Microsoft Defender for Endpoint AI agent support matrix

The Microsoft Defender for Endpoint AI agent support matrix identifies the local AI agents and related scenarios that Defender supports for discovery and runtime protection. Discovery support and runtime protection support are listed separately because they have different operating system and integration requirements.

Only supported combinations appear in the matrix. If a combination isn't listed, it isn't currently documented as supported.

AI agent discovery support

Local AI agent discovery is generally available on supported Windows and macOS devices, except for the preview scenarios identified in this section. For minimum Defender versions and other requirements, see Discover local AI agents.

AI agent discovery identifies local AI agents and their configured Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers on onboarded devices. The Name values in these tables correspond to the Name column in the AgentsInfo advanced hunting table. The Vendor values correspond to RawAgentInfo.localAgentMetadata.vendor.

Discovery depends on the agent type. Defender can identify a running agent process or use installed VS Code extension data that the client periodically collects on Windows and macOS. A running process doesn't imply that the user submitted prompts or successfully accessed an AI service. Extension inventory discovery doesn't require the extension to run. Installing an agent doesn't by itself guarantee an inventory entry. For details, see the discovery prerequisites.

A checkmark in the Discovers MCP column indicates that Defender reports remote MCP server data in McpServers and local MCP server data in RawAgentInfo.localAgentMetadata.localMcps. A dash indicates that MCP server configuration discovery isn't documented for that combination.

A checkmark in the Discovers agent column indicates that Defender supports discovery of that local AI agent.

Use the values in the Name and Vendor columns in your advanced hunting queries. For examples, see Get an inventory of local AI agents and Review the MCP servers and tools that local AI agents use.

¹ The marked VS Code extensions on Windows and macOS use the onboarded Defender for Endpoint client for agent inventory discovery. The client must be running and reporting. It periodically collects installed extension data; the extension doesn't need to run, and antivirus active mode isn't required for this inventory collection. MCP server configuration discovery still requires antivirus active mode and real-time protection. This footnote doesn't indicate runtime protection support or change the preview status shown in the tables.

Windows

Windows Subsystem for Linux (preview)

The following local AI agents are supported when they run in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). WSL support doesn't indicate support for native Linux endpoints.

macOS

A checkmark in Preview means discovery of that agent is in preview.

AI agent runtime protection support

Support is organized by the method Defender uses to inspect agent activity.

Runtime protection support doesn't indicate that protection is enabled on a device. To configure audit or block mode, see Set up AI agent runtime protection with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

A dash indicates that a mode or minimum version doesn't apply or isn't specified.

Windows (preview)

The following tables list agent and inspection method combinations on Windows.

Agent-native event inspection

Agent-native event inspection uses vendor-supported event interfaces. The hooks documentation links describe the applicable vendor interface.

Network inspection

Network inspection covers agents that communicate with LLMs through well-known inference services. It doesn't cover agents that use certificate pinning or HTTP/3.

Related content

• Local AI agent discovery with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
• AI agent runtime protection with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
• Discover local AI agents with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint