| name | microsoft-code-reference |
| description | This skill should be used when the user asks to "find a code sample", "check if this method exists", "verify SDK method signature", "look up Azure SDK API", "troubleshoot an SDK error", or needs to verify Microsoft API references, find working code examples, or catch hallucinated methods and deprecated patterns. |
| context | fork |
Microsoft Code Reference
Prerequisite: Requires Microsoft Learn MCP Server (https://learn.microsoft.com/api/mcp).
Tools
| Need | Tool | Example |
|---|
| API method/class lookup | microsoft_docs_search | "BlobClient UploadAsync Azure.Storage.Blobs" |
| Working code sample | microsoft_code_sample_search | query: "upload blob managed identity", language: "python" |
| Full API reference | microsoft_docs_fetch | Fetch URL from microsoft_docs_search (for overloads, full signatures) |
Finding Code Samples
Use microsoft_code_sample_search to get official, working examples:
microsoft_code_sample_search(query: "upload file to blob storage", language: "csharp")
microsoft_code_sample_search(query: "authenticate with managed identity", language: "python")
microsoft_code_sample_search(query: "send message service bus", language: "javascript")
When to use:
- Before writing code—find a working pattern to follow
- After errors—compare your code against a known-good sample
- Unsure of initialization/setup—samples show complete context
API Lookups
# Verify method exists (include namespace for precision)
"BlobClient UploadAsync Azure.Storage.Blobs"
"GraphServiceClient Users Microsoft.Graph"
# Find class/interface
"DefaultAzureCredential class Azure.Identity"
# Find correct package
"Azure Blob Storage NuGet package"
"azure-storage-blob pip package"
Fetch full page when method has multiple overloads or you need complete parameter details.
Error Troubleshooting
Use microsoft_code_sample_search to find working code samples and compare with the current implementation. For specific errors, use microsoft_docs_search and microsoft_docs_fetch:
| Error Type | Query |
|---|
| Method not found | "[ClassName] methods [Namespace]" |
| Type not found | "[TypeName] NuGet package namespace" |
| Wrong signature | "[ClassName] [MethodName] overloads" → fetch full page |
| Deprecated warning | "[OldType] migration v12" |
| Auth failure | "DefaultAzureCredential troubleshooting" |
| 403 Forbidden | "[ServiceName] RBAC permissions" |
When to Verify
Always verify when:
- Method name seems "too convenient" (
UploadFile vs actual Upload)
- Mixing SDK versions (v11
CloudBlobClient vs v12 BlobServiceClient)
- Package name doesn't follow conventions (
Azure.* for .NET, azure-* for Python)
- Using an API for the first time
Workflow
- Confirm method exists —
microsoft_docs_search(query: "[ClassName] [MethodName] [Namespace]")
- Fetch full details (if needed) —
microsoft_docs_fetch(url: "...")
- Find working sample —
microsoft_code_sample_search(query: "[task]", language: "[lang]")
