By Steef-Jan Wiggers
Publication Date: 2026-01-19 10:25:00
Microsoft has moved its Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for Azure Functions to General Availability, signaling a shift toward standardized, identity-secure agentic workflows. By integrating native OBO authentication and streamable HTTP transport, the update aims to solve the ‘security pain point’ that has historically prevented AI agents from accessing sensitive downstream enterprise data.
The MCP extension, which entered public preview in April 2025, now supports .NET, Java, JavaScript, Python, and TypeScript, while a new self-hosted option lets developers deploy existing MCP SDK-based servers without code changes.
The Model Context Protocol, developed by Anthropic, provides a standardized interface enabling AI agents to access external tools, data sources, and systems. Since its November 2024 launch, major AI platforms, including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Microsoft, have adopted the protocol, with server downloads growing from approximately 100,000 to over 8…