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Learn to use Azure CLI interactive mode

Azure CLI Interactive Mode (az interactive) provides users with an interactive environment to run Azure CLI commands. The interactive mode makes it easier for you to learn the Azure CLI's capabilities, command syntax, and output formats. It provides autocompletion dropdowns, auto-cached suggestions combined with runtime documentation, and includes examples about how each command is used. Azure CLI Interactive Mode aims to provide an ideal experience for users learning to use Azure CLI commands.

Prerequisites

Use a Bash or PowerShell environment in Azure Cloud Shell or run the Azure CLI locally in PowerShell 7.

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Run Azure CLI interactive mode

Use Azure CLI in interactive mode by running the following command:

az interactive

The Azure CLI interactive mode places you in an interactive shell with autocompletion, command descriptions, and examples.

interactive mode

Configure your options in interactive mode

Interactive mode optionally displays command descriptions, parameter descriptions, and command examples.

Turn descriptions and examples on or off using F1.

Descriptions and examples on/off

You can turn the display of parameter defaults on or off using F2.

Display parameter default on/off

You can toggle the display of some key gestures using F3.

Key gestures toggle

Scope

In interactive mode, you can edit the scope to a specific command group to have all commands interpreted in that scope. This method provides an efficient way to input your commands, as demonstrated in the following examples using the command group vm.

Instead of typing these commands:

az>> vm create -n <myVirtualMachine> -g <myResourceGroup> --image Ubuntu2204
az>> vm list -o table

You can scope to the vm command group and type these commands:

az>> %%vm
az vm>> create -n <myVirtualMachine> -g <myResourceGroup> --image Ubuntu2204
az vm>>list -o table

You can edit the scope to lower-level command groups as well, like vm image using %%vm image. In this case, since you already scoped to vm, you use %%image.

az vm>> %%image
az vm image>>

At that point, you can edit the scope back up to vm using %%.., or you can edit the scope to the root with just %%.

az vm image>> %%
az>>

Query in interactive mode

You can execute a JMESPath query on the results of the last command that you executed using ?? followed by a JMESPath query. For example, after you create a group, you can retrieve the id of the new group.

az>> group create -n <myResourceGroup> -l westEurope
az>> "?? id"

You can also use this syntax to use the result of the previous command as an argument for your next command.* For instance, after listing all groups, you can query for more specific results using the list you generated.

az>> vm create --name <myVirtualMachine> --resource-group <myResourceGroup> --image Ubuntu2204 --no-wait -o json
az>> group list -o json

# List all resources of type virtualMachine in the first group whose location is westeurope.
az>> resource list -g "?? [?location=='westeurope'].name | [0]" --query "[?type=='Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines'].name

To learn more about querying the results of your commands, see Query command results with the Azure CLI.

Run Bash and PowerShell commands in interactive mode

You can run both Bash and PowerShell commands without leaving interactive mode.

For Bash scripts, use the #[cmd] syntax:

az>> #dir

For PowerShell scripts, use the regular PowerShell syntax:

az>> $PSVersionTable

View examples of your commands in interactive mode

You can scroll to the next page of examples using CTRL+N and the previous page using CTRL+Y.

Scroll to next page of examples

You can also look at a specific example using ::#.

az>> webapp create ::2

Specific example

Artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities

The Azure CLI team combined AI with Azure CLI interactive mode to provide users with a more beginner-friendly interactive experience. These AI functionalities enable users to learn how to utilize Azure CLI interactive mode with greater ease and efficiency.

The new AI features consist of:

  • Intelligent completion: The AI-powered recommendation system uses telemetry analysis to predict and analyze customer behavior. These results lead to the prioritization of the most used and needed content options.
  • Command recommendation: The AI provides subsequent commands based on the most frequently used commands in other similar sessions.
  • Scenario identification: The AI identifies the current possible scenarios and recommends a set of related command combinations for your specific end-to-end scenario.
  • Usable knowledge search: The AI allows you to input natural language to search for commands for specific usage scenarios.

How to use AI functionalities with Azure CLI interactive mode

When you use interactive mode within Azure CLI, upgrade to the latest version to use the new features.

az extension add --name interactive --upgrade

To use command recommendations, run a command and press the spacebar or select next.

Command recommendation

To use scenario recommendations, run a command first. Then, after the command runs successfully, press the spacebar. Various command sets are listed, and you see whichever command set you select, a ::[num] is added after the space you entered.

Note

For scenario identification, if you enter ::[num] with no space before it, then it returns an error. Ensure that you enter a single space to view the list of command sets.

Scenario identification

To use usable knowledge search, run / [keyword] to search for commands and scenarios.

Usable knowledge search

To turn off the new AI features for Azure CLI interactive mode, input the following command:

az config set interactive.enable_recommender=False