openclaw/docs/providers/azure.md

Azure Provider

Azure supports deploying OpenAI-compatible models through Azure infrastructure. Moltbot's Azure provider allows you to use various models deployed on Azure, including OpenAI models (GPT-4, GPT-3.5), DeepSeek, and other compatible models.

Prerequisites

Before using Azure with Moltbot, you need:

1. An active Azure subscription with Azure AI access
2. An Azure resource with model deployments
3. Your Azure API key and endpoint
4. A deployed model (OpenAI, DeepSeek, or other compatible models)

Configuration

Environment Variables

The easiest way to configure Azure is through environment variables:

export AZURE_ENDPOINT="https://your-resource.cognitiveservices.azure.com"
export AZURE_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
export AZURE_DEPLOYMENT="your-deployment-name"
export AZURE_API_VERSION="2024-02-01"  # Optional, defaults to 2024-08-01-preview

Required Variables

• AZURE_ENDPOINT: Your Azure resource endpoint URL

  • Format: https://{resource-name}.cognitiveservices.azure.com or https://{region}.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • Find this in the Azure Portal under your resource's "Keys and Endpoint" section

• AZURE_API_KEY: Your Azure API key

  • Find this in the Azure Portal under "Keys and Endpoint"
  • Either KEY 1 or KEY 2 will work

• AZURE_DEPLOYMENT: The name of your model deployment

  • This is the deployment name you configured in Azure AI Studio
  • Must match exactly as configured in Azure
  • Examples: gpt-4, gpt-5.2, deepseek-chat

Optional Variables

• AZURE_API_VERSION: Azure API version
  • Default: 2024-08-01-preview
  • Use a stable API version for production workloads
  • Common versions: 2024-02-01, 2024-08-01-preview

models.json Configuration

Alternatively, you can configure Azure in your models.json file:

{
  "providers": {
    "azure": {
      "baseUrl": "https://your-resource.cognitiveservices.azure.com/openai/deployments/your-deployment/chat/completions?api-version=2024-02-01",
      "apiKey": "AZURE_API_KEY",
      "api": "openai-completions",
      "headers": {
        "api-key": "${AZURE_API_KEY}"
      },
      "models": [
        {
          "id": "",
          "name": "Azure GPT-4",
          "reasoning": false,
          "input": ["text"],
          "cost": {
            "input": 10,
            "output": 30,
            "cacheRead": 2.5,
            "cacheWrite": 12.5
          },
          "contextWindow": 200000,
          "maxTokens": 16384,
          "compat": {
            "maxTokensField": "max_completion_tokens"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Supported Models

Azure supports various OpenAI-compatible models:

OpenAI Models

• GPT-4 Series: gpt-4, gpt-4-turbo, gpt-4-vision
• GPT-5.2: Latest models with extended context
• GPT-3.5: gpt-35-turbo (note the hyphen instead of dot)
• o1/o3 Models: Reasoning models with extended thinking

DeepSeek Models

• DeepSeek-V3: Latest DeepSeek model
• DeepSeek-Chat: General conversation model

Other Compatible Models

Any OpenAI API-compatible model deployed on Azure will work with this provider.

Usage

With Environment Variables

# Configure Azure
export AZURE_ENDPOINT="https://eastus2.api.cognitive.microsoft.com"
export AZURE_API_KEY="your-key-here"
export AZURE_DEPLOYMENT="gpt-5.2"
export AZURE_API_VERSION="2024-02-01"

# Use with Moltbot
moltbot agent --message "Hello" --model azure/gpt-5.2

List Available Models

moltbot models list | grep azure

Expected output:

azure/{deployment-name}  Azure {deployment-name}  ...

Deployment Name Mapping

Azure uses deployment names instead of model IDs. When you configure AZURE_DEPLOYMENT=gpt-5.2, Moltbot will expose this as:

azure/gpt-5.2

The deployment name becomes the model identifier in Moltbot.

Important Notes

URL Construction

Azure has a specific URL format that differs from standard OpenAI:

Standard OpenAI:  https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions
Azure:           https://{endpoint}/openai/deployments/{deployment}/chat/completions?api-version={version}

Moltbot automatically handles URL construction through an internal URL fix middleware, so you don't need to worry about the format differences.

API Compatibility

Azure's API is compatible with OpenAI's API format but uses:

• Header: api-key instead of Authorization: Bearer
• Parameter: max_completion_tokens instead of max_tokens (for newer models)
• Query parameter: api-version is required

Troubleshooting

HTTP 404 Errors

Problem: Getting 404 errors when making API calls

Solutions:

1. Verify your AZURE_ENDPOINT is correct (should not include /openai/deployments/)
2. Verify your AZURE_DEPLOYMENT name matches exactly in Azure Portal
3. Check that AZURE_API_VERSION is supported by your deployment
4. Ensure your Azure resource has the model deployed

Authentication Errors

Problem: 401 Unauthorized errors

Solutions:

1. Verify AZURE_API_KEY is correct
2. Check that the API key hasn't been regenerated in Azure Portal
3. Ensure the key matches the endpoint (don't mix keys from different resources)

Unsupported Parameter Errors

Problem: Unsupported parameter: 'max_tokens' error

Solution: Newer Azure models require max_completion_tokens instead of max_tokens. Moltbot handles this automatically through the compat.maxTokensField setting.

Model Not Found

Problem: Model doesn't appear in moltbot models list

Solutions:

1. Check all required environment variables are set
2. Verify AZURE_DEPLOYMENT is exactly as configured in Azure
3. Restart Moltbot after changing environment variables

Security Best Practices

1. Never commit API keys: Use environment variables or Azure Key Vault
2. Rotate keys regularly: Regenerate your API keys periodically
3. Use RBAC: Configure role-based access control in Azure
4. Monitor usage: Enable Azure Monitor for usage tracking
5. Set spending limits: Configure budgets in Azure Cost Management

API Versions

Azure uses API versioning. Common versions:

• 2024-02-01: Stable production version
• 2024-08-01-preview: Preview with latest features
• 2023-12-01: Older stable version

Check Azure OpenAI API documentation for the latest versions.

Comparison with Standard OpenAI

Feature	Azure	Standard OpenAI
Endpoint	Regional (e.g., eastus2)	Global (api.openai.com)
Authentication	api-key header	Bearer token
Deployment	Named deployments	Model IDs
Billing	Azure subscription	OpenAI account
Data residency	Regional	Global
Enterprise features	Azure integration	OpenAI org settings

Additional Resources

• Azure AI Services Documentation
• Azure OpenAI Quickstart
• Model Deployments
• API Reference