skills/azure-storage/SKILL.md
Azure Storage Services including Blob Storage, File Shares, Queue Storage, Table Storage, and Data Lake. Answers questions about storage access tiers (hot, cool, cold, archive), when to use each tier, and tier comparison. Provides object storage, SMB file shares, async messaging, NoSQL key-value, and big data analytics. Includes lifecycle management. USE FOR: blob storage, file shares, queue storage, table storage, data lake, upload files, download blobs, storage accounts, access tiers, storage tiers, hot cool cold archive, storage tier comparison, when to use storage tiers, lifecycle management, Azure Storage concepts. DO NOT USE FOR: SQL databases, Cosmos DB (use azure-prepare), messaging with Event Hubs or Service Bus (use azure-messaging).
npx skillsauth add microsoft/azure-skills azure-storageInstall this skill globally with one command. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
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| Service | Use When | MCP Tools | CLI |
|---------|----------|-----------|-----|
| Blob Storage | Objects, files, backups, static content | azure__storage | az storage blob |
| File Shares | SMB file shares, lift-and-shift | - | az storage file |
| Queue Storage | Async messaging, task queues | - | az storage queue |
| Table Storage | NoSQL key-value (consider Cosmos DB) | - | az storage table |
| Data Lake | Big data analytics, hierarchical namespace | - | az storage fs |
When Azure MCP is enabled:
azure__storage with command storage_account_list - List storage accountsazure__storage with command storage_container_list - List containers in accountazure__storage with command storage_blob_list - List blobs in containerazure__storage with command storage_blob_get - Download blob contentazure__storage with command storage_blob_put - Upload blob contentIf Azure MCP is not enabled: Run /azure:setup or enable via /mcp.
# List storage accounts
az storage account list --output table
# List containers
az storage container list --account-name ACCOUNT --output table
# List blobs
az storage blob list --account-name ACCOUNT --container-name CONTAINER --output table
# Download blob
az storage blob download --account-name ACCOUNT --container-name CONTAINER --name BLOB --file LOCAL_PATH
# Upload blob
az storage blob upload --account-name ACCOUNT --container-name CONTAINER --name BLOB --file LOCAL_PATH
| Tier | Use Case | Performance | |------|----------|-------------| | Standard | General purpose, backup | Milliseconds | | Premium | Databases, high IOPS | Sub-millisecond |
| Tier | Access Frequency | Cost | |------|-----------------|------| | Hot | Frequent | Higher storage, lower access | | Cool | Infrequent (30+ days) | Lower storage, higher access | | Cold | Rare (90+ days) | Lower still | | Archive | Rarely (180+ days) | Lowest storage, rehydration required |
| Type | Durability | Use Case | |------|------------|----------| | LRS | 11 nines | Dev/test, recreatable data | | ZRS | 12 nines | Regional high availability | | GRS | 16 nines | Disaster recovery | | GZRS | 16 nines | Best durability |
For deep documentation on specific services:
For building applications with Azure Storage SDKs, see the condensed guides:
For full package listing across all languages, see SDK Usage Guide.
For building applications that interact with Azure Storage programmatically, Azure provides SDK packages in multiple languages (.NET, Java, JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust). See SDK Usage Guide for package names, installation commands, and quick start examples.
development
# Azure App Onboard Scaffold — IaC Generation + Self-Review Generate deployment-ready infrastructure code from an architecture plan, verify it with adversarial self-review, and bridge to validation — all without deploying. ## Quick Reference | Property | Value | |----------|-------| | Parent | [azure-app-onboard](../SKILL.md) | | Best for | Turning `prepare-plan.json` service list into Bicep templates with secure-by-default patterns | | Inputs | `prepare-plan.json` (services, naming, quotas),
devops
# Prepare — Architecture Planning & Cost Estimation ## Quick Reference | Property | Value | |----------|-------| | Best for | Mapping app components to Azure services with cost estimation and quota validation | | Inputs | `prereq-output.json` + `context.json` from `.copilot-azure/sessions/{id}/` | | Outputs | `prepare-plan.json` written to session directory | | Parent | [azure-app-onboard](../SKILL.md) | ## When to Use This Skill Invoked by the `azure-app-onboard` orchestrator at Phase 2 whe
testing
# Deploy — IaC Execution & Health Verification ## Quick Reference | Property | Value | |----------|-------| | Best for | Executing validated IaC against Azure, health-checking deployed resources | | Inputs | `prepare-plan.json` + `scaffold-manifest.json` from `.copilot-azure/sessions/{id}/` | | Outputs | `deploy-result.json` written to session directory | | Parent | [azure-app-onboard](../SKILL.md) | ## When to Use This Skill Invoked by the `azure-app-onboard` orchestrator at Phase 4 when `s
tools
End-to-end orchestrator: from a business idea, app idea, or existing app to running Azure deployment with cost estimates and pre-deploy approval. Analyzes your app, auto-detects the right Azure services, scaffolds infrastructure code, and deploys — tailored to your app, not a template. Handles moving existing apps to Azure without rewriting or with minimal changes. WHEN: bring your app to Azure, plan my app, cost to run, is my code ready to deploy, deploy my app to the cloud, deploy all my services, what Azure services do I need, plan my Azure deployment, deploy my new app to Azure, one-click deploy, I have an app and want it on Azure, migrate my app to Azure, help me get started, build an app, no code yet, starter project. DO NOT USE FOR: running azd up (use azure-deploy), optimizing existing costs (use azure-cost), code readiness checks only (use azure-app-onboard-prereq).