🤖 The Top 30 Microsoft AI APIs, SDKs & Connectors — Quick Reference Guide
November 16, 2025
Microsoft’s Azure AI ecosystem is huge, and it can be tough to keep track of what’s what. This cheat sheet rounds up the 30 most useful APIs, SDKs, and connectors across the platform—organized by capability—so you can quickly find the right tool and jump straight into the official docs.
🧠 I. Azure Cognitive Services (Vision, Speech, Language, Decision)
These ready-to-use AI services plug directly into your apps via REST APIs or SDKs.
| # | Service / Product | What It Does | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Azure OpenAI Service | Access advanced language models like GPT-4 for chat, reasoning, and content generation. | Azure OpenAI Docs |
| 2 | Azure AI Search | Enterprise search with vector indexing, hybrid search, and RAG-ready features. | Azure AI Search Docs |
| 3 | Vision API | Image analysis, object detection, and general computer vision tasks. | Azure AI Vision Docs |
| 4 | Face API | Face detection, recognition, and attribute analysis. | Azure AI Face Docs |
| 5 | Speech Services | Speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and custom voice capabilities. | Azure AI Speech Docs |
| 6 | Translator API | Fast, multi-language text and document translation. | Azure Translator Docs |
| 7 | Language Understanding (LUIS) | Build domain-specific NLP models for apps and bots. | LUIS Docs |
| 8 | Text Analytics API | Sentiment, entity extraction, PII detection, and more. | Azure AI Language Docs |
| 9 | Anomaly Detector | Spot unusual patterns in time-series data. | Anomaly Detector Docs |
| 10 | Content Moderator | Filters offensive, risky, or unwanted content in text, images, and video. | Content Moderator Docs |
| 11 | Form Recognizer (Document Intelligence) | Extract structured data from documents, forms, and receipts. | Document Intelligence Docs |
| 12 | Personalizer | Real-time personalization using reinforcement learning. | Personalizer Docs |
🛠️ II. Machine Learning Platform & SDKs
Tools for building, training, tuning, and deploying custom models.
| # | Service / Product | What It Does | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Azure ML SDK (Python) | End-to-end ML lifecycle: data, compute, training, deployment. | Azure ML Python SDK |
| 14 | Azure ML REST API | Programmatic control over all Azure ML assets and workflows. | Azure ML REST Reference |
| 15 | ONNX Runtime | High-performance inference engine for running models anywhere. | ONNX Runtime Docs |
| 16 | MLflow Integration | Open-source tracking, model registry, and ML lifecycle, fully supported in Azure ML. | MLflow on Azure ML |
⚙️ III. Power Platform AI Connectors
For no-code/low-code builders integrating AI directly into business workflows and apps.
| # | Connector | What It Does | Power Automate Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Azure OpenAI Connector | Lets Power Automate and Power Apps call GPT models. | Azure OpenAI Connector |
| 18 | AI Builder | Prebuilt no-code AI models (object detection, form processing, etc.). | AI Builder Docs |
| 19 | Text Analytics Connector | Adds sentiment, key phrase extraction, and more to flows. | Text Analytics Connector |
| 20 | Translator Connector | Translate text inside apps and automated workflows. | Translator Connector |
| 21 | Vision Connector | Image analysis and object detection within Power Platform. | Vision Connector |
| 22 | Speech Services Connector | Add speech-to-text or text-to-speech to automation. | Speech Services Connector |
| 23 | Custom Connector | Build your own connector for any Azure AI REST endpoint. | Custom Connector Docs |
☁️ IV. Cross-Platform & Specialized APIs
| # | Service / Product | What It Does | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Microsoft Graph API (Search & Intelligence) | Tap into Microsoft 365’s contextual organizational data. | Graph API Reference |
| 25 | Bot Framework SDK | Build chatbot and conversational interfaces. | Bot Framework Docs |
| 26 | Semantic Kernel | Lightweight agent tooling combining LLMs with real code. | Semantic Kernel Docs |
| 27 | Mixed Reality Services | Spatial Anchors and AR/VR-ready APIs. | Mixed Reality Docs |
| 28 | Azure Maps | Geospatial intelligence, routing, and spatial analytics. | Azure Maps Docs |
| 29 | Windows ML | Built-in ML model execution for Windows apps. | Windows ML Docs |
| 30 | Cognitive Services SDKs (Multi-Language) | SDKs across Python, C#, Java, JavaScript, and more. | Azure SDKs Overview |
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