Error When Creating MCP Server in Azure API Management: "Error converting value 'mcp'

Question

I'm trying to expose a REST API in Azure API Management (APIM) as an MCP server. I have imported the API using an OpenAPI (TM Forum) specification. However, when I attempt to create the MCP server in APIM, I encounter the following error:

Parsing error(s): An error occurred while parsing the input. Message: Error converting value "mcp" to type 'Microsoft.Azure.ApiManagement.Management.Contracts.ApiTypeContract'. Path 'type', line 2, position 15.

Details:

APIM Tier: Standard

API: REST APIs

Link Followed: Expose REST API in API Management as MCP server | Microsoft Learn

Answer 1

I raised a support query about this error, and was told they are aware of this issue even after joining the AI Gateway Early service update group. A fix is scheduled for June 18th

Things I found out which others might find useful.
To see MCP you have to suffix your portal.azure with ?Microsoft_Azure_ApiManagement=mcp
MCP Server option will then appear under APIs menu in APIM.

To see the Service Updates (preview) option in "Deployment + infrastructure" menu, I needed to 1) Upgrade my APIM to Basic tier or above from Development tier, 2) wait for that to complete (around 45 minutes), and 3) then search using the search box within my apim instance for "Service Updates" - which then found it, and added it to my menu. It didn't appear in my menu by itself. Once that's there, I enabled the AI Gateway Early service update group, and a suitable maintenance time to get the updates. I found some documented hack on the web that adding a tag forceUpdate=<date> causes the update scheduler to schedule you an update as soon as possible rather than waiting for your APIM to pull in updates in the window, but I am sceptical about that - I think you have to wait the 24h.

Answer 2

Hi Ipshita,

Thank you for contacting Q&A Forum. I would like to provide my findings and proposed solution:

The MCP server feature is currently in preview. This means that the feature is still under development and will receive updates frequently before its official release. By joining the AI Gateway Early update group, you can gain access to the MCP feature in about 2 hours. Please review this document for details on "service update" settings and guides to change your update group to AI Gateway Early.

Kindly let me know if this works for you and whether you have further questions.

If I have answered your question, please accept this as answer and give a thumbs up for "Was it helpful"!

Best regards,

Steven Nguyen

Answer 3

After I created a Support Ticket, I was advised that you need to ensure your API Management instance is enrolled in to the AI Gateway Early Access setting. However, this was not an instant change, but the Microsoft service technician was able to manually initiate the update and this resolved the issue and I was able to create an MCP Server from my API - Happy Days