diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f23fd690..0090d169 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
 __pycache__/
+ai_env/
 *.py[cod]
 *$py.class
 
 # C extensions
 *.so
-
+*.md
+*.patch
 # Distribution / packaging
 .Python
 build/
diff --git a/operate/config.py b/operate/config.py
index 09f78da0..f17da3f8 100644
--- a/operate/config.py
+++ b/operate/config.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 from openai import OpenAI
 import anthropic
 from prompt_toolkit.shortcuts import input_dialog
-
+from openai import AzureOpenAI
 
 class Config:
     """
@@ -46,6 +46,18 @@ def __init__(self):
         self.qwen_api_key = (
             None  # instance variables are backups in case saving to a `.env` fails
         )
+        self.azure_openai_api_key = (
+            None  # instance variables are backups in case saving to a `.env` fails
+        )
+        self.azure_openai_endpoint = (
+            None  # instance variables are backups in case saving to a `.env` fails
+        )
+        self.azure_openai_deployment = (
+            None  # instance variables are backups in case saving to a `.env` fails
+        )
+        self.azure_openai_api_version = (
+            None  # instance variables are backups in case saving to a `.env` fails
+        )
 
     def initialize_openai(self):
         if self.verbose:
@@ -69,6 +81,30 @@ def initialize_openai(self):
         client.base_url = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_BASE_URL", client.base_url)
         return client
 
+    def initialize_azure_openai(self):
+        if self.verbose:
+            print("[Config][initialize_azure_openai]")
+
+        if self.azure_openai_api_key:
+            if self.verbose:
+                print("[Config][initialize_openai] using cached openai_api_key")
+            api_key = self.azure_openai_api_key
+        else:
+            if self.verbose:
+                print(
+                    "[Config][initialize_azure_openai] no cached azure_openai_api_key, try to get from env."
+                )
+            api_key = os.getenv("AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY")
+
+        azure_client = AzureOpenAI(
+            azure_endpoint=os.getenv("AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT"),
+            api_key=os.getenv("AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY"),
+            api_version=os.getenv("AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION"),
+        )
+        azure_client.api_key = api_key
+        azure_client.base_url = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_BASE_URL", azure_client.base_url)
+        return azure_client
+ 
     def initialize_qwen(self):
         if self.verbose:
             print("[Config][initialize_qwen]")
diff --git a/operate/models/apis.py b/operate/models/apis.py
index 23794fca..f4876a3d 100644
--- a/operate/models/apis.py
+++ b/operate/models/apis.py
@@ -430,7 +430,9 @@ async def call_gpt_4_1_with_ocr(messages, objective, model):
 
     try:
         time.sleep(1)
-        client = config.initialize_openai()
+        # client = config.initialize_openai()
+        client = config.initialize_azure_openai()
+
 
         confirm_system_prompt(messages, objective, model)
         screenshots_dir = "screenshots"