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Azure OpenAI Service provides the same OpenAI models through Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure — adding data residency controls, private networking, and enterprise compliance (SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001). Use this provider when your deployment requires regional data handling or Azure-native security.

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Quick config

GPT-5-series models require "temperature": 1. Any other value is rejected with 400 For GPT-5 models, temperature must be 1, and the field defaults to 0.1 when omitted, so send it explicitly.
Connect your Azure account at platform.bolna.ai/auth/azure. You’ll need your Azure endpoint URL, API key, and deployment name.

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Supported models

Azure model availability varies by region. Not all models are available in all Azure regions immediately at launch. Check the Azure OpenAI model availability page for your region.

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Key settings

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GPT-5 settings with custom deployment names

Azure deployment names are chosen freely, so model here is often not the model name. Keep the underlying model name inside the deployment name — prod-gpt-5.4-mini rather than prod-voice-01. Bolna resolves the deployment to the model it serves, and that resolution is what selects GPT-5 handling and the right default reasoning_effort. A name it cannot resolve is treated as a non-GPT-5 model and gets the wrong defaults.
reasoning_effort is only checked against the per-model table when model is an exact model name such as gpt-5.4-mini or azure/gpt-5.4-mini. With a custom deployment name, an unsupported value is accepted when you create the agent and then fails on the call instead. Check the table yourself when using custom deployment names.

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When to use Azure OpenAI vs direct OpenAI

Use Azure OpenAI when:
  • Your data must stay within a specific region (EU data residency, HIPAA)
  • You need private networking (VNet, private endpoints)
  • Your organization already uses Azure for infrastructure
  • You need enterprise SLA guarantees
Use direct OpenAI when:
  • Simplest setup is preferred
  • You don’t have compliance requirements for data residency
  • You want access to the latest models as soon as they launch (Azure has a short lag)

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FAQ

Yes. In Azure OpenAI, you create a named deployment for each model in the Azure portal. The deployment name is what you pass as the model field in Bolna config.
Azure mirrors OpenAI’s lineup but with a short availability lag after new models launch. All GPT-5.x, GPT-4.1, and GPT-4o variants are available. Check Microsoft’s model page for your region.
Keep reasoning_effort at none, use gpt-5.4-mini, keep max_tokens at 150, and deploy to an Azure region geographically close to your users. See Latency for more.