apex

Guidance for instrumenting webapps with Azure Application Insights. Provides telemetry patterns, SDK setup, and configuration references. WHEN: how to instrument app, App Insights SDK, telemetry patterns, what is App Insights, Application Insights guidance, instrumentation examples, APM best practices.

Use for Azure AI: Search, Speech, OpenAI, Document Intelligence. Helps with search, vector/hybrid search, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, transcription, OCR. WHEN: AI Search, query search, vector search, hybrid search, semantic search, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, transcribe, OCR, convert text to speech.

Configure Azure API Management as an AI Gateway for AI models, MCP tools, and agents. WHEN: semantic caching, token limit, content safety, load balancing, AI model governance, MCP rate limiting, jailbreak detection, add Azure OpenAI backend, add AI Foundry model, test AI gateway, LLM policies, configure AI backend, token metrics, AI cost control, convert API to MCP, import OpenAPI to gateway.

ROUTING SKILL — delegates to specialized diagram skills. USE FOR: any diagram request when the caller does not know which tool to use. Routes to drawio, python-diagrams, or mermaid based on diagram type.

Build and deploy GitHub Copilot SDK apps to Azure. WHEN: build copilot app, create copilot app, copilot SDK, @github/copilot-sdk, scaffold copilot project, copilot-powered app, deploy copilot app, host on azure, azure model, BYOM, bring your own model, use my own model, azure openai model, DefaultAzureCredential, self-hosted model, copilot SDK service, chat app with copilot, copilot-sdk-service template, azd init copilot, CopilotClient, createSession, sendAndWait, GitHub Models API.

Troubleshoot and resolve issues with Azure Messaging SDKs for Event Hubs and Service Bus. Covers connection failures, authentication errors, message processing issues, and SDK configuration problems. WHEN: event hub SDK error, service bus SDK issue, messaging connection failure, AMQP error, event processor host issue, message lock lost, send timeout, receiver disconnected, SDK troubleshooting, azure messaging SDK, event hub consumer, service bus queue issue, topic subscription error, enable logging event hub, service bus logging, eventhub python, servicebus java, eventhub javascript, servicebus dotnet, event hub checkpoint, event hub not receiving messages, service bus dead letter.

Authoritative reference for VS Code Copilot customization mechanisms: instructions, prompt files, custom agents, agent skills, MCP servers, hooks, and plugins. Use when deciding which customization type to use, creating new .instructions.md/.prompt.md/.agent.md/SKILL.md/mcp.json files from scratch, or debugging why a customization is not loading. DO NOT USE FOR: routine file edits where the format is already known.

Provides canonical entity counts from count-manifest.json. Use when agents need to reference how many agents, skills, instructions, or validators exist. Prevents hard-coded counts. WHEN: agent count, skill count, how many agents, how many skills, entity inventory, project statistics.

Scaffolds new Agent Skills with SKILL.md frontmatter, folder structure, and bundled resources. USE FOR: create a skill, scaffold skill, new skill template, add agent capability. DO NOT USE FOR: Azure infrastructure, Bicep/Terraform code, architecture decisions.

Look up Microsoft API references, find working code samples, and verify SDK code is correct. USE FOR: Azure SDK method verification, .NET/Python package lookups, code sample discovery, error troubleshooting, catching hallucinated methods and deprecated patterns. DO NOT USE FOR: conceptual documentation (use microsoft-docs), skill creation (use microsoft-skill-creator), Bicep/Terraform module lookups (use azure-bicep-patterns or terraform-patterns).

Deploy, evaluate, and manage Foundry agents end-to-end: Docker build, ACR push, hosted/prompt agent create, container start, batch eval, prompt optimization, agent.yaml, dataset curation from traces. USE FOR: deploy agent to Foundry, hosted agent, create agent, invoke agent, evaluate agent, run batch eval, optimize prompt, deploy model, Foundry project, RBAC, role assignment, permissions, quota, capacity, region, troubleshoot agent, deployment failure, create dataset from traces, dataset versioning, eval trending, create AI Services, Cognitive Services, create Foundry resource, provision resource, knowledge index, agent monitoring, customize deployment, onboard, availability, standard agent setup, capability host. DO NOT USE FOR: Azure Functions, App Service, general Azure deploy (use azure-deploy), general Azure prep (use azure-prepare).

Unified Azure OpenAI model deployment skill with intelligent intent-based routing. Handles quick preset deployments, fully customized deployments (version/SKU/capacity/RAI policy), and capacity discovery across regions and projects. USE FOR: deploy model, deploy gpt, create deployment, model deployment, deploy openai model, set up model, provision model, find capacity, check model availability, where can I deploy, best region for model, capacity analysis. DO NOT USE FOR: listing existing deployments (use foundry_models_deployments_list MCP tool), deleting deployments, agent creation (use agent/create), project creation (use project/create).

Discovers available Azure OpenAI model capacity across regions and projects. Analyzes quota limits, compares availability, and recommends optimal deployment locations based on capacity requirements. USE FOR: find capacity, check quota, where can I deploy, capacity discovery, best region for capacity, multi-project capacity search, quota analysis, model availability, region comparison, check TPM availability. DO NOT USE FOR: actual deployment (hand off to preset or customize after discovery), quota increase requests (direct user to Azure Portal), listing existing deployments.

Interactive guided deployment flow for Azure OpenAI models with full customization control. Step-by-step selection of model version, SKU (GlobalStandard/Standard/ProvisionedManaged), capacity, RAI policy (content filter), and advanced options (dynamic quota, priority processing, spillover). USE FOR: custom deployment, customize model deployment, choose version, select SKU, set capacity, configure content filter, RAI policy, deployment options, detailed deployment, advanced deployment, PTU deployment, provisioned throughput. DO NOT USE FOR: quick deployment to optimal region (use preset).

Intelligently deploys Azure OpenAI models to optimal regions by analyzing capacity across all available regions. Automatically checks current region first and shows alternatives if needed. USE FOR: quick deployment, optimal region, best region, automatic region selection, fast setup, multi-region capacity check, high availability deployment, deploy to best location. DO NOT USE FOR: custom SKU selection (use customize), specific version selection (use customize), custom capacity configuration (use customize), PTU deployments (use customize).

Create agent skills for Microsoft technologies using Learn MCP tools. USE FOR: generating skills that teach agents about Azure services, .NET libraries, Microsoft 365 APIs, VS Code extensions, Bicep modules, or any Microsoft technology. DO NOT USE FOR: general skill scaffolding without Microsoft tech focus (use make-skill-template), Azure infrastructure deployment, Bicep/Terraform code generation.

**ANALYSIS SKILL** — Creates Azure Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) with WAF pillar mapping, alternatives, and consequences. WHEN: "create ADR", "document decision", "architecture decision record", "record why we chose", "WAF pillar justification", "trade-off analysis". DO NOT USE FOR: IaC code (06b/06t agents), architecture diagrams (drawio), cost estimates (cost-estimate-subagent).

**UTILITY SKILL** — Artifact template structures, H2 compliance rules, and documentation styling for agent outputs (Steps 1-7). WHEN: "generate artifact", "check H2 structure", "artifact template", "step 7 as-built". USE FOR: generating any agent artifact, checking H2 structure compliance. DO NOT USE FOR: Azure resource configuration (use azure-defaults), Bicep/Terraform patterns (use azure-bicep-patterns or terraform-patterns).

**UTILITY SKILL** — Reusable Azure Bicep patterns: hub-spoke, private endpoints, diagnostics, AVM composition. WHEN: "hub-spoke Bicep", "private endpoint module", "diagnostic settings", "AVM Bicep composition". USE FOR: Bicep template design, hub-spoke networking, private endpoint patterns, AVM modules. DO NOT USE FOR: Terraform code (use terraform-patterns), architecture decisions (use azure-adr), troubleshooting, diagram generation (use drawio).

**WORKFLOW SKILL** — Assess and migrate cross-cloud workloads to Azure. Generates assessment reports and converts code from AWS, GCP, or other providers to Azure services. WHEN: "migrate Lambda to Azure Functions", "migrate AWS to Azure", "convert AWS serverless to Azure", "migration readiness report", "cross-cloud migration". DO NOT USE FOR: greenfield Azure deployment (azure-prepare), Azure-only refactor (azure-prepare).

**ANALYSIS SKILL** — Azure compliance and security auditing: best practices, Key Vault expiration monitoring, resource validation. WHEN: "compliance scan", "security audit", "Key Vault expiration check", "expired certificates", "orphaned resources". DO NOT USE FOR: cost analysis (azure-cost-optimization), governance discovery (azure-governance-discovery).

**ANALYSIS SKILL** — Recommend Azure VM sizes and VMSS for workload, performance, and budget. Uses public docs and the Azure Retail Prices API. WHEN: "recommend VM size", "choose Azure VM", "GPU VM", "compare VM sizes", "VMSS vs VM", "autoscale VMs". DO NOT USE FOR: provisioning VMs (azure-prepare), VM pricing for budgets (azure-pricing MCP).

**ANALYSIS SKILL** — Identify cost savings across Azure subscriptions via cost + utilization analysis. WHEN: "optimize Azure costs", "reduce Azure spending", "find cost savings", "rightsize VMs", "find orphaned resources", "optimize Redis costs". DO NOT USE FOR: deploying (azure-deploy), general diagnostics (azure-diagnostics), security issues (azure-compliance).

**UTILITY SKILL** — Azure infrastructure defaults: regions, tags, naming (CAF), AVM-first policy, security baseline, unique suffix patterns. WHEN: "Azure naming convention", "CAF naming", "resource tags", "AVM module", "security baseline", "region default". USE FOR: any agent generating or planning Azure resources. DO NOT USE FOR: artifact template structures (use azure-artifacts), pricing lookups (read references/pricing-guidance.md on demand).