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Azure App Onboard Prereq

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Evaluate your app's readiness for Azure deployment.

by microsoft1.4k stars on microsoft/azure-skills
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Updated Aug 10, 2026
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What Azure App Onboard Prereq does

Azure App Onboard Prereq is a skill designed to assess whether your source code is ready for deployment to Azure, focusing on the critical checks that need to be performed before any infrastructure work begins. This skill evaluates various aspects of your application, including build health, completeness, dependency compatibility, and deployment feasibility. By running a comprehensive analysis, it answers essential questions about what your app requires for a successful deployment, such as frameworks, configurations, and potential blockers.

The skill operates as part of a larger AppOnboard pipeline, specifically as Phase 1 of 4. It produces verdicts for each component of your app, indicating whether they pass, warn, or fail based on the evaluation criteria. The results are stored in a structured output, which can be utilized by subsequent phases of the deployment process. This makes it an invaluable tool for developers looking to streamline their deployment workflow and ensure that their applications meet Azure's requirements.

This skill is particularly useful for developers and teams who are preparing to deploy applications to Azure and want to minimize the risk of encountering issues during the deployment phase. By identifying potential problems early in the process, teams can take corrective actions before committing to infrastructure changes, saving time and resources. Additionally, it helps in understanding the specific needs of the application, which can facilitate better planning and execution of the deployment strategy.

However, it is important to note that this skill should not be used for validating infrastructure setups or generating infrastructure as code (IaC). It is strictly focused on code readiness checks and does not execute any build or test commands, ensuring a read-only evaluation process. This makes it a reliable choice for teams looking to assess their code without the risk of unintended modifications or executions during the evaluation phase.

When to use it

Use this skill when you need to evaluate your application's readiness for Azure deployment before making infrastructure changes.

When not to use it

Do not use this skill for validating infrastructure configurations or generating IaC; it is not designed for those purposes.

What you can build with it

Pre-deployment Assessment

Before deploying an application to Azure, use this skill to ensure all components are ready and compatible.

Identifying Blockers

Run this skill to identify any blockers that may prevent your app from being deployed successfully to Azure.

Streamlining Deployment Workflow

Incorporate this skill into your CI/CD pipeline to automate the evaluation of app readiness for Azure deployments.

How to install Azure App Onboard Prereq

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1. Install with the skills CLI

npx skills add microsoft/azure-skills/azure-app-onboard-prereq --agent claude-code

2. Or install it manually

Download the skill folder and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or .claude/skills/ to scope it to one repo. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new skill.

Anthropic's agentic coding CLI, and the reference implementation of Agent Skills. Drop a skill folder into ~/.claude/skills and Claude Code loads it automatically whenever a task matches the skill's description. Claude Code docs

Inside SKILL.md

Written by microsoft

Azure App Onboard Prereq — Repository Evaluation

Evaluate a user's repository for build health, app completeness, and Azure deployment feasibility — before infrastructure planning. Produces per-component verdicts (PASS/WARN/FAIL) consumed by downstream phases.

Orchestrator relationship: Called by azure-app-onboard at Step 3, or standalone for code readiness checks. When called by orchestrator, return control to azure-app-onboard after writing artifacts — do NOT invoke downstream phases directly.

Phase 1 of 4 in AppOnboard pipeline. Session: .copilot-azure/sessions/{session-id}/. Reads context.json. Writes components[], repo{}, detectedInfra[]. Produces prereq-output.json. Schema: prereq-schemas.tsPrereqOutput, BuildRequirements. Direct entry supported.

When NOT to Use

SignalRedirect
Validate infrastructure (Bicep/TF/azure.yaml)azure-validate
Generate IaCazure-prepare
End-to-end idea-to-productionazure-app-onboard
Run azd up or deployazure-deploy

Rules

ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION — npm install, npm test, npx jest, pytest, and ALL install/build/test commands are NEVER allowed. Under NO circumstances may you run npm install, npm test, npx jest, pip install, pytest, dotnet build, dotnet restore, dotnet test, go mod download, cargo build, or ANY package-manager install, build, or test command during the prereq phase. Do NOT run test suites to verify code — check for test config files statically instead. The prereq phase is read-only evaluation + static-only verification. ONLY exception — two sanctioned contexts, both consent-gated: (a) code the agent modified during migration/remediation (see remediation-protocol.md step 6), or (b) code the agent wrote from scratch on the zero-code path (see zero-code-path.md). In either case, install/build/test runs ONLY via the user-confirmed build-validation gate (build-check.md Step 3), after the user answers that specific per-command consent prompt. General prior consent never counts.

  1. Full pipeline (Steps 1–8), no exceptions. All prompts → Step 1 directly. Answer specific questions AS PART OF findings (Step 5), not before.
  2. No sub-agents for evaluation. 3-axis evaluation is inline. Exception: zero-code-path scaffolding (Step 2).
  3. Code/destructive modifications require ask_user. Max 3 questions before results. Direct entry: don't repeat orchestrator's intent questions.

MCP Tools

ToolPurpose
mcp_azure_mcp_get_azure_bestpracticesValidate detected stack patterns against Azure best practices
mcp_azure_mcp_extension_cli_installCheck/install required CLI tools (az, azd, func)

Workflow

Step 1: Session Check

Orchestrator entry: Session exists — read context.json, proceed to Step 2.

Direct entry: Check .copilot-azure/sessions/active-session.json:

  • Exists → ⛔ read session-protocol.md for resume/fresh gate. Do NOT proceed until user answers.
  • Missing → create session: generate UUID, New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path ".copilot-azure/sessions/{uuid}" -Force, write context.json + active-session.json via create tool.

Then: az account show → merge {id, name, tenantId} into context.json.azure. ⛔ Session MUST exist on disk before any scanning.

Step 2: Scan Workspace

Scan for project files. Detect components, repo{}, detectedInfra[], detectedServices[]. Classify Terraform providers. Check CLI availability. Stack detection conflicts: user explicit statement wins (write to context.json, mark scan as override); scan-only → confirm with user; multiple stacks → show all and ask (see component-mapping.md); no code → zero-code-path.md.

If no project files, no Dockerfile, AND no index.html → ⛔ read zero-code-path.md.

Cloud SDK early gate. Grep for aws-sdk|@aws-sdk|boto3|google-cloud|@google-cloud|firebase. If functional deps found → read cloud-sdk-migration.md, then ask_user: "Redirect to Azure Cloud Migrate" (set routeToSkill: "azure-cloud-migrate") · "Continue evaluation anyway" (finish readiness eval + SDK→Azure mapping, then STOP at Step 8 — no plan until the deps are swapped) · "Cancel".

Step 3: Per-Component Evaluation

Sub-stepActionReference
3.1Build checkYou MUST read build-check.md
3.2Completeness checkYou MUST read completeness-check.md
3.3Deployability checkYou MUST read deployability-check.md
3.3aComponent mapping (conditional)Read component-mapping.md ONLY IF >1 project manifest found (monorepo)

Populate buildRequirements per component after evaluation. Verdict propagation, tier rules, and f1Viable aggregation are in readiness-gate.md and the individual check references.

Step 4: Write Artifacts + Readiness Gate

⛔ Verify context.json exists on disk. Read readiness-gate.md (verdicts, tiers, batch-then-approve, fast-track) then prereq-artifacts.md (write procedures, schemas).

Step 5: Present Findings

Per readiness-gate.md § Present Findings — show verdicts grouped by severity before proceeding.

Step 6: Remediation (conditional)

You MUST read remediation-protocol.md IF any ❌ FAIL verdict, 🔧 Recommended Fix, or ⚠️ WARN with fixPhase: "prereq" exists. Contains remediation loop, static verification, re-eval mandate, post-remediation artifact updates, and the build-validation consent gate. If all verdicts are ✅ PASS or ⚠️ WARN without fixPhase: "prereq", skip to Step 7.

Step 7: Write Final State

completedPhases already has "prereq" + currentPhase: null (from Step 4). Then:

Write lastScanCommit. Run git rev-parse HEAD and store the full 40-character SHA as context.json.repo.lastScanCommit. Required — staleness guard in Step 1 compares to HEAD on resume to detect changes.

Step 8: Route

Mandatory — do NOT skip this step.

Routing fields: All routing writes routeToSkill and routeReason to context.json.

Post-remediation context: If Step 6 ran, lead the routing prompt with: "Remediation complete — {N} issues fixed, your app is now {overallHealth}."

Evaluate rows top to bottom — first match wins.

#ConditionAction
1routeToSkill set (any entry)ask_user: "Redirect to {routeToSkill}" / "Not now". ⛔ Pipeline stops — do NOT proceed to architecture planning.
2cloudSdkFindings[] non-empty (user chose "Continue evaluation anyway")Present the cloud-SDK → Azure swap mapping as 🔶 blockers, then ask_user with this exact prompt: "🔶 Cloud SDK migration required — these dependencies must be swapped before this app can deploy to Azure. (Redirect to azure-cloud-migrate / Stop — swap manually and re-run)" — Redirect sets routeToSkill: "azure-cloud-migrate", Stop halts. ⛔ Pipeline stops — do NOT proceed to architecture planning, and do NOT offer a "continue to prepare" option; the app can't deploy until the deps are swapped.
3Orchestrator + no routeToSkillTell the user: "✅ Your app has been evaluated and is ready — let's plan your Azure deployment." Then invoke azure-app-onboard. ⛔ Do NOT stop, do NOT wait for user input, do NOT narrate internal handoffs. The user already consented to the full pipeline at scope triage.
4Direct + ready/readyWithCaveats + no Azure infraask_user: "Deploy to Azure (full pipeline)" → invoke azure-app-onboard / "Not now"
5Direct + ready/readyWithCaveats + existing Azure infraask_user: "Start fresh" → invoke azure-app-onboard / "Use existing infra" → invoke azure-prepare / "Not now"
6Direct + blockedReport blocker summary + "Fix and re-run."

Severity tiers (🛑🔶❌🔧⚠️✅) are defined in readiness-gate.md.

Outputs

ArtifactLocationConsumer
Session contextcontext.jsoncomponents[], repo{}, detectedInfra[], detectedServices[]All downstream phases
Prereq outputprereq-output.jsonprepare phase (via azure-app-onboard)
Readiness report.copilot-azure/sessions/{uuid}/readiness-report.mdUser (offline reference)

Frequently asked questions about Azure App Onboard Prereq

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