Disable Model Router in Azure Container Apps

Quick Reference - How to disable Model Router and use direct model

Steps to Disable Model Router

  1. Azure Portal → Container Apps → staging-env-api
  2. Configuration → Environment variables
  3. Find AZURE_AI_MODEL_ROUTER
  4. Click Delete (trash icon)
  5. Click Save
  6. Wait for new revision to deploy (~14 minutes)

Option 2: Set to Empty String

  1. Azure Portal → Container Apps → staging-env-api
  2. Configuration → Environment variables
  3. Find AZURE_AI_MODEL_ROUTER
  4. Click Edit (pencil icon)
  5. Set Value to: "" (empty string)
  6. Click Save
  7. Wait for new revision to deploy (~14 minutes)

Verify Direct Model is Set

Ensure AZURE_AI_DEPLOYMENT is set to your direct model:

  1. Configuration → Environment variables
  2. Find AZURE_AI_DEPLOYMENT
  3. Should be set to: gpt-5.1-chat (or gpt-5-chat if that’s what worked)
  4. If not set, add it with value: gpt-5.1-chat

After Deployment

Check backend logs for confirmation:

Should see:

INFO: Using direct model deployment: gpt-5.1-chat (Model Router disabled)

Should NOT see:

INFO: Using Model Router via APIM Gateway: model-router

Test

After deployment completes, test chat:

python3 scripts/test-chat-quick.py --token <JWT_TOKEN> --message "hi"

Chat should now work with the direct gpt-5.1-chat model.

Re-enable Model Router Later

If you want to re-enable Model Router:

  1. Set AZURE_AI_MODEL_ROUTER to: model-router
  2. Save and wait for deployment