Azure CLI Skill

Master Microsoft Azure cloud platform management via command-line interface.

This AgentSkills-compatible skill provides comprehensive knowledge of the Azure CLI (Command Line Interface) for managing Azure cloud resources, infrastructure, and services.

What is Azure CLI?

Azure CLI is a cross-platform command-line tool developed by Microsoft for managing Azure cloud resources. It provides complete access to Azure services including:

• Virtual Machines & Containers — VMs, VMSS, AKS, Container Instances
• Networking — VNets, Load Balancers, VPN, CDN, Application Gateway
• Storage & Databases — Storage Accounts, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, CosmosDB
• Application Services — App Service, Functions, Web Apps, Container Apps
• Monitoring & Management — Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Policy, RBAC
• DevOps & Automation — Azure DevOps, Pipelines, Extensions
• And 50+ more services

Installation

Quick Install

macOS:

brew install azure-cli

Linux:

curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCliLinux | bash

Windows:

choco install azure-cli
# Or download MSI from https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCliWindowsMSI

Verify Installation

az --version
az login

Skill Contents

Main Documentation

• SKILL.md — Core Azure CLI skill with essential commands, patterns, and quick-start guides
• references/REFERENCE.md — Comprehensive command reference covering all 66 modules and 1000+ commands

Helper Scripts

Practical bash scripts for common Azure operations:

• azure-vm-status.sh — Check VM status and power states
• azure-resource-cleanup.sh — Identify and clean up unused resources
• azure-storage-analysis.sh — Analyze storage account usage
• azure-subscription-info.sh — Get subscription quotas and limits
• azure-rg-deploy.sh — Deploy infrastructure with monitoring

Usage:

chmod +x scripts/*.sh
./scripts/azure-vm-status.sh -g myResourceGroup
./scripts/azure-storage-analysis.sh -s mySubscription

Quick Start

1. Authenticate

az login                    # Opens browser for interactive login

2. Create a Resource Group

az group create -g myRG -l eastus

3. Create a Virtual Machine

az vm create \
  -g myRG \
  -n myVM \
  --image UbuntuLTS \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys

4. Manage Resources

az vm list -g myRG                          # List VMs
az vm show -g myRG -n myVM                  # Get details
az vm start -g myRG -n myVM                 # Start VM
az vm stop -g myRG -n myVM                  # Stop VM

Key Concepts

Global Parameters (work with all commands)

--subscription ID           # Target subscription
--resource-group -g RG     # Target resource group
--output -o json|table|tsv|yaml  # Output format
--query JMESPATH_QUERY      # Filter output
--verbose -v                # Verbose output
--help -h                   # Command help

Output Formatting

# Table (human-readable)
az vm list -g myRG --output table

# JSON (for scripting)
az vm list -g myRG --output json

# Extract specific fields
az vm list -g myRG --query "[].name" -o tsv

JMESPath Queries

# Get only running VMs
az vm list --query "[?powerState=='VM running'].name"

# Get specific fields
az vm list --query "[].{name: name, size: hardwareProfile.vmSize}"

# Count resources
az vm list --query "length([])"

Common Workflows

Scale a Web Application

# Create App Service Plan
az appservice plan create -g myRG -n myplan --sku B2 --is-linux

# Create Web App
az webapp create -g myRG -p myplan -n myapp

# Set configuration
az webapp config appsettings set -g myRG -n myapp \
  --settings WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION=14.17.0

# Deploy code
az webapp deployment source config-zip -g myRG -n myapp --src myapp.zip

# Monitor performance
az monitor metrics list -g myRG --resource /subscriptions/.../providers/Microsoft.Web/sites/myapp

Deploy Infrastructure with Templates

# Validate template
az deployment group validate -g myRG --template-file template.json

# Deploy
az deployment group create -g myRG --template-file template.json --parameters params.json

# Monitor deployment
az deployment group show -g myRG -n deployment_name

Automate with Bash Scripts

#!/bin/bash
set -e  # Exit on error

# Create resource group
az group create -g myRG -l eastus

# Create and configure VM
VM_ID=$(az vm create -g myRG -n myVM --image UbuntuLTS \
  --query id --output tsv)

# Run startup script
az vm run-command invoke -g myRG -n myVM \
  --command-id RunShellScript \
  --scripts "sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y nginx"

echo "VM deployed: $VM_ID"

Best Practices

1. Use defaults to reduce typing:

   az configure --defaults group=myRG location=eastus
   

2. Authenticate securely:

   • Use az login for interactive sessions
   • Use service principals with environment variables for automation
   • Never hardcode credentials in scripts

3. Format output for scripting:

   # Extract values with --query and -o tsv
   VM_ID=$(az vm create ... --query id --output tsv)
   

4. Use --no-wait for long operations:

   az vm create ... --no-wait
   az vm show -g RG -n VM --query provisioningState  # Check later
   

5. Tag resources for cost tracking:

   az vm create -g RG -n VM ... --tags env=prod team=backend cost-center=123
   

6. Enable error handling in scripts:

   set -e                # Exit on error
   set -u                # Exit on undefined variable
   set -o pipefail       # Exit if pipe fails
   

Documentation

• Main Skill Guide: SKILL.md
• Command Reference: references/REFERENCE.md
• Helper Scripts: scripts/
• Official Azure CLI Docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/
• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli

Getting Help

Built-in Help

az --help                          # General help
az vm --help                        # Module help
az vm create --help                 # Command help
az find "search term"              # Find commands

Resources

• Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/
• Command Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/reference-index
• GitHub Issues: https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli/issues
• Stack Overflow: Tag with azure-cli

Authentication Methods

Interactive Login (Development)

az login

Service Principal (Automation/CI-CD)

az login --service-principal \
  --username $AZURE_CLIENT_ID \
  --password $AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET \
  --tenant $AZURE_TENANT_ID

Managed Identity (Azure Resources)

# On Azure VM, Container, or Function
az login --identity

Token-based (Advanced)

az login --service-principal -u $CLIENT_ID --password-stdin --tenant $TENANT_ID

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Source Information

• Project: Azure CLI
• Repository: https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli
• Latest Version: 2.82.0 (as of January 2026)
• Language: Python
• Community: 4,400+ stars, 1,200+ contributors

Contributing

This skill is based on official Azure CLI documentation and source code. For issues or improvements with Azure CLI itself, visit https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli

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Skill Version: 1.0.0
Last Updated: January 24, 2026
Author: Dennis de Vaal d.devaal@gmail.com