code with the client to generate an MCP server token. This token allows the client to communicate securely with the server via the Gateway, ensuring user validation and scope verification. Finally, the MCP server establishes a session key for ongoing communication through a dedicated message endpoint. Diagram source: https://aka.ms/mcp-remote-apim-auth-diagram Conclusion Azure API Management (APIM) is an essential tool for enterprise customers looking to integrate AI models with external tools using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). In this blog, we've emphasized the simplicity of connecting AI agents to various data sources through MCP, streamlining previously complex implementations. Given the critical role of secure access to platforms and services for AI agents, APIM offers robust solutions for managing OAuth tokens and ensuring secure access to protected endpoints, making it an invaluable asset for enterprises, despite the challenges of authentication. API Management: An Enterprise Solution for Securing MCP Servers Azure API Management is an essential tool for enterprise customers looking to integrate AI models with external tools using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It is designed to help you to securely expose your remote MCP servers. MCP servers are still very new, and as the technology evolves, API Management provides an enterprise-ready solution that will evolve with the latest technology. Stay tuned for further feature announcements soon! Acknowledgments This post and work was made possible thanks to the hard work and dedication of our incredible team. Special thanks to Pranami Jhawar, Julia Kasper, Julia Muiruri, Annaji Sharma Ganti Jack Pa, Chaoyi Yuan and Alex Vieira for their invaluable contributions. Additional Resources MCP Client Server integration with APIM as AI gateway Blog Post: https://aka.ms/remote-mcp-apim-auth-blog Sequence Diagram: https://aka.ms/mcp-remote-apim-auth-diagram APIM lab: https://aka.ms/ai-gateway-lab-mcp-client-auth Python: https://aka.ms/mcp-remote-apim-auth .NET: https://aka.ms/mcp-remote-apim-auth-dotnet On-Behalf-Of Authorization: https://aka.ms/mcp-obo-sample 3rd Party APIs – Backend Auth via Credential Manager: Blog Post: https://aka.ms/remote-mcp-apim-lab-blog APIM lab: https://aka.ms/ai-gateway-lab-mcp YouTube Video: https://aka.ms/ai-gateway-lab-demo
🎉 Announcing General Availability of AI & RAG Connectors in Logic Apps (Standard)
We’re excited to share that a comprehensive set of AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) capabilities is now Generally Available in Azure Logic Apps (Standard). This release brings native support for document processing, semantic retrieval, embeddings, and grounded reasoning directly into the Logic Apps workflow engine. 🔌 Available AI Connectors in Logic Apps Standard Logic Apps (Standard) had previously previewed four AI-focused connectors that open the door for a new generation of intelligent automation across the enterprise. Whether you're processing large volumes of documents, enriching operational data with intelligence, or enabling employees to interact with systems using natural language, these connectors provide the foundation for building solutions that are smarter, faster, and more adaptable to business needs. These are now in GA. They allow teams to move from routine workflow automation to AI-assisted decisioning, contextual responses, and multi-step orchestration that reflects real business intent. Below is the full set of built-in connectors and their actions as they appear in the designer. 1. Azure OpenAI Actions Get an embedding Get chat completions Get chat completions using Prompt Template Get completion Get multiple chat completions Get multiple embeddings What this unlocks Bring natural language reasoning and structured AI responses directly into workflows. Common scenarios include guided decisioning, user-facing assistants, classification and routing, or preparing embeddings for semantic search and RAG workflows. 2. Azure AI Search Actions Delete a document Delete multiple documents Get agentic retrieval output (Preview) Index a document Index multiple documents Merge document Search vectors Search vectors with natural language What this unlocks Add vector, hybrid semantic, and natural language search directly to workflow logic. Ideal for retrieving relevant content from enterprise data, powering search-driven workflows, and grounding AI responses with context from your own documents. 3. Azure AI Document Intelligence Action Analyze document What this unlocks Document Intelligence serves as the entry point for document-heavy scenarios. It extracts structured information from PDFs, images, and forms, allowing workflows to validate documents, trigger downstream processes, or feed high-quality data into search and embeddings pipelines. 4. AI Operations Actions Chunk text with metadata Parse document with metadata What this unlocks Transform unstructured files into enriched, structured content. Enables token-aware chunking, page-level metadata, and clean preparation of content for embeddings and semantic search at scale. 🤖 Advanced AI & Agentic Workflows with AgentLoop Logic Apps (Standard) also supports AgentLoop (also Generally Available), allowing AI models to use workflow actions as tools and iterate until the task is complete. Combined with chunking, embeddings, and natural language search, this opens the door to advanced agentic scenarios such as document intelligence agents, RAG-based assistants, and iterative evaluators. Conclusion With these capabilities now built into Logic Apps Standard, teams can bring AI directly into their integration workflows without additional infrastructure or complexity. Whether you’re streamlining document-heavy processes, enabling richer search experiences, or exploring more advanced agentic patterns, these capabilities provide a strong foundation to start building today.Logic Apps Aviators Newsletter - December 2025
In this issue: Ace Aviator of the Month News from our product group Community Playbook News from our community Ace Aviator of the Month December’s Ace Aviator: Daniel Jonathan What's your role and title? What are your responsibilities? I’m an Azure Integration Architect at Cnext, helping organizations modernize and migrate their integrations to Azure Integration Services. I design and build solutions using Logic Apps, Azure Functions, Service Bus, and API Management. I also work on AI solutions using Semantic Kernel and LangChain to bring intelligence into business processes. Can you give us some insights into your day-to-day activities and what a typical day in your role looks like? My day usually begins by attending customer requests and handling recent deployments. Most of my time goes into designing integration patterns, building Logic Apps, mentoring the team, and helping customers with technical solutions. Lately, I’ve also been integrating AI capabilities into workflows. What motivates and inspires you to be an active member of the Aviators/Microsoft community? The community is open, friendly, and full of knowledge. I enjoy sharing ideas, writing posts, and helping others solve real-world challenges. It’s great to learn and grow together. Looking back, what advice do you wish you had been given earlier that you'd now share with those looking to get into STEM/technology? Start small and stay consistent. Learn the basics well—like messaging, retries, and error handling—before diving into complex tools. Keep learning and share what you know. What has helped you grow professionally? Hands-on experience, teamwork, and continuous learning. Working across different projects taught me how to design reliable and scalable systems. Exploring AI with Semantic Kernel and LangChain has also helped me think beyond traditional integrations. If you had a magic wand that could create a feature in Logic Apps, what would it be and why? I’d add an “Overview Page” in Logic Apps containing the HTTP URLs for each workflow, so developers can quickly access to test from one place. It would save time and make working with multiple workflows much easier. News from our product group Logic Apps Community Day 2025 Playlist Did you miss or want to catch up on individual sessions from Logic Apps Community Day 2025? Here is the full playlist – choose your favorite sessions and have fun! The future of integration is here and it's agentic Missed Kent Weare and Divya Swarnkar session at Ignite? It is here for you to watch on demand. Enterprise integration is being reimagined. It’s no longer just about connecting systems, but about enabling adaptive, agentic workflows that unify apps, data, and systems. In this session, discover how to modernize integration, migrate from BizTalk, and adopt AI-driven patterns that deliver agility and intelligence. Through customer stories and live demos, see how to bring these workflows to life with Agent Loop in Azure Logic Apps. Public Preview: Azure Logic Apps Connectors as MCP Tools in Microsoft Foundry Unlock secure enterprise connectivity with Azure Logic Apps connectors as MCP tools in Microsoft Foundry. Agents can now use hundreds of connectors natively—no custom code required. Learn how to configure and register MCP servers for seamless integration. Announcing AI Foundry Agent Service Connector v2 (Preview) AI Foundry Agent Service Connector v2 (Preview) is here! Azure Logic Apps can now securely invoke Foundry agents, enabling low-code AI integration, multi-agent workflows, and faster time-to-value. Explore new operations for orchestration and monitoring. Announcing the General Availability of the XML Parse and Compose Actions in Azure Logic Apps XML Parse and Compose Actions are now GA in Azure Logic Apps! Easily handle XML with XSD schemas, streamline workflows, and support internationalization. Learn best practices for arrays, encoding, and safe transport of content. Clone a Consumption Logic App to a Standard Workflow Clone your Consumption Logic Apps into Standard workflows with ease! This new feature accelerates migration, preserves design, and unlocks advanced capabilities for modern integration solutions. Announcing the HL7 connector for Azure Logic Apps Standard and Hybrid (Public Preview) Connect healthcare systems effortlessly! The new HL7 connector for Azure Logic Apps (Standard & Hybrid) enables secure, standardized data exchange and automation using HL7 protocols—now in Public Preview. Announcing Foundry Control Plane support for Logic Apps Agent Loop (Preview) Foundry Control Plane now supports Logic Apps Agent Loop (Preview)! Manage, govern, and observe agents at scale with built-in integration—no extra steps required. Ensure trust, compliance, and scalability in the agentic era. Announcing General Availability of Agent Loop in Azure Logic Apps Agent Loop transforms Logic Apps into a multi-agent automation platform, enabling AI agents to collaborate with workflows and humans. Build secure, enterprise-ready agentic solutions for business automation at scale. Agent Loop Ignite Update - New Set of AI Features Arrive in Public Preview We are releasing a broad set of Agent Loop new and powerful AI-first capabilities in Public Preview that dramatically expand what developers can build: run agents in the Consumption SKU ,bring your own models through APIM AI Gateway, call any tool through MCP, deploy agents directly into Teams, secure RAG with document-level permissions, onboard with Okta, and build in a completely redesigned workflow designer. Announcing MCP Server Support for Logic Apps Agent Loop Agent Loop in Azure Logic Apps now supports Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling secure, standardized tool integration. Bring your own MCP connector, use Azure-managed servers, or build custom connectors for enterprise workflows. Enabling API Key Authentication for Logic Apps MCP Servers Logic Apps MCP Servers now support API Key authentication alongside OAuth2 and Anonymous options. Configure keys via host.json or Azure APIs, retrieve and regenerate keys easily, and connect MCP clients securely for agentic workflows. Announcing Public Preview of Agent Loop in Azure Logic Apps Consumption Agent Loop now brings AI-powered automation to Logic Apps Consumption with a frictionless, pay-as-you-go model. Build autonomous and conversational agents using 1,400+ connectors—no dedicated infrastructure required. Ideal for rapid prototyping and enterprise workflows. Moving the Logic Apps Designer Forward Major redesign of Azure Logic Apps designer enters Public Preview for Standard workflows. Phase I focuses on faster onboarding, unified views, draft mode with auto-save, improved search, and enhanced debugging. Feedback will shape future phases for a seamless development experience. Announcing the General Availability of the RabbitMQ Connector RabbitMQ Connector for Azure Logic Apps is now generally available, enabling reliable message exchange for Standard and Hybrid workflows. It supports triggers, publishing, and advanced routing, with global rollout underway for robust, scalable integration scenarios. Duplicate Detection in Logic App Trigger Prevent duplicate processing in Logic Apps triggers with a REST API-based solution. It checks recent runs using clientTrackingId to avoid reprocessing items caused by edits or webhook updates. Works with Logic App Standard and adaptable for Consumption or Power Automate. Announcing the BizTalk Server 2020 Cumulative Update 7 BizTalk Server 2020 Cumulative Update 7 is out, adding support for Visual Studio 2022, Windows Server 2022, SQL Server 2022, and Windows 11. Includes all prior fixes. Upgrade from older versions or consider migrating to Azure Logic Apps for modernization. News from our community Logic Apps Local Development Series Post by Daniel Jonathan Last month I shared an article from Daniel about debugging XSLT in VS Code. This month, I bumped into not one, but five articles in a series about Build, Test and Run Logic Apps Standard locally – definitely worth the read! Working with sessions in Agentic Workflows Post by Simon Stender Build AI-powered chat experiences with session-based agentic workflows in Azure Logic Apps. Learn how they enable dynamic, stateful interactions, integrate with APIs and apps, and avoid common pitfalls like workflows stuck in “running” forever. Integration Love Story with Mimmi Gullberg Video by Ahmed Bayoumy and Robin Wilde Meet Mimmi Gullberg, Green Cargo’s new integration architect driving smarter, sustainable rail logistics. With experience from BizTalk to Azure, she blends tech and business insight to create real value. Her mantra: understand the problem first, then choose the right tools—Logic Apps, Functions, or AI. Integration Love Story with Jenny Andersson Video by Ahmed Bayoumy and Robin Wilde Discover Jenny Andesson’s inspiring journey from skepticism to creativity in tech. In this episode, she shares insights on life as an integration architect, tackling system challenges, listening to customers, and how AI is shaping the future of integration. You Can Get an XPath value in Logic Apps without returning an array Post by Luis Rigueira Working with XML in Azure Logic Apps? The xpath() function always returns an array—even for a single node. Or does it? Found how to return just the values you want on this Friday Fact from Luis Rigueira. Set up Azure Standard Logic App Connectors as MCP Server Video by Srikanth Gunnala Expose your Azure Logic Apps integrations as secure tools for AI assistants. Learn how to turn connectors like SAP, SQL, and Jira into MCP tools, protect them with Entra ID/OAuth, and test in GitHub Copilot Chat for safe, action-ready AI workflows. Making Logic Apps Speak Business Post by Al Ghoniem Stop forcing Logic Apps to look like business diagrams. With Business Process Tracking, you can keep workflows technically sound while giving business users clear, stage-based visibility into processes—decoupled, visual, and KPI-driven.Clone a Consumption Logic App to a Standard Workflow
Azure Logic Apps now supports cloning existing Consumption Logic Apps into Standard workflows. This feature simplifies migration by allowing you to reuse your existing workflows without starting from scratch. It’s designed to help organizations transition to the Standard model, which offers improved performance, flexibility, and advanced capabilities. Why Does It Matter? Migrating from Consumption to Standard has been a common challenge for teams looking to modernize their integration solutions. Standard workflows provide: Better performance through single-tenant architecture. Enhanced developer experience with local development and VS Code integration. Advanced features like built-in connectors, stateful/stateless workflows, and integration with Azure Functions. This new cloning capability reduces friction, accelerates adoption, and ensures continuity for existing business processes. And with the announcement of Agent Loop Support in Logic Apps Consumption, the ability to clone agentic workflows to a Logic Apps Standard application allow you to have a graduation strategy for your agents. Key Highlights Direct cloning: Convert an existing Consumption Logic App into a Standard workflow with minimal manual effort. Preserves workflow design: Your triggers, actions, and configurations are carried over. Supports modernization: Enables migration to a model that supports advanced features like custom connectors and private endpoints. Improved governance: Standard workflows allow better control over deployment and scaling. How to Get Started Navigate to your Consumption Logic App in the Azure portal. Select Clone to Standard from the available options. Choose the target Logic App (Standard) environment and configure settings. Validate and deploy the cloned workflow. Limitations Infrastructure settings aren’t cloned (e.g., integration account configurations). Connections and credentials must be reconfigured after cloning. Secure parameters aren’t copied; placeholders are created and need updating from Key Vault. Connectors default to shared even if built-in versions exist. Unsupported items include: Integration account references XML/Flat file transformations EDIFACT and X12 actions Nested workflows Azure Function calls Learn more To learn more about this new feature, check the official documentation on Microsoft Docs.Preview: Govern, Secure, and Observe A2A APIs with Azure API Management
Today, we’re announcing the preview support for A2A (Agent2Agent) APIs in Azure API Management. With this capability, organizations can now manage and govern agent APIs alongside AI model APIs, Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools, and traditional APIs such as REST, SOAP, GraphQL, WebSocket, and gRPC — all within a single, consistent API management plane. Extending API Governance into the Agentic Ecosystem As organizations adopt agentic systems, the need for consistent governance, security, and observability grows. With A2A API support, Azure API Management enables you to extend established API practices into the agentic world — ensuring secure access, consistent policy enforcement, and complete visibility for AI agents. A2A APIs in Azure API Management: Mediate JSON-RPC runtime operations with policy support Expose and manage agent cards for users, clients, or other agents Support OpenTelemetry GenAI semantic conventions when logging traces to Application Insights — including "gen_ai.agent.id" and "gen_ai.agent.name" attributes How It Works When you import an A2A API, API Management mediates runtime calls to your agent backend (JSON-RPC only) and exposes the agent card as an operation within the same API. The agent card is transformed automatically to represent the A2A API managed by API Management — with the hostname replaced by API Management’s gateway address, security schemes converted to authentication configured in API Management, and unsupported interfaces removed. When integrated with Application Insights, API Management enriches traces with GenAI-compliant telemetry attributes — allowing easy identification of the agent and deep correlation between API and agent execution traces for monitoring and debugging. Try It Out To import an A2A API: Navigate to the APIs page in the Azure portal and select the A2A Agent tile. Enter your agent card URL. If accessible, the portal will automatically populate relevant settings. Configure the remaining properties, such as API path in API Management. This functionality is currently available only in v2 tiers of API Management and it will continue to roll out to all tiers in the coming months. Start Managing Your Agent APIs With A2A support in Azure API Management, you can now bring agent APIs under the same governance and security umbrella as your existing APIs — strengthening control, security, and observability across your AI and API ecosystems. Learn more about A2A API support in Azure API Management.Hybrid Logic Apps deployment on Rancher K3s Kubernetes cluster
K3s is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution, certified by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and originally developed by Rancher. It is optimized for on-premises environments with limited resources, making it ideal for edge computing and lightweight hybrid scenarios. Unlike a full Kubernetes distribution, K3s reduces overhead while maintaining full Kubernetes API compatibility. This makes K3s an ideal choice for hosting Logic Apps Standard near your data sources—such as on-premises SQL Server or local file shares—when you have lightweight workloads. There are 5 steps which are followed to setup the Hybrid Logic Apps including infrastructure which is illustrated in the following diagram. Most of these 5 steps are same as discussed in the Hybrid Logic Apps doc except the K3s Setup part Set up your own infrastructure for Standard logic app workflows - Azure Logic Apps | Microsoft Learn. Step 1: Prepare the K3s Cluster Docker desktop setup - In this case, the host machine is Windows 11 so decided to user Docker with WSL2 to setup the containers. Install the docker desktop using WSL2 Docker Desktop: The #1 Containerization Tool for Developers | Docker and make sure we select WSL2 Install K3s on your infrastructure and create single node cluster using k3d. #Install choco , kubectl and Helm Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1')) powershell choco install kubernetes-cli -y choco install kubernetes-helm -y choco install k3d -y k3d cluster create "k3d-rancher" # open in new powershell window powershell k3d cluster create # deleting the default load balancer Traefik as it conflicts with 80 and 443 port - we can configure the load balancer to other ports if needed kubectl delete svc traefik -n kube-system kubectl delete deployment traefik -n kube-system Next two steps are same as given Set up your own infrastructure for Standard logic app workflows - Azure Logic Apps | Microsoft Learn Step 2: Connect the Kubernetes cluster to Azure Arc Step 3: Setup the Azure Container Apps extension and environment You need to skip the core DNS setup required for Azure Local as given in Update CoreDNS Step 4: Conduct the Storage Configuration for SQL and SMB SQL Database (Runtime Store): Hybrid Logic Apps use SQL database for runtime operations and run history. In this scenario I used on-premise SQL server using SQL Authentication. I setup the SQL Server 2022 on the Windows host machine, enabled SQL server authentication and added new SQL admin user. Please follow the link for more details.. The SQL connection string can be validated using following PowerShell script $connectionString = "Server=<server IP address>;Initial Catalog=<databaseName>;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=<sqluser>;Password=<password>;MultipleActiveResultSets=False;Encrypt=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;Connection Timeout=30;" try { $connection = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection $connection.ConnectionString = $connectionString $connection.Open() Write-Host "✅ Connection successful" $connection.Close() } catch { Write-Host "❌ Connection failed: $($_.Exception.Message)" } SMB is used as local file share on Windows host machine; it is advised to use a new user for the Windows SMB share $Username = "k3suser" $Password = ConvertTo-SecureString "<password complex>" -AsPlainText -Force $FullName = "K3s user" $Description = "Created via PowerShell" # Create the user New-LocalUser -Name $Username -Password $Password -FullName $FullName -Description $Description Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Users" -Member $Username Once the above user is created you can use Windows hosted machine to create Artifacts folder and allow read and write access. Please follow the link for more details Step 5: Create your Logic App (Hybrid) With all prerequisites and infrastructure in place for creating Hybrid Logic Apps, the next step is to build the Logic Apps using the specified connection string and SMB share path. This can be accomplished through the Azure Portal, as outlined below. Now you can create Logic Apps workflows using the designer and execute the Logic Apps workflow.
