azure-app-onboard

SKILL.md

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
azure-cost

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

Pipeline Rules

⛔ You MUST read references/pipeline-rules.md at 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 read deploy/SKILL.md, read .copilot-azure/sessions/{id}/deploy-checklist.md first, then deploy/SKILL.md. ⛔ NEVER invoke {"skill": "azure-deploy"} — that is a DIFFERENT skill for a DIFFERENT workflow.

⛔ Post-scaffold transition (MANDATORY): Immediately after scaffold-manifest.json is 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. Confirm context.json has completedPhases: [...,"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/SKILL.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/SKILL.md

8
Deploy approval gate
Display validation summary. ⛔ After approval: FIRST read deploy-checklist.md → deploy/SKILL.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/SKILL.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)