Conquering Azure Publisher Verification: From “Unverified” to the Blue “Verified” Badge

After sweating through the setup of a Client for end-users to use SSO with Azure, my next mission was to get the Verified badge for the application.

This is the most stressful part for newcomers diving into the Azure ecosystem.

The biggest headache I found when working with Azure is outdated documentation, many concepts have been revamped but the console hasn’t been updated yet, and guides are extremely scarce.

I went through this pain and decided to leave a trail here, hoping it will serve as a roadmap for those who come after to avoid getting lost.

Since I’m also a newcomer to the Azure ecosystem, I may use some technical terms incorrectly — please bear with me.

Setting Up Your “Registration” (App Registration)

The journey begins at the Azure Portal. You need to register an App Registration to obtain the key information:

Secret Keys: The credentials your application uses to communicate with Azure.

Redirect URL: Used for Login purposes and data synchronization (such as Outlook, Mail).

Development & Branding (Don’t Skip This Step!)

Once you have the keys, we proceed with development. But wait — before eagerly going live with the feature, go back to the Azure Portal and navigate to the Branding & properties section.

Here, make sure to fill in all branding information. If you skip this, users will see your application labeled as “Unverified”. This not only erodes trust but also triggers a series of annoying limitations from Microsoft.

Finding the MPN ID — “Old Name, New Identity”

In the Publisher Verification section, the system asks for something called the MPN ID.

This name is actually outdated. Today, Microsoft calls it the Partner ID (part of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program).

At this point, you’ll be working with a third party: Microsoft Partner Center — the entity responsible for verifying your business information.

Create an account at Microsoft Partner Center.

Go to: Account settings -> Organization profile -> Legal info.

Update your business information, provide valid documentation, and wait for them to verify.

After successful verification, go to: Account settings -> Organization profile -> Identifiers -> Copy the Partner ID with the type PartnerGlobal. This is the key value you’ve been looking for.

The 81st Trial — Tenant Conflict

Think you’re done? Not quite — the drama continues. I realized that the Partner Center account I just created belonged to a new Tenant (Tenant 2), which was completely different from the original Tenant (Tenant 1) — where the App Registration was located.

Result? When pasting the Partner ID into Azure Portal to verify, the system coldly returned: “The MPN ID you provided does not exist, or you do not have access to it.”

Essentially, your Azure Portal account doesn’t have permission to reach that Partner ID because it’s not under the same roof (it’s only associated with Tenant 2).

The Solution: Joining the Same Table via the Root Account

To resolve this, we need to find the Root (Global Admin) account of the Tenant where the application is registered.

Reset the Root account password if you’ve forgotten it.

Associate Tenant 1 with Partner Center by going to: Account settings -> Organization profile -> Tenants -> Associate Microsoft Entra ID.

At this point, Tenant 1 has officially joined Tenant 2 under the Partner Center roof. Finally, use the Root account of Tenant 1 to go back to Azure Portal and add the MPN ID. Since you now have full permissions, everything will go smoothly.

Conclusion

This process isn’t technically difficult in terms of code, but it’s extremely tricky when it comes to Microsoft’s processes and permissions. I hope this article saves you some headaches when working with Azure.

Good luck getting that blue badge!

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1118699/how-to-get-mpn-id-for-multi-tenent-app