# Connect Azure OpenAI, Z.ai, or another direct endpoint

Endpoints that are not in the built-in list get their own form, where you supply the label, the base URL, the model, the auth style and the path yourself.

*https://perpetualtechnologies.co.uk/support/connect-azure-or-direct-endpoint — last checked 2026-09-06*

## Steps

1. Open Settings, then AI & extensions, then API keys, and scroll to "Direct providers".
2. Give it a label you will recognise later, such as "Azure prod". The label is yours; it is not sent anywhere.
3. Enter the base URL exactly as your provider documents it.
4. Enter the model or deployment name. For Azure this is your deployment name, not the underlying model name, and using the wrong one is the single most common failure here.
5. Set the auth style and the path template if your endpoint differs from the default. Leave both alone unless your provider’s documentation tells you otherwise.
6. Save, then add its key the same way as any other provider.

## How to tell it worked

The provider appears in its own "Direct providers" list, separately from the built-in ones, and its model is selectable in Chat.

## If it does not work

**Requests return 404.**

The path template does not match your endpoint. Azure deployments in particular sit under a deployment-specific path rather than the plain /chat/completions most OpenAI-compatible services use.

**Requests return 401 with a key you know is good.**

Auth style. Some endpoints want a bearer token and some want a provider-specific header. Match what the provider documents, not what another provider uses.

## Still stuck

Bug reports belong in the app, in Settings, About. Those carry no contact details, so they
get fixed rather than answered. To get a reply, email us instead: that route targets two
business days. https://perpetualtechnologies.co.uk/contact