Vector index creation stuck

Question

Hi,

I'm following the learning module from Microsoft Learn: Develop a RAG-based solution with your own data using Microsoft Foundry.

I'm using Azure free account.

I'm trying to create a vector index in my Azure AI Search resource. It is stuck in this state:

Step 1 of 3: Allocating compute resource - in progress

Any help to solve this issue appreciated!

Answer 1

Hi @Tripti Abraham

Thanks for sharing the details. When a vector index is created, Azure AI Search must allocate dedicated compute capacity to support vector storage and similarity search. On the Free tier, Azure AI Search runs on shared, multitenant infrastructure with very limited compute and storage, and scale‑up is not supported.

Because of these limitations, vector index provisioning can remain stuck at “Step 1 of 3: Allocating compute resource” and may never complete on a Free service. This behavior is expected on the Free tier and is not a configuration issue on your side.

Recommended solution

To successfully create a vector index, please use a paid Azure AI Search tier (Basic or Standard S1 or higher), which provides dedicated compute resources required for vector workloads.

Steps:

1. Create a new Azure AI Search service using Basic or Standard (S1+) tier
2. Recreate the vector index in the new service.
3. Retry the Microsoft Learn RAG module using this paid Search service.

Once dedicated compute is available, the vector index creation should complete successfully.

Reference :

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/search/search-limits-quotas-capacity

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/search/search-sku-tier

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/search/vector-search-how-to-create-index?tabs=push%2Cportal-check-index

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