Azure Functions OpenAPI

Part of the Azure Functions Python DX Toolkit — dogfood-tested by azure-functions-cookbook-python.

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OpenAPI (Swagger) documentation and Swagger UI for the Azure Functions Python v2 programming model.

Why this exists

Azure Functions Python v2 has no built-in API documentation story:

• No auto-generated docs — you maintain OpenAPI specs by hand or not at all
• No Swagger UI — no browser-based API explorer for testing endpoints
• Hard to test — consumers rely on tribal knowledge or external tools to discover your API
• Spec drift — hand-written docs diverge from actual handler behavior over time

Before / After

❌ Without azure-functions-openapi — maintain specs by hand

# openapi_spec.json — manually written, manually updated
{
    "paths": {
        "/api/users": {
            "post": {
                "summary": "Create user",
                "requestBody": { "...": "..." },
                "responses": { "200": { "...": "..." } }
            }
        }
    }
}

# function_app.py — no connection to the spec above
@app.route(route="users", methods=["POST"])
def create_user(req):
    ...

Spec drifts. Consumers guess. No Swagger UI.

✅ With azure-functions-openapi — spec lives next to the handler

from pydantic import BaseModel


class CreateUserRequest(BaseModel):
    name: str


class UserResponse(BaseModel):
    id: str
    name: str


@openapi(
    summary="Create user",
    requests=CreateUserRequest,
    responses=UserResponse,
)
@app.route(route="users", methods=["POST"])
def create_user(req):
    ...

# Auto-generated endpoints:
# GET /api/openapi.json  — always in sync
# GET /api/docs          — Swagger UI included

Spec matches code. Always. Swagger UI out of the box.

What it does

• @openapi decorator — attach operation metadata directly to your handler
• Auto-generated spec — /openapi.json and /openapi.yaml endpoints from decorated handlers
• Swagger UI — built-in /docs endpoint with security defaults
• CLI tooling — generate specs at build time for CI validation
• Schema support — query, path, header, body, and response schemas

How it fits together

flowchart LR
    DEC["@openapi decorator"] --> REG["_openapi_registry"]
    REG --> GEN["spec.generate_openapi_spec()"]
    GEN --> EP["GET /api/openapi.json | .yaml"]
    UI["render_swagger_ui()<br/>GET /api/docs"] -.->|browser fetches spec| EP

FastAPI comparison

Scope

• Azure Functions Python v2 programming model
• Decorator-based func.FunctionApp() applications
• HTTP-triggered functions documented with @openapi
• Pydantic schema generation (requires Pydantic v2)

This package does not support the legacy function.json-based v1 programming model.

What this package does not do

This package does not own:

• Runtime exposure or graph deployment — use azure-functions-langgraph
• Request/response validation or serialization — use azure-functions-validation
• Project scaffolding — use azure-functions-scaffold

CLI Quick Start

Generate an OpenAPI spec from your decorated function app:

# Install
pip install azure-functions-openapi

# Generate spec from a function app module (registers @openapi routes)
azure-functions-openapi generate --app function_app --title "My API" --format json

# Write to file with pretty-printing
azure-functions-openapi generate --app function_app --title "My API" --pretty --output openapi.json

# YAML output
azure-functions-openapi generate --app function_app --format yaml --output openapi.yaml

Pass module:variable to resolve the FunctionApp instance and also discover endpoint-metadata routes — those registered by producers like @validate_http or azure-functions-langgraph — merging them with your @openapi routes into a single spec. With module alone the CLI imports the module (firing @openapi decorators) but does not scan for endpoint metadata:

azure-functions-openapi generate --app function_app:app --title "My API"

See the CLI Guide for all options and CI integration examples.

Installation

pip install azure-functions-openapi

Your Function App dependencies should include:

azure-functions
azure-functions-openapi

SDK Compatibility

This package discovers routes, methods, and handlers from the azure-functions SDK through a single isolated adapter (azure_functions_openapi.adapters). Discovery is public-API-first: it enumerates via the public, idempotent FunctionBuilder.build() and reads everything else through public Function accessors (get_function_name / get_user_function / get_bindings / is_http_function). The adapter never calls the non-idempotent FunctionApp.get_functions(). The one unavoidable private token — app._function_builders, which has no public substitute for enumeration — lives exclusively in the adapter and is covered by a mandatory guard test. We validate the package against an explicit matrix in CI. See issue #258 and issue #327 for background.

The version pin in pyproject.toml is azure-functions>=1.21.0,<2.0.0. The floor is 1.21.0 because earlier releases return None from FunctionBuilder.__call__ (breaking direct invocation of decorated handlers in tests and CLI extraction). If you need a newer SDK, please open an issue — the ceiling is intentional because azure-functions 2.x drops support for Python < 3.13 and has not yet been validated against @openapi.

Quick Start

import json

import azure.functions as func
from pydantic import BaseModel

from azure_functions_openapi import (
    get_openapi_json,
    get_openapi_yaml,
    openapi,
    render_swagger_ui,
)

app = func.FunctionApp()


# Describe your API with plain Pydantic models.
class GreetRequest(BaseModel):
    name: str


class GreetResponse(BaseModel):
    message: str


# @openapi infers the route and method from the @app.route below —
# no need to repeat them here.
@openapi(
    summary="Greet user",
    tags=["Example"],
    requests=GreetRequest,
    responses=GreetResponse,
)
@app.route(route="http_trigger", auth_level=func.AuthLevel.ANONYMOUS, methods=["POST"])
def http_trigger(req: func.HttpRequest) -> func.HttpResponse:
    # @openapi documents the request/response contract — it does not validate.
    # For runtime validation, see azure-functions-validation.
    data = req.get_json()
    name = data.get("name", "world")
    return func.HttpResponse(
        json.dumps({"message": f"Hello, {name}!"}),
        mimetype="application/json",
    )

Pydantic v2 is optional. requests= / responses= are the recommended path, but you can pass raw JSON Schema dicts instead (see below) if you'd rather not add a dependency.

Want runtime validation too? (optional) @openapi documents your Pydantic models — it does not parse or validate requests at runtime. If you also want automatic request parsing, consistent 400/422 error responses, and response-model enforcement, layer azure-functions-validation's @validate_http on the same Pydantic models. It is an optional companion, not a dependency — this package works fully on its own. See the validation README for details, or a full runnable example that pairs both on one resource: Full Stack CRUD API.

# Serve the generated spec and Swagger UI as ordinary HTTP routes.
@app.route(route="openapi.json", auth_level=func.AuthLevel.ANONYMOUS, methods=["GET"])
def openapi_json(req: func.HttpRequest) -> func.HttpResponse:
    return func.HttpResponse(
        get_openapi_json(
            title="Sample API",
            description="OpenAPI document for the Sample API.",
        ),
        mimetype="application/json",
    )


@app.route(route="openapi.yaml", auth_level=func.AuthLevel.ANONYMOUS, methods=["GET"])
def openapi_yaml(req: func.HttpRequest) -> func.HttpResponse:
    return func.HttpResponse(
        get_openapi_yaml(
            title="Sample API",
            description="OpenAPI document for the Sample API.",
        ),
        mimetype="application/x-yaml",
    )


@app.route(route="docs", auth_level=func.AuthLevel.ANONYMOUS, methods=["GET"])
def swagger_ui(req: func.HttpRequest) -> func.HttpResponse:
    return render_swagger_ui()

@openapi(
    summary="Greet user",
    tags=["Example"],
    requests={
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {"name": {"type": "string"}},
        "required": ["name"],
    },
    responses={
        200: {
            "description": "Successful greeting",
            "content": {
                "application/json": {
                    "schema": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {"message": {"type": "string"}},
                    }
                }
            },
        }
    },
)
@app.route(route="http_trigger", auth_level=func.AuthLevel.ANONYMOUS, methods=["POST"])
def http_trigger(req: func.HttpRequest) -> func.HttpResponse:
    ...

Run locally with Azure Functions Core Tools:

func start

Verify locally and on Azure

After deploying (see docs/deployment.md), the same request produces the same response in both environments.

Local

curl -s http://localhost:7071/api/http_trigger \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "World"}'

{"message": "Hello, World!"}

Azure

curl -s "https://<your-app>.azurewebsites.net/api/http_trigger" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "World"}'

{"message": "Hello, World!"}

The /api/openapi.json, /api/openapi.yaml, and /api/docs endpoints are also available in both environments.

Verified against a temporary Azure Functions deployment in koreacentral (Python 3.12, Consumption plan). Response captured and URL anonymized.

Demo

The representative webhook_receiver example shows the full outcome of adopting this library:

• You annotate an Azure Functions v2 HTTP handler with @openapi.
• The package generates a real OpenAPI document for that route.
• The same route is rendered in Swagger UI for browser-based inspection.

Generated Spec Result

The generated OpenAPI file is captured as a static preview from the same example run, so the README shows the actual document produced by the representative function.

Swagger UI Result

The web preview below is generated from the same representative example and captured automatically from the rendered Swagger UI page produced by that example flow.

When to use

• You have HTTP-triggered Azure Functions and need API documentation
• You want Swagger UI for browser-based API testing
• You need OpenAPI specs for client code generation or CI validation
• You want to keep docs in sync with handler code automatically

Documentation

• Full docs: yeongseon.dev/azure-functions-python/openapi
• Smoke-tested examples: examples/
• Installation Guide
• Usage Guide
• API Reference
• CLI Guide
• Extend this: Producer Guide — write your own endpoint metadata

Ecosystem

This package is part of the Azure Functions Python DX Toolkit.

Design principle: azure-functions-openapi owns API documentation and spec generation. azure-functions-validation owns request/response validation and serialization. azure-functions-langgraph owns LangGraph runtime exposure.

For AI Coding Assistants

This repository includes llms.txt and llms-full.txt in the root directory. These files provide comprehensive package and API information optimized for LLM context windows.

• llms.txt — Quick reference with core API, installation, and quick-start example
• llms-full.txt — Complete reference with full signatures, patterns, design principles, and ecosystem context

Use these files to get better context when working with this package in AI-assisted coding environments.

Disclaimer

This project is an independent community project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or maintained by Microsoft.

Azure and Azure Functions are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

License

MIT