azure-app-onboard
🎯SkillA Microsoft skill that takes your app idea or existing code and gets it running on Azure, Microsoft's cloud. It picks the services you need, shows a cost estimate, and asks for your approval before it creates or launches anything.
Installation
npx skills add microsoft/azure-skills --skill azure-app-onboardRun it in a terminal; it asks which AI coding tools to install it for (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and more).
Uses skills.sh · Node.js 22.20+
After installing
Ask for related work and the agent uses it on its own, or call it yourself.
/azure-app-onboardInstall by hand
Copy the whole skill folder from GitHub to the place below. Copying only SKILL.md can leave out files the skill uses.
Open the skill folder →- This project
.claude/skills/azure-app-onboard/ - All projects
~/.claude/skills/azure-app-onboard/
These paths are for Claude Code. For other tools, the command above puts it in the right place.
What this skill does
Overview
This skill takes you from a business idea, an empty folder, or an existing app to a running deployment on Azure in 10 steps. It reads your code, picks the Azure services you need, and writes an architecture plan and a cost estimate. Then it generates IaC files (files that describe your cloud setup as code) and deploys them, fitted to your app instead of a fixed template.
Key Features
- Check whether your code is ready to deploy and get Azure services matched to your app.
- See a cost estimate and the architecture plan before anything is created in Azure, including the options it rejected.
- Approve the plan once before it writes infrastructure code and again before it deploys.
- Move an existing app to Azure without rewriting it, or with only small changes.
- Get cleanup commands to remove what it created, plus next steps, after the deployment finishes.
Who is this for?
It fits developers who know what they want to build but don't know which Azure services to use. It also helps teams moving an existing app to Azure who want to see the cost and approve each major step first.
Summarized by AI from this skill's SKILL.md. Suggest a better one
SKILL.md
View on GitHub →End-to-end orchestrator: from a business idea, app idea, or existing app to running Azure deployment with cost estimates and pre-deploy approval. Analyzes your app, auto-detects the right Azure services, scaffolds infrastructure code, and deploys — tailored to your app, not a template. Handles moving existing apps to Azure without rewriting or with minimal changes. WHEN: bring your app to Azure, plan my app, cost to run, is my code ready to deploy, deploy my app to the cloud, deploy all my services, what Azure services do I need, plan my Azure deployment, deploy my new app to Azure, one-click deploy, I have an app and want it on Azure, migrate my app to Azure, help me get started, build an app, no code yet, starter project. DO NOT USE FOR: use azd for deployment(use azure-deploy), optimizing existing costs (use cost-optimization), code readiness checks only (use azure-app-onboard-prereq).
Azure App Onboard
⛔ Every repo goes through the full pipeline (Steps 1–10). No exceptions. Do not skip steps, refuse, or short-circuit based on what you recognize. Follow the Workflow table below sequentially — read each step's references before acting.
Quick Reference
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Best for | Developers who know what to build but not which Azure services to use |
| Inputs | Business idea or existing codebase, budget/scale preferences (optional) |
| Outputs | Architecture plan, cost estimate, IaC files, deployed Azure resources |
| Phases | Discover → Architect → Scaffold → Deploy (self-contained, no external skill calls) |
When to Use This Skill
- Deploy existing code without knowing which Azure services to use
- Check if your existing code is ready to deploy to Azure
- Move an existing app to Azure without rewriting or with minimal changes
- Get cost estimates before committing to infrastructure
- Understand architecture decisions and rejected alternatives
- Get answers to Azure architecture or service selection questions (e.g., "What database should I use?")
- Get guided Azure onboarding without prior experience
When NOT to Use
| Scenario | Use Instead |
|---|---|
Run azd up or execute an existing deployment | azure-deploy |
| Optimize existing Azure spend | cost-optimization from the optional azure-cost plugin |
| Generate Bicep/Terraform for a known architecture | azure-prepare |
| Validate infrastructure or run preflight checks | azure-validate |
| Troubleshoot a running Azure deployment | azure-diagnostics |
| Deploy to or manage AKS/Kubernetes directly | azure-kubernetes |
| Look up or list existing Azure resources | azure-resource-lookup |
If cost-optimization is unavailable, explain that it is provided by the
optional azure-cost plugin and direct the user to their client's supported
plugin installation flow; do not imply the handoff completed.
Pipeline Rules
⛔ You MUST read
references/pipeline-rules.mdat the start of every AppOnboard session. It contains approval gates, phase lifecycle, session artifacts, deploy-as-is, and security baseline rules.
Workflow
⛔ Deploy recovery: After deploy gate approval OR before any
az deployment/az webapp deploy/az acr build— if you haven't readdeploy/PHASE.md, read.copilot-azure/sessions/{id}/deploy-checklist.mdfirst, thendeploy/PHASE.md. ⛔ NEVER invoke{"skill": "azure-deploy"}— that is a DIFFERENT skill for a DIFFERENT workflow.
⛔ Post-scaffold transition (MANDATORY): Immediately after
scaffold-manifest.jsonis written, YOUR NEXT ACTION MUST be Step 8 (Deploy Approval Gate) — NOT a summary report, NOT a "here are the generated files" message, NOT a completion signal. Confirmcontext.jsonhascompletedPhases: [...,"scaffold"]+currentPhase: "deploy"(update it yourself if the scaffold subagent didn't). Re-read approval-gates.md § Deploy Gate if evicted from context (scaffold reference loading is heavy), then present the exact prompt: "🚀 Ready to deploy? (Yes / Run manually / Edit plan / Cancel)". This gate is the LAST content in your response — wait for the user's reply.
| # | Step | Action | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Session check + Azure login | Create/resume session, verify Azure CLI auth, resolve subscription + user identity | ⛔ You MUST read session-protocol.md |
| 2 | Scope triage | Check azd markers, triage question. Empty workspace or code-only (no infra) → Step 3 directly. | ⛔ Read intent-gathering.md § Scope Triage |
| 3 | Prereq scan | ⛔ Skip if completedPhases includes "prereq". Otherwise: invoke {"skill": "azure-app-onboard-prereq"}. Write prereq-output.json, update context.json. Halt if: overallHealth: "blocked" OR routeToSkill set. | |
| 4 | Gather intent | Present prereq results, confirm stack + Azure services, ask remaining questions. | ⛔ Read intent-gathering.md § After Prereq Returns |
| 5 | Plan architecture | Write prepare-plan.json. | ⛔ You MUST read prepare/PHASE.md |
| 6 | Scaffold approval gate | Display plan for user approval BEFORE generating any files. | ⛔ Read approval-gates.md § Scaffold Gate |
| 7 | Scaffold | Generate IaC, self-review. Write scaffold-manifest.json. Update context.json. | ⛔ You MUST read scaffold/PHASE.md |
| 8 | Deploy approval gate | Display validation summary. ⛔ After approval: FIRST read deploy-checklist.md → deploy/PHASE.md. NEVER {"skill": "azure-deploy"}. | ⛔ Read approval-gates.md § Deploy Gate |
| 9 | Deploy | Execute IaC, health-check. Write deploy-result.json. | ⛔ You MUST read deploy/PHASE.md |
| 10 | Handoff | Surface deployment identity, cleanup commands, next steps. | ⛔ You MUST read handoff-protocol.md |
Error Handling
| Error | Remediation |
|---|---|
| Phase fails | Halt, report phase + error. User decides: retry, skip, abort. |
| MCP server unavailable | Skip affected checks, add disclaimer to costEstimate.assumptions[] and every approval gate. |
| Missing RBAC | Report required role + az role assignment command. |
Shared references: MCP tools (cross-phase tool parameters) | IaC resources (Azure resource docs for troubleshooting)
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