azure-answer

name	azure-answer
description	Answer Azure pricing, capability, SKU, and service comparison questions backed by verified web data and optional CLI output. Triggers include: 'azure answer', 'azure pricing', 'azure service', 'compare azure services', 'azure capabilities', 'azure SKU', 'azure cost', 'which azure service', or any factual question about Azure services, pricing, or features.

/azure-answer — Verified Azure Q&A

Answer factual questions about Azure services — pricing, capabilities, SKU comparisons, and service selection — using live web search data and optional Azure CLI verification. Every claim is backed by a cited source so the user can trust and forward the answer.

Platform Compatibility

This skill runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows. The only shell command is az (Azure CLI), which works identically across OSes once installed. See _shared/PLATFORM.md for the full reference.

Action	macOS / Linux (bash)	Windows (PowerShell)
Check if az exists	command -v az || echo missing	Get-Command az -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Run az command	az version	az version (same)
Install Azure CLI	macOS: brew install azure-cli · Linux: see Azure docs	Windows: winget install Microsoft.AzureCLI

Default to POSIX commands; use PowerShell on Windows native (not WSL/Git Bash).

Core Principles

• Never fabricate Azure information. Every pricing figure, SKU name, capability claim, and service limit must be backed by a cited source (URL or CLI output). Do not rely on training data alone for facts that change frequently (pricing, quotas, region availability).
• Verify before answering. Always search the web or query the CLI before composing the answer. Training data may be months out of date — Azure pricing and features change constantly.
• Refuse gracefully when data cannot be verified. If web search returns nothing relevant and CLI is unavailable, do NOT guess. Provide a direct link to the relevant Azure documentation or pricing page instead.
• Preserve source language. Section headings are always English. If the user asks in Hebrew, respond in Hebrew — but keep technical terms (service names, SKU identifiers, CLI commands) in their original English form. Do not translate content between languages.
• Scope boundary. This skill answers: pricing questions, service capability checks, service comparisons, SKU recommendations, region availability, and quota/limit lookups. It does NOT provide: implementation guidance, architecture reviews, debugging help, or deployment instructions — redirect those to appropriate skills or general assistance.

Prerequisite Auto-Install

Before running, verify all dependencies are present. Install anything missing automatically.

No Required Sibling Skills

This skill is standalone — it has no required sibling skill dependencies. However, it is part of the customer skills repository. If any other skills are needed later, they can be installed from https://github.com/roie9876/clawpilot-skills.

Optional Tools

Tool	Check (POSIX)	Check (Windows)	Install (macOS)	Install (Windows)	Required?
Azure CLI	az version	az version	brew install azure-cli	winget install Microsoft.AzureCLI	⚠️ Optional

If az is not installed or not logged in, the skill degrades gracefully to web-search-only mode with a note that CLI verification was skipped.

If az is installed but not logged in, run az login before proceeding.

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Step 1: Classify the Question

Categorize the user's question into one of these types:

Category	Examples
Pricing	"How much does Azure OpenAI GPT-4o cost?", "Azure Functions pricing tiers"
Service Comparison	"Azure SQL vs Cosmos DB for transactional workloads", "AKS vs Container Apps"
Capability Check	"Does Azure Cognitive Search support vector search?", "Can App Service run .NET 9?"
SKU Recommendation	"Which VM size for a 16GB RAM workload?", "Best App Service plan for 10 RPS"
Region / Availability	"Is GPT-4o available in Sweden Central?", "Which regions have Azure OpenAI?"
Out of Scope	"How do I deploy to AKS?", "Debug my Bicep template", "Design my architecture"

If out of scope: Respond with a brief explanation: "This is an implementation/architecture question — /azure-answer covers pricing, capabilities, and service comparisons. I can help with this directly as a general question instead." Then stop.

Step 2: Search for Current Data

Use web search to find current, authoritative data. Prefer Microsoft sources.

Primary: Web Search

Run one or more targeted searches using search-the-web or google_search:

Query templates by category:

Category	Query Pattern
Pricing	"Azure {service} pricing {current-year}" site:azure.microsoft.com
Comparison	"Azure {serviceA} vs {serviceB} {use-case}"
Capability	"{service} {capability}" site:learn.microsoft.com
SKU	"Azure {service} SKU sizes specifications" site:learn.microsoft.com
Region	"Azure {service} region availability" site:learn.microsoft.com

Source quality rules:

• Require at least one result from microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com, or azure.microsoft.com. These are the authoritative sources for Azure information.
• Accept supplementary data from reputable tech sites (e.g., techcommunity.microsoft.com, devblogs.microsoft.com) but always cross-reference against official docs.
• Reject results older than 12 months for pricing data — Azure pricing changes frequently.
• If results are thin, use fetch_page to read the most promising URL and extract specific figures.

If no relevant results are found:

Do NOT proceed to composing an answer. Skip to Step 5 (Handle Failure Gracefully).

Step 3: Verify with CLI (Optional)

When the az CLI is available on the system, supplement web data with live queries for higher confidence. This step is optional — the skill works without CLI access.

Check CLI availability first:

# macOS / Linux / WSL / Git Bash
az version 2>/dev/null && echo "CLI available" || echo "CLI not available"

# Windows PowerShell
if (Get-Command az -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) { az version; "CLI available" } else { "CLI not available" }

If available, use targeted commands based on question category:

Category	CLI Command
VM Sizing	az vm list-sizes --location {region} --output table
Cognitive Services SKUs	az cognitiveservices account list-skus --output table
App Service Runtimes	az functionapp list-runtimes --output table or az webapp list-runtimes
Region Availability	az account list-locations --output table
Resource Providers	az provider show --namespace {provider} --query "resourceTypes[].locations"
Current Pricing	Not available via CLI — rely on web search

CLI Error Handling

Error	Behavior
az: command not found	CLI not installed. Skip CLI verification entirely. Continue with web data only.
Please run 'az login'	Not authenticated. Note "CLI available but not logged in — skipped CLI verification" in the answer. Continue with web data.
Command times out (>15s)	Kill the command. Note "CLI query timed out" and continue with web data.
Command returns error	Note the specific error. Continue with web data — do not retry.
Empty result set	The query ran but returned nothing. Note "CLI returned no results for {query}" and rely on web data.

Step 4: Compose the Answer

Format the answer with these required sections:

Answer Body

• Lead with a direct answer to the user's question in 1-3 sentences.
• Follow with supporting detail — tables for pricing/comparisons, bullet points for capabilities.
• Use tables for any comparison or pricing data — they are easier to scan and forward.

Sources Section (Required)

List all sources that contributed to the answer:

**Sources:**
1. [Azure {Service} Pricing](https://azure.microsoft.com/...) — accessed {date}
2. [Learn: {Service} Overview](https://learn.microsoft.com/...) — accessed {date}
3. `az vm list-sizes --location westeurope` — queried {date}

Every factual claim in the answer must trace back to a numbered source.

Freshness Disclaimer (Required)

Always include at the end:

> ⚠️ **Verified on {YYYY-MM-DD}.** Azure pricing and features change frequently.
> Confirm current figures at the [Azure Pricing Calculator](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/calculator/)
> before making commitments.

Confidence Indicator (Required)

Rate the answer confidence:

Level	Criteria	Display
High	Multiple authoritative sources agree, data is <3 months old	🟢 High confidence
Medium	Single authoritative source, or data is 3-12 months old	🟡 Medium confidence
Low	Training data only, no live verification succeeded	🔴 Low confidence — treat as unverified

If confidence is Low, prepend a prominent warning: "⚠️ I could not verify this against current sources. The information below is from training data and may be outdated."

Step 5: Handle Failure Gracefully

If web search returns nothing relevant AND CLI is unavailable or unhelpful:

Do NOT guess or rely on training data without flagging it.

Instead, respond with:

I couldn't verify current Azure data for this question.

**Check these resources directly:**
- [{Most relevant Azure docs page}]({URL})
- [Azure Pricing Calculator](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/calculator/)
- [Azure Updates](https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/) — for recent changes

If you can share a more specific service name or scenario, I can try a narrower search.

Choose the most relevant docs page URL based on the question category:

Category	Fallback URL
Pricing	https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/
VM/Compute	https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/virtual-machines/
AI/Cognitive	https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/cognitive-services/
Databases	https://azure.microsoft.com/products/category/databases/
General	https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/

Error Handling

Failure Mode	Behavior
search-the-web / google_search returns no results	Try alternate query phrasing (drop site: filter, broaden terms). If still nothing → go to Step 5.
search-the-web / google_search returns results but none from Microsoft	Use the non-Microsoft results with a lower confidence rating. Note "No official Microsoft source found" in the answer.
fetch_page fails on a URL	Skip that source. Continue with remaining results. Note the gap if it was a key source.
az CLI not available	Skip Step 3 entirely. Rely on web search data alone.
az CLI returns auth error	Note "CLI not authenticated" in the answer. Continue with web data.
User question is ambiguous	Ask one clarifying question before searching: "Did you mean {service A} or {service B}?" or "Which region are you targeting?"
Multiple conflicting sources	Report all figures with their sources. Note the discrepancy and recommend the user verify with the pricing calculator.