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Azure App Configuration emulator overview

The Azure App Configuration emulator is a local development tool that provides a lightweight implementation of the Azure App Configuration service. This emulator allows developers to test and develop applications locally without requiring an active Azure subscription or connection to the cloud service.

The Azure App Configuration emulator is open source. For more information, visit the GitHub repository.

Feature overview

The following table lists the features supported by the latest Azure App Configuration emulator.

Feature Status
Web UI Available
Anonymous Authentication Available
HMAC Authentication Available
Entra Id Authentication WIP
.NET Aspire Integration WIP
API Status
/keys Available
/kv Available
/labels Available
/locks Available
/revisions Available
/snapshots WIP

Install the emulator

Use Docker to pull the latest App Configuration emulator image by using the following console command:

docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/azure-app-configuration/app-configuration-emulator:1.0.0-preview

Run the emulator

The following command runs the App Configuration emulator Docker image. The -p 8483:8483 parameter redirects requests from host machine's port 8483 to the Docker instance. The -e Tenant:AnonymousAuthEnabled=true and -e Authentication:Anonymous:AnonymousUserRole=Owner parameters configure the anonymous authentication for the emulator.

docker run -d -p 8483:8483 \
    -e Tenant:AnonymousAuthEnabled=true \
    -e Authentication:Anonymous:AnonymousUserRole=Owner \
    mcr.microsoft.com/azure-app-configuration/app-configuration-emulator:1.0.0-preview

If you want to have persisted data for the emulator, you can use a bind mount.

docker run -d -p 8483:8483 \
    -v "C:\aace:/app/.aace" \
    -e Tenant:AnonymousAuthEnabled=true \
    -e Authentication:Anonymous:AnonymousUserRole=Owner \
    mcr.microsoft.com/azure-app-configuration/app-configuration-emulator:1.0.0-preview

Emulator in action

Once started, the emulator is available at: http://localhost:8483

  1. Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:8483.

    Screenshot of the emulator UI with no key value.

  2. Click the Create button and add a new key Message.

    Screenshot of the emulator UI, creating a new key value.

  3. Click the Save button and you see the key value in the configuration explorer.

    Screenshot of the emulator UI with the new key value.

  4. Get http://localhost:8483/kv and you get the following response.

    {"items":[{"etag":"EzV9zWW8k5JpcIXL00T5Kg","key":"Message","label":null,"content_type":null,"value":"Hello World!","tags":{},"locked":false,"last_modified":"2025-08-12T16:56:25.384738+00:00"}]}

Next steps

For examples about how to use the emulator in your applications, go to the GitHub repository.