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Quickstart: Create and deploy an app using Azure Cache for Redis by using GitHub Copilot for Azure and Azure MCP Server

This quickstart shows you how to create a simple Python app that:

  • Connects to Azure Cache for Redis
  • Writes the current date and time to Redis
  • Reads the value back
  • Prints the result to the console

You use GitHub Copilot to generate most of the code and provisioning steps.

Prerequisites

For complete setup instructions, see the Get started article. Make sure that you have the following items:

Important

GitHub Copilot is a separate subscription managed by GitHub. For questions regarding GitHub Copilot subscriptions and Support, see Getting started with a GitHub Copilot plan.

Important

GitHub Copilot is a separate subscription managed by GitHub. For questions regarding GitHub Copilot subscriptions and Support, see Getting started with a GitHub Copilot plan.

Important

GitHub Copilot is a separate subscription managed by GitHub. For questions regarding GitHub Copilot subscriptions and Support, see Getting started with a GitHub Copilot plan.

Building the app

Follow these steps described in this article:

  1. Create a .env file in your workspace to store Azure deployment information as environment variables.
  2. Write a prompt to create an instance of Azure Cache for Redis in your subscription. The Redis connection information is also stored in the .env file.
  3. Validate that the resource and the .env file are created correctly.
  4. Write a prompt to create a Python app to retrieve, write, and read from the cache by using environment variables.
  5. Validate the app works.
  6. Clean up the resources in Azure.

Ensure you have the right tools selected

You must have both Azure MCP Server installed and GitHub Copilot for Azure installed.

  1. Select the Configure tools... icon in the chat pane.
  2. Configure tools is displayed in the Command Palette. Make sure the top nodes for "Azure MCP" and "GitHub Copilot for Azure" are both selected.
  1. Select the Select tools... icon in the chat pane.
  2. Select tools menu is displayed. Make sure the "Azure MCP Server" top node is selected.
  1. Select the Select tools icon in the chat pane.
  2. The Select tools menu is displayed. Make sure the top nodes for "Azure" and "Azure MCP" are both selected.

Create local environment variables

A common development practice is to store important keys and other settings as environment variables in a .env file in your workspace folder. This keeps all configuration self-contained within the project.

Important

Make sure your .gitignore file includes .env so you don't accidentally commit secrets to source control.

In this step, create a .env file in your workspace by using a prompt like the following:

Create a .env file in this workspace with the following environment variables filled in:

AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID
AZURE_TENANT_ID
AZURE_LOCATION
AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP
AZURE_RESOURCE_PREFIX

Use my <your-subscription-name> subscription and I want to put everything in eastus.

Replace <your-subscription-name> with the name of your Azure subscription. Copilot looks up the subscription and tenant IDs for you, generates a resource group name and prefix, and creates the .env file.

After the file is created, open it and verify the values look correct:

AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID=<your-azure-subscription-id>
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<your-azure-tenant-id>
AZURE_LOCATION=eastus
AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP=<resource-group>
AZURE_RESOURCE_PREFIX=<resource-prefix>

Create Azure Cache for Redis

Open GitHub Copilot Chat and paste the following prompt:

You have access to Azure MCP tools.

Use the variables in the `.env` file in this workspace to create an Azure Cache for Redis instance.

Tasks:
1. Ensure the resource group exists.
2. Create Azure Cache for Redis:
    - Name: {AZURE_RESOURCE_PREFIX}-redis
    - SKU: Basic C0
    - TLS enabled (port 6380)
3. Write the following values into the `.env` file:
    REDIS_HOST
    REDIS_PORT=6380
    REDIS_PASSWORD (primary key)
    REDIS_SSL=true

Important:
- Use Azure MCP to create resources and fetch keys.

Copilot creates the Redis resource, and then creates a .env file containing the hostname, primary key, and the other environment variables.

Validate that the .env file has the Redis settings

  1. Open the .env file in your project folder and validate that it has values.

    REDIS_HOST=<your-cache-name>.redis.cache.windows.net
REDIS_PORT=6380
REDIS_PASSWORD=<primary-key>
REDIS_SSL=true

  2. Validate that the Azure Cache for Redis instance is running by using the following prompt.

    Use the values in the `.env` file in this workspace to validate that an instance of Azure Cache for Redis is running and ready to be used.

Prompt to write the Python app

Use the following prompt to create the Python app that writes and reads from the new instance of Azure Cache for Redis.

Create a minimal Python console app in this workspace.

Important:
- Do ALL work directly by editing files.
- Do NOT ask me to copy/paste code.
- Create files if they do not exist.

Goal:
Build a simple app that writes the current date/time to Azure Cache for Redis, reads it back, and prints results to the console.

Project requirements:

1. Create or update these files:

- main.py
- requirements.txt
- .gitignore

2. requirements.txt must include:
- redis
- python-dotenv

3. .gitignore must include:
- .venv/
- __pycache__/
- .env

4. main.py must:

- Load environment variables using python-dotenv
- Read:
    REDIS_HOST
    REDIS_PORT
    REDIS_PASSWORD
    REDIS_SSL
- Connect to Azure Cache for Redis using TLS (ssl=True when REDIS_SSL=true)
- Use decode_responses=True
- Test connection with PING and print:
    Connected to Redis
- Write current datetime (ISO format) to key:
    demo:timestamp
- Read the value back
- Print exactly:

    WROTE: <value>
    READ : <value>

- Wrap connection logic in a try/except and print a helpful error message.

5. Keep the code simple and beginner-friendly:
- Single file
- No classes
- About 40–60 lines

After editing the files:
- Show a summary of what you changed.
- Do NOT print the full file contents unless I ask.

Validate the Python app

  1. Make sure the files you requested in the prompt exist. Visually inspect the files to see if they have values that seem reasonable.

  2. Inspect the main.py file to ensure that it retrieves values from the .env file, imports the redis package, and connects to Azure Cache for Redis. Check that it writes and reads the cache. You might see code that resembles the following code:

    
import os
from datetime import datetime
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import redis

# Load local environment variables
load_dotenv()

host = os.getenv("REDIS_HOST")
port = int(os.getenv("REDIS_PORT", "6380"))
password = os.getenv("REDIS_PASSWORD")
ssl_enabled = os.getenv("REDIS_SSL", "true").lower() == "true"

try:
    client = redis.Redis(
        host=host,
        port=port,
        password=password,
        ssl=ssl_enabled,
        decode_responses=True
    ) 

    # Verify connection
    client.ping()
    print("Connected to Redis")

    # Write current time
    now = datetime.now().isoformat()
    client.set("demo:timestamp", now)
    print(f"WROTE: {now}")

    # Read value back
    value = client.get("demo:timestamp")
    print(f"READ : {value}")

except Exception as ex:
    print("Connection failed.")
    print(ex)

    Important

    AI-assisted software development is non-deterministic, meaning you don't get the same code generated twice. However, in a simple application like this one, the basic approach, syntax, and end result should be close though not exactly the same.

Run the app

In the terminal, run the app:

python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

You should see output similar to this:

Connected to Redis
WROTE: 2026-03-01T10:22:11.452331
READ : 2026-03-01T10:22:11.452331

Clean up resources

Use the following prompt:

I am finished with this instance. Please remove the Azure Cache for Redis that you created earlier by using the values in the `.env` file. ONLY remove this resource and nothing else.

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