Azure OpenAI provider

You can proxy requests to Azure AI models through AI Gateway using the AI Proxy and AI Proxy Advanced plugins. This reference documents all supported AI capabilities, configuration requirements, and provider-specific details needed for proper integration.

AI Gateway automatically routes requests to the appropriate Azure API endpoints. The following table shows the upstream paths used for each capability.

The following tables show the AI capabilities supported by Azure provider when used with the AI Proxy or the AI Proxy Advanced plugin.

Set the plugin’s route_type based on the capability you want to use. See the tables below for supported route types.

Text generation

Support for Azure basic text generation capabilities including chat, completions, and embeddings:

¹ Use text-embedding-3-small or text-embedding-3-large for dynamic dimensions.

Advanced text generation

Support for Azure function calling to allow Azure models to use external tools and APIs:

Processing

Support for Azure file operations, batch operations, assistants, and response handling:

² Assistans API requires header OpenAI-Beta: assistants=v2

³ Responses API requires config.azure_api_version set to "preview"

Audio

Support for Azure text-to-speech, transcription, and translation capabilities:

For requests with large payloads, consider increasing config.max_request_body_size to three times the raw binary size.

Supported audio formats, voices, and parameters vary by model. Refer to your provider’s documentation for available options.

Image

Support for Azure image generation and editing capabilities:

For requests with large payloads, consider increasing config.max_request_body_size to three times the raw binary size.

Supported image sizes and formats vary by model. Refer to your provider’s documentation for allowed dimensions and requirements.

Video

Support for Azure video generation capabilities:

For requests with large payloads (video generation), consider increasing config.max_request_body_size to three times the raw binary size.

Realtime

Support for Azure’s bidirectional streaming for realtime applications:

Realtime processing requires the AI Proxy Advanced plugin and uses WebSocket protocol.

To use the realtime route, you must configure the protocols ws and/or wss on both the Service and on the Route where the plugin is associated.

⁴ For requests to Azure OpenAI realtime API, include include the header OpenAI-Beta: realtime=v1.

The base URL is https://{azure_instance}.openai.azure.com:443/openai/deployments/{deployment_name}/{route_type_path}, where {route_type_path} is determined by the capability.

AI Gateway uses this URL automatically. You only need to configure a URL if you’re using a self-hosted or Azure-compatible endpoint, in which case set the upstream_url plugin option.

To use Azure with AI Gateway, configure the AI Proxy or AI Proxy Advanced.

Here’s a minimal configuration for chat completions:

_format_version: "3.0"
plugins:
  - name: ai-proxy
    config:
      route_type: llm/v1/chat
      auth:
        header_name: Authorization
        header_value: Bearer ${{ env "DECK_AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY" }}
      model:
        provider: azure
        options:
          azure_api_version: 2025-01-01-preview
          azure_instance: ${{ env "DECK_AZURE_INSTANCE_NAME" }}
          azure_deployment_id: ${{ env "DECK_AZURE_DEPLOYMENT_ID" }}

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/plugins/ \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "ai-proxy",
      "config": {
        "route_type": "llm/v1/chat",
        "auth": {
          "header_name": "Authorization",
          "header_value": "Bearer '$AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY'"
        },
        "model": {
          "provider": "azure",
          "options": {
            "azure_api_version": "2025-01-01-preview",
            "azure_instance": "'$AZURE_INSTANCE_NAME'",
            "azure_deployment_id": "'$AZURE_DEPLOYMENT_ID'"
          }
        }
      }
    }
    '

curl -X POST https://{region}.api.konghq.com/v2/control-planes/{controlPlaneId}/core-entities/plugins/ \
    --header "accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $KONNECT_TOKEN" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "ai-proxy",
      "config": {
        "route_type": "llm/v1/chat",
        "auth": {
          "header_name": "Authorization",
          "header_value": "Bearer '$AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY'"
        },
        "model": {
          "provider": "azure",
          "options": {
            "azure_api_version": "2025-01-01-preview",
            "azure_instance": "'$AZURE_INSTANCE_NAME'",
            "azure_deployment_id": "'$AZURE_DEPLOYMENT_ID'"
          }
        }
      }
    }
    '

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongClusterPlugin
metadata:
  name: ai-proxy
  namespace: kong
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
  labels:
    global: 'true'
config:
  route_type: llm/v1/chat
  auth:
    header_name: Authorization
    header_value: Bearer $AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY
  model:
    provider: azure
    options:
      azure_api_version: 2025-01-01-preview
      azure_instance: '$AZURE_INSTANCE_NAME'
      azure_deployment_id: '$AZURE_DEPLOYMENT_ID'
plugin: ai-proxy
" | kubectl apply -f -

resource "konnect_gateway_plugin_ai_proxy" "my_ai_proxy" {
  enabled = true

  config = {
    route_type = "llm/v1/chat"

    auth = {
      header_name = "Authorization"
      header_value = "Bearer var.azure_openai_api_key"
    }

    model = {
      provider = "azure"

      options = {
        azure_api_version = "2025-01-01-preview"
        azure_instance = var.azure_instance_name
        azure_deployment_id = var.azure_deployment_id
      }
    }
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
}

variable "azure_deployment_id" {
  type = string
}

For more configuration options and examples, see:

• AI Proxy examples
• AI Proxy Advanced examples

• Send batch requests to Azure OpenAI LLMs View →
• Use the AI AWS Guardrails plugin View →
• Use Azure Content Safety plugin View →