Install and configure Azure Skills

This article shows you how to register the Azure Skills marketplace, install the plugins you need, authenticate to your Azure account, and verify the installation. The marketplace includes the core Azure Skills plugin and specialized plugins for focused Azure scenarios.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have:

• Node.js Long Term Support (LTS): Download from nodejs.org or use a version manager like nvm.
• Azure account: Create a free account if you don't have one.
• An AI assistant: GitHub Copilot CLI, Claude Code, or another compatible platform.
• Azure CLI (recommended for local development): Simplifies authentication. Install Azure CLI. Environment variables or managed identity can be used as alternatives in CI/CD pipelines.

Note

Azure Skills uses the same authentication as Azure MCP Server. If you already authenticated for Azure MCP Server, Azure Skills uses those credentials.

Authenticate to Azure

Azure Skills needs credentials to access your Azure resources. Choose the method that fits your use case.

Azure CLI (recommended)

This method is the easiest for local development and testing.

1. Install Azure CLI:

   • Visit the Azure CLI installation guide.
   • Or use a package manager: brew install azure-cli (macOS), apt-get install azure-cli (Linux).

2. Sign in to Azure:

   az login
   

   A browser window opens. Sign in by using your Azure account credentials.

3. Verify authentication:

   az account show
   

   You see your subscription details in the terminal. Azure Skills detects this authentication.

Visual Studio sign-in

If you use Visual Studio, Azure Skills can reuse the Azure account you used to sign in to Visual Studio.

1. Open Visual Studio and go to File > Account Settings.
2. Under All Accounts, select Add. Select either a Microsoft account or Work or school account and sign in with your Azure credentials.
3. Confirm the account appears in the list and shows the correct Azure tenant.

When you run Azure Skills from Visual Studio, it discovers the signed-in Azure account automatically. If you're signed in to multiple accounts, Visual Studio uses the account you selected as the default for Azure services.

Tip

If Azure Skills can't find your Azure credentials in Visual Studio, run az login from a terminal as a fallback. Azure Skills checks Azure CLI credentials as well.

Environment variables

Use environment variables for scripts or pipelines where the Azure CLI isn't available. Create a service principal first.

Bash or Zsh:

export AZURE_TENANT_ID="your-tenant-id"
export AZURE_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
export AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"

PowerShell:

$env:AZURE_TENANT_ID = "your-tenant-id"
$env:AZURE_CLIENT_ID = "your-client-id"
$env:AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET = "your-client-secret"

Windows Command Prompt:

set AZURE_TENANT_ID=your-tenant-id
set AZURE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
set AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

Azure Skills detects these environment variables automatically.

Managed identity

If you run Azure Skills on an Azure resource (virtual machine, Container Apps, or Azure Functions), managed identity handles authentication with no manual setup.

For more information, see Azure managed identities.

Install Azure Skills plugins

Choose the installation method for your AI assistant.

GitHub Copilot CLI

Add the Azure Skills marketplace. You only need to register it once:

/plugin marketplace add microsoft/azure-skills

Install the core Azure Skills plugin. This plugin is the recommended starting point for broad Azure workflows and skill discovery:

/plugin install azure@azure-skills

Update the plugin:

/plugin update azure@azure-skills

The core plugin includes discover-azure-skills. If your task isn't covered by a currently installed skill, describe the Azure task in Copilot CLI. The discovery skill searches the catalog, recommends matching skills, identifies their owning plugins, and provides installation guidance.

Install a specialized plugin directly

Install a specialized plugin when you already know which focused capabilities you need:

/plugin install <plugin-name>@azure-skills

Plugin	Install command	Focus
Azure Cost	/plugin install azure-cost@azure-skills	Cost analysis, estimation, optimization, and governance.
Azure Kusto Graph	/plugin install azure-kusto-graph-skills@azure-skills	Kusto graph analysis, IRQL pipelines, and graph visualization.
Azure Local	/plugin install azure-local-skills@azure-skills	Standard and multi-rack Azure Local workflows.
Foundry IQ	/plugin install foundry-iq-skills@azure-skills	Foundry IQ knowledge-base creation, retrieval, and agent connections.

Installing the core plugin doesn't install these specialized plugins. Review the Azure plugin catalog for plugin-specific capabilities and prerequisites.

Visual Studio Code

Install the Azure MCP extension from the Visual Studio Marketplace:

👉 Azure MCP Extension

The Azure MCP extension installs a companion extension that brings the core Azure Skills experience into Visual Studio Code. Together they configure the Azure MCP Server and the core skills layer.

Note

The skills extension requires Git CLI to be installed on your machine.

Visual Studio

Visual Studio installs Azure Skills alongside the Azure MCP Server. When you install the Azure and AI development workload through the Visual Studio Installer, Visual Studio automatically includes both the Azure MCP Server and the full Azure Skills experience.

Prerequisites

Visual Studio 2026 version 18.8 or later.

Install through the Visual Studio Installer

1. Open the Visual Studio Installer.

2. Select Modify on your Visual Studio installation to view available workloads.

3. On the Workloads tab, select Azure and AI development.

4. On the Installation details panel, expand the workload and verify that Azure Skills is selected.

5. Select Install while downloading (or Modify) to complete the installation.

   

Azure MCP tools and Azure Skills receive updates through regular Visual Studio updates via the Visual Studio Installer. No separate extension or manual configuration is required.

For more information about the underlying Azure MCP Server setup, see Get started with Visual Studio.

Claude Code

Add the marketplace (first time only):

/plugin marketplace add microsoft/azure-skills

Install the plugin:

/plugin install azure@azure-skills

Update:

/plugin marketplace update azure-skills

Cursor

Install the Azure plugin from the Cursor Marketplace or directly from Cursor settings:

1. Go to Settings > Plugins.

2. Search for Azure.

3. Select the Azure plugin to install it.

   

The plugin automatically configures the Azure MCP Server, Foundry MCP, and the core Azure skills layer.

IntelliJ IDEA

Before installing Azure Skills in IntelliJ IDEA, make sure you have:

• Node.js 18+ installed on your system with npx available on your PATH.
• Git installed and accessible from the command line.

You can verify these prerequisites by running:

npx --version
git --version

Step 1: Install GitHub Copilot plugin

1. Open IntelliJ IDEA.
2. Go to File > Settings (on Windows/Linux) or IntelliJ IDEA > Preferences (on macOS).
3. Navigate to Plugins in the left sidebar.
4. Search for GitHub Copilot in the Marketplace tab.
5. Install the GitHub Copilot plugin (requires version 1.5.64-242 or higher).
6. Restart IntelliJ IDEA when prompted.

Step 2: Enable skills for GitHub Copilot

1. Open IntelliJ IDEA settings or preferences again.

2. Navigate to Tools > GitHub Copilot > Chat.

3. Select the Enable Skills checkbox.

4. Select Apply and OK.

   

Step 3: Install Azure Skills

Option 1: Azure Toolkit for IntelliJ

1. Install the Azure Toolkit for IntelliJ plugin from the JetBrains Marketplace.

2. Restart IntelliJ IDEA to complete the plugin installation.

3. After restarting, a notification appears offering to install Azure Skills. Select Install to add the Azure skills to your environment.

   

4. Verify the installation by opening the GitHub Copilot chat window and typing /skill:azure. This command displays all available Azure skills.

   

Option 2: Manual install

1. Open a terminal or command prompt.

2. Run the following command to install Azure Skills globally for GitHub Copilot:

   npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/azure-skills/tree/main/.github/plugins/azure-skills/skills -a github-copilot -g -y
   

3. Wait for the installation to complete. A confirmation message appears when the Azure skills are successfully added.

For the current plugin list and installation options, see the Azure plugin catalog and the Azure Skills repository.

Verify installation

After installation, confirm Azure Skills is ready to use.

1. List installed plugins:

   /plugin list
   

   The output includes azure@azure-skills and any specialized plugins you installed.

2. Test with a quick command:

   /ask List my Azure subscriptions
   

   Your AI assistant queries your Azure account and displays your subscriptions.

Try Azure Skills

After you install and verify Azure Skills, try these prompts in your AI assistant's chat window:

Prepare a deployment plan for your project:

Analyze my project structure and prepare a deployment plan for deploying to Azure. What infrastructure do I need and how should I set it up?

Expected response: The assistant analyzes your codebase and generates infrastructure-as-code templates. It creates a deployment plan at .azure/plan.md and asks for your approval.

Diagnose an Azure resource health issue:

I'm getting errors from my Azure App Service. What's wrong and how do I fix it?

Expected response: The assistant inspects your app service, checks logs, and reviews recent deployments. It identifies problems and provides remediation steps.

Set up monitoring and observability:

Configure monitoring and alerting for my application. Which Application Insights features should I enable? What metrics should I track?

Expected response: The assistant proposes a monitoring strategy and generates instrumentation code. It configures Azure Alerts for critical metrics tailored to your app stack.

Supported AI assistants

You can use Azure Skills across these platforms:

• GitHub Copilot CLI: Full integration with GitHub Copilot tools
• Claude Code: Through the Model Context Protocol (MCP)
• Other MCP-compatible AI assistants: Any tool that supports MCP

For a complete list of tools that support Azure integration, see Azure MCP Server supported tools.

Configuration options

Telemetry

By default, Azure Skills collect usage telemetry to improve the service.

To disable telemetry:

export AZURE_MCP_COLLECT_TELEMETRY=false

Troubleshooting

"Authentication failed" error

Problem: Your AI assistant can't authenticate to Azure.

Solutions:

• Azure CLI: Run az login again and ensure you're authenticated.
• Environment variables: Verify AZURE_TENANT_ID, AZURE_CLIENT_ID, and AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET are set correctly.
• Managed identity: Confirm your Azure resource has an assigned managed identity.

"Plugin not found" error

Problem: An Azure Skills plugin isn't installed or recognized.

Solutions:

• To register the marketplace, run /plugin marketplace add microsoft/azure-skills .
• To install the core plugin, run /plugin install azure@azure-skills.
• To install a specialized plugin, run /plugin install <plugin-name>@azure-skills.
• Restart your AI assistant.
• Verify Node.js is installed.

"Insufficient permissions" error

Problem: Your Azure account doesn't have the required permissions.

Solutions:

• Check your Azure role-based access control (RBAC) role assignments.
• Request more roles from your Azure administrator.
• Use a different subscription where you have higher permissions.

"Invalid subscription" error

Problem: Azure Skills can't find or access your specified subscription.

Solutions:

• To see available subscriptions, run az account list.
• Verify the subscription ID or name is correct.
• Check that your credentials have access to the subscription.

Related content

• Get started with Azure Skills
• Overview of Azure Skills
• Azure plugin catalog
• GitHub Copilot for Azure
• Azure MCP Server get started guide