Azure Form Recognizer Azure AI Document Intelligence
Legacy names Azure Form Recognizer, Azure Applied AI Form Recognizer
Machine-learning optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent document processing service that extracts text, tables, structure, and key-value fields from forms and documents.
Naming timeline
- Azure Form Recognizer
Introduced as an AI-powered form and receipt extraction service under Azure Cognitive Services.
- Azure Applied AI Form Recognizer
Grouped into the Azure Applied AI Services category for task-specific AI solutions.
- Azure AI Document IntelligenceCurrent name
Rebranded from Azure Form Recognizer to Azure AI Document Intelligence (also labeled Azure Document Intelligence in Foundry Tools).
What is Azure Form Recognizer called now?
Azure Form Recognizer is now called Azure AI Document Intelligence, with the latest change on 18 July 2023 (Azure AI Rebrand & v4.0 API Evolution). Earlier names covered by this entry also include Azure Applied AI Form Recognizer. Machine-learning optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent document processing service that extracts text, tables, structure, and key-value fields from forms and documents. Only the customer-facing name changed; the underlying technical identifiers remain backward compatible.
Also known as
- Azure Document Intelligence in Foundry Tools
Technical identifiers
Technical identifiers unchanged. Only the customer-facing product name changed; the APIs, CLI commands, IAM roles and Terraform resources below keep their legacy identifiers for backward compatibility.
| ARM Resource Providers (Microsoft.*) | Microsoft.CognitiveServices/accounts (kind: FormRecognizer) |
|---|---|
| Azure CLI (az) / PowerShell | az cognitiveservices account create --kind FormRecognizer |
| Entra ID / Azure RBAC Roles | Cognitive Services User Cognitive Services Data Reader |
| Terraform Resources (azurerm_*) | azurerm_cognitive_account |
ARM resource provisioning still requires Microsoft.CognitiveServices/accounts with kind = 'FormRecognizer', while REST routes evolved from /formrecognizer to /documentintelligence in v4.0.
Notes & disambiguation
- Launched in preview in May 2019 as Azure Form Recognizer and grouped under Azure Applied AI Services in May 2021, the service was rebranded to Azure AI Document Intelligence in July 2023 (with v4.0 REST APIs and SDKs reaching GA in November–December 2024).
- Within the Microsoft Foundry ecosystem, the service is also surfaced as Azure Document Intelligence in Foundry Tools and provides structured document extraction alongside Azure Content Understanding.
- ARM provisioning continues to use Microsoft.CognitiveServices/accounts with kind set to FormRecognizer, while newer v4.0 client libraries use the Azure.AI.DocumentIntelligence namespace alongside backward-compatible Azure.AI.FormRecognizer v3 SDKs.
Sources & official documentation
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