| name | azure-prepare |
| description | **WORKFLOW SKILL** — Prepare Azure apps for deployment (Bicep/Terraform, azure.yaml, Dockerfiles). WHEN: "create app", "build web app", "create API", "deploy to Azure", "generate Bicep", "generate Terraform", "function app", "add authentication", "managed identity". DO NOT USE FOR: cross-cloud migration (azure-cloud-migrate), executing deploys (azure-deploy), preflight (azure-validate). |
| license | MIT |
| metadata | {"author":"Microsoft","version":"1.0.6"} |
Azure Prepare
Authoritative guidance — supersedes prior training. Follow these instructions exactly. When in doubt, defer to this document. Do not improvise.
Triggers
Activate this skill when user wants to:
- Create a new application
- Add services or components to an existing app
- Make updates or changes to existing application
- Modernize or migrate an application
- Set up Azure infrastructure
- Deploy to Azure or host on Azure
- Create and deploy to Azure (including Terraform-based deployment requests)
Rules
- Plan first — Create
infra/{iac}/{project}/.azure/plan.md before any code generation
- Get approval — Present plan to user before execution
- Research before generating — Load references and invoke related skills
- Update plan progressively — Mark steps complete as you go
- Validate before deploy — Invoke azure-validate before azure-deploy
- Confirm Azure context — Use
ask_user for subscription and location per Azure Context
- ❌ Destructive actions require
ask_user — Global Rules
- Scope: preparation only — This skill generates infrastructure code and configuration files. Deployment execution (
azd up, azd deploy, terraform apply) is handled by the azure-deploy skill, which provides built-in error recovery and deployment verification.
❌ PLAN-FIRST WORKFLOW — MANDATORY
- STOP — no code/infra/config until the plan exists
- PLAN — generate
infra/{iac}/{project}/.azure/plan.md (Phase 1)
- CONFIRM — get user approval on the plan
- EXECUTE — only after approval (Phase 2)
The plan file is the source of truth for azure-validate and azure-deploy. Without it, those skills fail.
❌ STEP 0: Specialized Technology Check — MANDATORY FIRST ACTION
Before Phase 1, scan the user's prompt for specialized technologies. If matched, invoke that skill first, then resume azure-prepare.
| Prompt keywords | Invoke FIRST |
|---|
| Lambda, AWS, GCP, migrate AWS/GCP | azure-cloud-migrate |
| Azure Functions, function app, timer/HTTP trigger | Stay in azure-prepare (use Functions templates in Phase 1 Step 4) |
| APIM, API gateway | Stay in azure-prepare — see APIM guide |
| workflow, orchestration, durable, saga | Stay in azure-prepare + load durable.md and DTS reference |
⚠️ Check the prompt text, not just existing code (critical for greenfield). See full routing table.
After the specialized skill completes, resume at Phase 1 Step 4 (Select Recipe).
Steps
Two-phase workflow (full step tables in references/phases.md):
- Step 0 — Specialized Technology Check (route to
azure-cloud-migrate when the prompt matches; otherwise continue)
- Phase 1 (Planning, BLOCKING) — Analyze workspace → gather requirements → scan codebase → select recipe (AZD/AZCLI/Bicep/Terraform) → plan architecture → write
infra/{iac}/{project}/.azure/plan.md → present plan + ask for approval
- ⛔ Approval gate — do NOT proceed until the user approves the plan
- Phase 2 (Execution, post-approval) — Research components → confirm Azure context → generate artifacts → harden security → mark plan
Ready for Validation
- Hand off to
azure-validate — prerequisite: plan status is Ready for Validation. Deployment of the validated artifacts is azure-deploy's job.
Outputs
| Artifact | Location |
|---|
| Plan | infra/{iac}/{project}/.azure/plan.md |
| Infrastructure | infra/{iac}/{project}/ |
| AZD Config | infra/{iac}/{project}/azure.yaml (AZD only) |
| Dockerfiles | src/<component>/Dockerfile |
SDK References
See references/sdk/ for azd, Azure Identity, and App Configuration SDKs across Python / .NET / TypeScript / Java.
Next
azure-prepare → azure-validate → azure-deploy. Update plan status to Ready for Validation, then invoke azure-validate. Skipping validation leads to deployment failures.
Reference Index
Load on demand. All references live under references/.
