local MCP servers

Author: aahill

articles/ai-foundry/agents/how-to/tools/model-context-protocol.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ manager: nitinme
 ms.service: azure-ai-foundry
 ms.subservice: azure-ai-foundry-agent-service
 ms.topic: how-to
-ms.date: 09/30/2025
+ms.date: 10/10/2025
 author: aahill
 ms.author: aahi
 ---
@@ -74,6 +74,21 @@ For more information on using MCP, see:
 
 1. Submit your approval to the agent with `call_id` by setting `approve` to `true`.
 
+## Host a local MCP server
+
+The Azure AI Foundry Agent Service runtime only accepts a remote MCP server endpoint. If you want to add tools from a local MCP server, you'll have to self-host it on [Azure Container Apps](/samples/azure-samples/mcp-container-ts/mcp-container-ts/) or [Azure Functions](https://github.com/Azure-Samples/mcp-sdk-functions-hosting-python/blob/main/ExistingServer.md) to get a remote MCP server endpoint. Pay attention to the following considerations when attempting to host local MCP servers in the cloud:
+
+|Local MCP server setup | Hosting in Azure Container Apps | Hosting in Azure Functions |
+|:---------:|:---------:|:---------:|
+| Transport | HTTP POST/GET endpoints required. | HTTP streamable required. | 
+| Code changes | Container rebuild required. | Azure Functions-specific configuration files required in the root directory. |
+| Authentication | Custom authentication implementation required. | Key-based only. OAuth needs API Management. |
+| Language | Any language that runs in Linux containers (Python, Node.js, .NET, TypeScript, Go). | Python, Node.js, Java, .NET only. |
+| Container Requirements | Linux (linux/amd64) only. No privileged containers.| Containerized servers are not supported. |
+| Dependencies | All dependencies must be in container image. | OS-level dependencies (such as Playwright) are not supported. |
+| State | Stateless only. | Stateless only. |
+| UVX/NPX | Supported. | Not supported. `npx` start commands not supported. |
+
 ## Related content
 
 * [Code samples for the Model Context Protocol tool](./model-context-protocol-samples.md)