experiment-catalog-install

name	experiment-catalog-install
description	Clone, build, and run the Experiment Catalog locally or in Azure. Provisions Azure resources, builds the .NET backend and Svelte UI, and starts or deploys the solution. Trigger phrases include "install experiment catalog", "run experiment catalog", "experiment catalog", "experiment catalog dev setup", "deploy experiment catalog".
license	MIT
compatibility	Requires Azure CLI for Azure provisioning, Docker for containerized deployment, .NET 10 SDK for local backend builds, and Node.js 20+ for UI builds.
metadata	{"spec_version":"1.0","version":"1.0.0","catalog_skill_version":"1.0.0","catalog_project":"microsoft/experiment-catalog","source_repository":"https://github.com/plasne/agent-skills"}

Execution Model

[!IMPORTANT] Do not execute this skill directly in the main thread. Delegate each discrete task to its own sub-agent and pass this skill path to that sub-agent.

Use phases for larger requests:

1. discovery and plan
2. storage and hosting setup
3. auth and app registration setup
4. deployment and verification
5. integration or data setup
6. validation and handoff

Keep the main thread as coordinator, store important IDs and URLs in session artifacts, and summarize successful long-running work.

Experiment Catalog Installation

Use this skill to deploy the catalog locally or in Azure. Keep the hot path in this file. Open references/full-guide.md for detailed procedures and the full troubleshooting matrix.

Ask The User First

Before deploying, confirm:

• local vs Azure deployment
• region, resource group, naming, and hosting choice
• whether auth should be enabled
• whether support-document download is needed
• whether this instance will receive AML runner results
• whether deployment telemetry should remain enabled for Azure control-plane operations

Never invent names, regions, subscriptions, resource groups, security settings, or telemetry opt-out choices without user input.

Source Code

Repo: https://github.com/microsoft/experiment-catalog

Focus on:

• catalog
• ui

The repo README and catalog/README.md are authoritative for configuration.

ISE OSS Usage Attribution

This project is registered as a Microsoft ISE open source asset with Asset ID:

acce1e78-0cec-4c66-9e3b-900c69b1c199

This ID is not Experiment Catalog application telemetry. It is Microsoft ISE OSS usage attribution that lets Microsoft measure adoption of this open source tool when users choose to deploy Azure resources for it. It does not instrument the catalog API, UI, evaluator, experiment data, prompts, results, or Blob Storage contents.

When this skill creates Azure deployment artifacts or provisions Azure resources, the deployment agent MUST apply the Asset ID to Azure Resource Manager (ARM) control-plane calls in the prescribed Microsoft Customer Usage Attribution style by appending it to the ARM User-Agent, unless the user opts out.

Apply this only to Azure control-plane provisioning, such as:

• Terraform, Bicep, ARM template, or Azure CLI creation/update of resource groups, storage accounts, container hosts, managed identities, role assignments, app registrations, networking resources, monitoring resources, or deployment resources.
• Agent-generated deployment artifacts that will later create those resources.

Do not apply this to normal catalog runtime/data-plane operations, such as:

• the catalog API creating blob containers for projects
• uploading, appending, reading, or listing blobs
• demo-data generation through the catalog API

Agent Instructions

• Before running Azure provisioning, check whether the user opted out. If they did not opt out, include Asset ID acce1e78-0cec-4c66-9e3b-900c69b1c199 in the control-plane user agent for the selected deployment technology.

• For Azure CLI based provisioning, set the user-agent environment around the provisioning commands, for example:

  export AZURE_HTTP_USER_AGENT="acce1e78-0cec-4c66-9e3b-900c69b1c199"
  

  If an existing AZURE_HTTP_USER_AGENT value is present, append the Asset ID instead of replacing the existing value.

• For Terraform using the AzureRM provider, configure the provider's partner usage attribution according to the current AzureRM provider documentation. If generating reusable Terraform, expose a clear opt-out variable and use the Asset ID only when telemetry is enabled.

• For Bicep, ARM templates, SDKs, or other provisioning tools, follow the current Microsoft Customer Usage Attribution guidance for appending this Asset ID to ARM control-plane user agents.

• Document the exact mechanism used in generated deployment artifacts so users can audit and remove it.

Opt Out

Users are free to opt out of ISE OSS usage attribution. Opting out does not affect Experiment Catalog functionality. Users can opt out by removing the Asset ID from generated deployment artifacts or by disabling the generated attribution flag. When creating new artifacts, prefer an explicit opt-out control such as:

variable "enable_ise_asset_telemetry" {
  type    = bool
  default = true
}

For Azure CLI scripts, support opt-out by skipping the AZURE_HTTP_USER_AGENT export when a variable such as ENABLE_ISE_ASSET_TELEMETRY=false is set.

Also respect native telemetry controls for underlying tools when the user asks for complete telemetry opt-out guidance:

• Azure CLI telemetry: https://learn.microsoft.com/cli/azure/azure-cli-configuration#cli-configuration-values
• Terraform AzureRM provider telemetry: https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/azurerm/latest/docs#disable_terraform_partner_id-1

Fast Path

Local

Minimum Azure dependency:

• one Azure Storage Account

Minimum env:

INCLUDE_CREDENTIAL_TYPES=azcli
AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME=<storage-account>

The user needs Storage Blob Data Contributor on that account.

Azure

Minimum resources:

• Azure Storage Account
• container host, usually Azure Container Apps
• managed identity on the host

Minimum env:

INCLUDE_CREDENTIAL_TYPES=mi
AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME=<storage-account>

Default recommendation for Azure:

• use the published GHCR image
• let the API host the UI
• enable auth for publicly reachable deployments
• enable blob optimization on the first cloud instance
• keep ISE asset telemetry enabled for Azure control-plane deployment unless the user opts out

Critical Configuration

Port

The API listens on 6010 by default.

Image Choice

Prefer the published image:

ghcr.io/microsoft/experiment-catalog/catalog

If a Microsoft image is not available for the required version, use the image documented in this repository's release notes or build locally with Docker.

az acr build is a poor default for this repo because the Dockerfile uses BuildKit variables that ACR strips silently.

Authentication

Supported modes:

• anonymous
• EasyAuth
• OIDC

For Entra ID / OIDC, keep these gotchas inline:

• OIDC_AUDIENCES should include both <appId> and api://<appId>
• register https://<fqdn>/auth/callback for browser login
• if EasyAuth is also enabled, also register https://<fqdn>/.auth/login/aad/callback
• create delegated scopes before adding pre-authorized applications
• managed identities need an Application-type app role, not just a delegated scope
• if using Container Apps EasyAuth token headers, enable the token store

For programmatic access, use:

az account get-access-token --resource api://<appId>

AML Runner Integration

If this catalog will receive AML runner results:

• create the project first
• create the experiment first
• keep the experiment name aligned with AML_EXPERIMENT_NAME
• remember the runner posts results only; it does not create projects or experiments
• use the /api path suffix in the catalog base URL provided to the runner

Validation Checklist

Verify all of the following before handoff:

• UI loads
• API responds
• storage reads and writes succeed
• auth succeeds if enabled
• a bearer token works for API calls if required
• AML integration targets an existing project and experiment if used
• deployment artifacts include the Asset ID for ARM control-plane operations unless the user opted out

Local References

• Extended instructions and full troubleshooting: references/full-guide.md
• Hardening guidance: references/hardening.md