How does the pending Microsoft.ApiManagement/AIGatewayPreview feature registration get approved? (Unified Model API preview, CSP subscription)

Brian Thomas 40 Reputation points
2026-07-23T04:46:15.21+00:00

I am trying to use the new Unified Model API (preview) in Azure API Management and I am blocked on a subscription level preview feature registration that needs manual approval. I cannot find any documented way to request or expedite that approval, so I am asking here.

Setup:

  • API Management instance: classic Developer tier, East US 2.
  • The instance is enrolled in the AI Gateway Early update group (the service resource reads back releaseChannel "Genai"), so at least part of the AI gateway functionality has reached the instance itself.
  • On July 14, 2026 I registered the preview feature Microsoft.ApiManagement/AIGatewayPreview. It has approvalType "ApprovalRequired" and has been Pending since. Its description says the flag is needed in a subscription to explore the AiGateway functionality provided by Microsoft.ApiManagement.

What fails while it is Pending:

  • PUT of a backend with type "languageModel" is rejected with: Backend type must be either "single" or "pool".
  • PUT of an API with type "unifiedModelApi" fails with an ApiTypeContract conversion error.
  • Same result at every api-version up to 2025-09-01-preview.
  • As far as I can tell these are equivalent to the request bodies the portal's import wizard sends, so I would expect the portal path to fail the same way. If the portal requires some additional enablement beyond this feature flag, I would like to know that.

One detail that may matter: this is a CSP subscription. Partner Center documentation says CSP customers cannot open Azure technical support tickets directly, only the CSP partner can, so before going down that road I wanted to ask here.

My questions:

  1. What are the approval criteria and the typical turnaround for the AIGatewayPreview registration? Is there anything I should do beyond registering and waiting?
  2. Are CSP subscriptions eligible for this preview, or is it restricted by offer type?
  3. Is a support ticket filed by our CSP partner the right way to get a Pending registration approved, or is there a direct enrollment or nomination channel for this preview?

I have left the registration in Pending rather than unregistering, since unregistering removes the registration and I would have to start over. Happy to share the subscription ID and APIM service name privately if someone from the API Management team can take a look.

Azure API Management
Azure API Management

An Azure service that provides a hybrid, multi-cloud management platform for APIs.

Answer accepted by question author

Rukmini 43,815 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-07-23T05:10:51.8933333+00:00

Hello @Brian Thomas sounds like you’ve correctly registered the Microsoft.ApiManagement/AIGatewayPreview subscription-level preview feature, but it’s stuck in Pending, and until approval is granted your unifiedModelApi / languageModel backend operations won’t validate.Based on the provided documentation, here’s the key point:

  • Azure preview features show either Registered (no approval needed) or Pending (approval required).
  • If the preview feature is Pending, you must request approval from the Azure service offering the preview feature.
  • Usually that approval flow is done via an Azure support request.
  • After approval, the preview feature state should change from Pending to Registered.

1) Approval criteria / turnaround / what to do

From the docs you provided, the specific approval criteria and typical turnaround time aren’t spelled out. However, the documented required next step is:

  • Submit an Azure support request to request approval for the preview feature.

Also, if you unregister/re-register, that may not help—there are examples in the Q&A doc where preview features stayed pending for an extended period and the guidance was to open a support request.

2) CSP eligibility

The provided documentation doesn’t mention anything specific about CSP vs direct subscriptions eligibility for preview feature approvals. So we can’t confirm from the supplied sources whether CSP subscriptions are eligible or restricted by offer type.

3) Is the CSP partner support ticket the right way?

The documentation provided says the standard approach is to submit an Azure support request when a preview feature requires approval.

Given your CSP situation, the practical interpretation is:

  • If your CSP model prevents you from opening tickets directly, then your CSP partner should file the support request on your behalf to request approval for the Microsoft.ApiManagement/AIGatewayPreview registration.

Please “upvote” if the information helped you. This will help us and others in the community as well.

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Answer accepted by question author

Christos Panagiotidis 3,301 Reputation points
2026-07-23T05:07:02.2233333+00:00

Your diagnosis is likely correct. The AI Gateway Early/GenAI release channel enables the required APIM service build, while Microsoft.ApiManagement/AIGatewayPreview separately enables the functionality for the subscription.

Because the feature remains Pending, APIM still validates requests against the existing backend and API contracts. That explains the errors for languageModel and unifiedModelApi. Changing the API version or using the portal wizard will probably not bypass this subscription-level restriction.

There is no publicly documented approval timeline or specific approval criteria for this preview. Keep the registration pending; unregistering and registering again is unlikely to help.

For a CSP subscription, the correct route is normally for the CSP partner to open an Azure support request and ask for it to be routed to the API Management product team for AIGatewayPreview approval.

The request should include the subscription ID, APIM resource ID, registration date, region, tier, releaseChannel: Genai, error messages, timestamps, and correlation IDs. Share these details privately, not in the public thread.

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  1. kagiyama yutaka 4,670 Reputation points
    2026-07-26T04:07:07.5766667+00:00

    I think that a preview feature in ApprovalRequired / Pending becomes usable only after a support request is processed, and a CSP subscription depends on the CSP partner to open that request. Azure does not provide approval criteria or timelines, and nothing in the Azure docs suggests that CSP subscriptions are excluded. There is no additional action described beyond keeping the registration in Pending and having the support request submitted.

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