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Azure API Center

Register SpecStream's remote MCP server in your Azure API Center. Your developers find it in the API Center portal, in VS Code and in GitHub Copilot, and each one signs in with a SpecStream account of their own.

SpecStream for Azure API CenterAPI & cloud platforms

What you need

  • An API center in your Azure subscription. Microsoft's quickstart, Create an API center (opens in a new tab), sets one up.
  • Permission to add environments and assets in that API center.
  • A SpecStream account for each developer who uses the server. New accounts get $10 of credit on sign-up, no card. Create one.

  1. 1. Add an environment for SpecStream

    A remote MCP server in API Center belongs to an environment: the place where the server runs. SpecStream runs on its own host, so give it an environment of its own.

    In the Azure portal (opens in a new tab), open your API center. In the sidebar menu, under Inventory, select Environments, then + New environment. Set Environment title to SpecStream, keep the Identification API Center generates, and pick the Environment type your teams use for live services. Leave Server Type empty: SpecStream does not sit behind your API Management. Save the environment.

  2. 2. Register SpecStream as an MCP server

    Under Inventory, select Assets, then + Register an asset > MCP server. In the Register an MCP server form, fill in the fields below.

    Under Remotes, select + Add remote, enter the Runtime URL https://api.specstream.ai/mcp, choose the SpecStream environment, and select Save. Then give the version a Version title, Version identification and Version lifecycle, add the External documentation link, and select Create.

    API Center then generates two definitions for the server version on its own: an SSE definition and a Streamable definition. SpecStream answers over Streamable HTTP.

    Register an MCP server
    Title: SpecStream
    Summary: The live web data engine.
    Description: One platform to build, search, extract, enrich, map, and monitor data across the entire web.
    Icon URL: https://specstream.ai/favicon.svg
    Runtime URL: https://api.specstream.ai/mcp
    Environment: SpecStream
    Version title: SpecStream MCP
    Version identification: v1
    Version lifecycle: Production
    External documentation: https://specstream.ai/docs/mcp

  3. 3. Publish it in the API Center portal

    If your API Center portal is not published yet, open API Center portal in the API center's menu, select Configure Entra ID, follow the Quick setup flow, then select Save + publish.

    In the portal, SpecStream appears among your MCP servers. Its page shows the endpoint, and a developer can install it in Visual Studio Code from there.

  4. 4. Sign in and ask

    The first time VS Code starts the server, it asks the developer to sign in to SpecStream. They sign in, or create an account, and approve the access. No key is pasted and none is stored in the registry. Requests then run on that developer's account, with its balance and spending limits.

    In Copilot Chat agent mode, the developer asks in plain words and names SpecStream:

    In Copilot Chat
    Use SpecStream to find the current price page of each vendor in vendors.csv, and add the plan names and monthly prices to the file.

Make it the registry for GitHub Copilot

Enterprise and organization owners on Copilot Business or Copilot Enterprise can point Copilot at the API center, so developers see SpecStream next to your other approved servers.

First let Copilot read the registry: under API Center portal, in its settings, turn on anonymous access in the API visibility settings and select Save + publish. GitHub's own guide asks for this step.

Then, for an enterprise, open AI controls > MCP on GitHub, keep MCP servers in Copilot enabled, and enter the registry address in MCP Registry URL. For an organization, it is Settings > Copilot > Policies, field MCP Registry URL (optional). Under Restrict MCP access to registry servers, Registry only lets only the servers in your API center run, and Allow all keeps every server open.

Which registry address goes where

The two vendors write the address two ways, and the wrong one breaks the registry.

WhereAddress
GitHub MCP Registry URLhttps://<api-center-name>.data.<region>.azure-apicenter.ms/workspaces/default, with no route after it. Copilot adds the /v0.1/servers path itself.
A client that reads the registry list directlyhttps://<api-center-name>.data.<region>.azure-apicenter.ms/workspaces/default/v0.1/servers
NeverThe portal host, such as https://<api-center-name>.portal.<region>.azure-apicenter.ms. The registry lives on the data host.

What the server gives your developers

  • Search API through search_web: an answer from the live web with the pages it was read on, at $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results.
  • Extract API through read_pages: the main text of up to 20 pages a call, at $0.80 per 1,000 pages. A page with no text is not charged.
  • Deep Search through compile, quote_capacity_work and authorize_capacity_work: a request in plain words returns every match as structured rows, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row. The most it can cost is quoted first, and nothing runs until the developer approves it.
  • Source URL and read time on every value.

Keys for shared agents

A service that cannot sign in, such as a build agent, uses an API key instead. In SpecStream, open Agents & API, choose API keys, then Create API key, and give it a total spending limit. The client sends it as Authorization: Bearer <key> to https://api.specstream.ai/mcp. Keep the key in the client's own secret store, never in the API center.

Cost

Registering SpecStream costs nothing on our side. GitHub's guide states that Azure API Center offers a free tier for basic cataloging and discovery, MCP registry management included. On SpecStream, reading and pricing a request are free, searches and pages come out of the balance as they run, and Deep Search never costs more than the maximum a developer approved. Balance, quotes, and billing has the details.

Remove it

Delete the SpecStream asset under Inventory > Assets to take it out of the portal and the registry. A developer ends VS Code's access on the SpecStream side under Agents & API > OAuth applications, and a shared key is revoked under API keys. Saved results stay in the workspace. Questions go to [email protected].

More

SpecStream for Azure API Center covers what it does in Azure API Center on one page. Every other tool has its guide in Connect your tools. You see the most a request can cost before it starts, and the matches are paid from your balance. Billing has the details. For help, email [email protected].