microsoftdocs/azure-container-instances
skills/azure-container-instances/SKILL.md
Expert knowledge for Azure Container Instances development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and deployment. Use when configuring ACI container groups, VNet/IP routing, standby pools, Spot containers, or GitHub Actions deploys, and other Azure Container Instances related development tasks. Not for Azure Container Apps (use azure-container-apps), Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) (use azure-kubernetes-service), Azure Virtual Machines (use azure-virtual-machines), Azure Batch (use azure-batch).
$ install --global
skillsauthnpx skillsauth add microsoftdocs/agent-skills azure-container-instancesInstall this skill globally with one command. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
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SKILL.md
- name:
- azure-container-instances
- description:
- Expert knowledge for Azure Container Instances development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and deployment. Use when configuring ACI container groups, VNet/IP routing, standby pools, Spot containers, or GitHub Actions deploys, and other Azure Container Instances related development tasks. Not for Azure Container Apps (use azure-container-apps), Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) (use azure-kubernetes-service), Azure Virtual Machines (use azure-virtual-machines), Azure Batch (use azure-batch).
- compatibility:
- Requires network access. Uses mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch or fetch_webpage to retrieve documentation.
- generated_at:
- 2026-05-17
- generator:
- docs2skills/1.0.0
Azure Container Instances Skill
This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Container Instances. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.
How to Use This Skill
IMPORTANT for Agent: Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g.,
L35-L120), useread_filewith the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g.,[security.md](security.md)), useread_fileon the linked reference file
IMPORTANT for Agent: If
metadata.generated_atis more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. Ifmcp_microsoftdocstools are not available, suggest the user install it: Installation Guide
This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:
- Preferred: Use
mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetchwith query stringfrom=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown. - Fallback: Use
fetch_webpagewith query stringfrom=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.
Category Index
| Category | Lines | Description | |----------|-------|-------------| | Troubleshooting | L36-L42 | Diagnosing ACI issues by viewing logs/events, understanding provisioning/runtime states, and troubleshooting common deployment, startup, and container runtime failures. | | Best Practices | L43-L47 | Guidance on designing and running ACI workloads reliably: resource sizing, networking, storage, security, scaling, image management, and operational best practices. | | Decision Making | L48-L53 | Guidance on cost-optimizing ACI with Spot containers and using prediction-based sizing to configure and right-size Azure Container Instances standby pools. | | Architecture & Design Patterns | L54-L60 | Design patterns for giving ACI containers static inbound/outbound IPs using Application Gateway, firewalls, and NAT Gateway for controlled, predictable network egress/ingress. | | Limits & Quotas | L61-L69 | ACI limits on CPU/memory, quotas per region, standby pool constraints, behavior FAQs, and networking/VNet considerations that affect container capacity and availability | | Security | L70-L84 | Securing Azure Container Instances: TLS/HTTPS setup, image and secret protection, managed identities, RBAC, DNS safety, ACR auth, CMK encryption, and Azure Policy enforcement. | | Configuration | L85-L117 | Configuring ACI container groups: YAML, env vars, DNS, volumes, probes, GPUs, restart/entrypoint, standby pools, networking, lifecycle, logging, and monitoring. | | Deployment | L118-L121 | Using GitHub Actions to build, push, and automatically deploy container images to Azure Container Instances, including workflow YAML setup and authentication configuration. |
Troubleshooting
| Topic | URL | |-------|-----| | Retrieve Azure Container Instances logs and events for troubleshooting | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-get-logs | | Troubleshoot common deployment and runtime issues in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-troubleshooting | | Interpret Azure Container Instances provisioning and runtime states | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-state |
Best Practices
| Topic | URL | |-------|-----| | Apply Azure Container Instances workload best practices | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-best-practices-and-considerations |
Decision Making
| Topic | URL | |-------|-----| | Decide when to use ACI Spot containers for cost savings | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-spot-containers-overview | | Use prediction results to right-size Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-prediction-results |
Architecture & Design Patterns
| Topic | URL | |-------|-----| | Expose Azure Container Instances via Application Gateway static IP | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-application-gateway | | Configure static outbound IP for Azure Container Instances with firewall | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-egress-ip-address | | Configure Azure Container Instances egress via NAT Gateway | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-nat-gateway |
Limits & Quotas
| Topic | URL | |-------|-----| | Use Big Containers with ACI vCPU and memory limits | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/big-containers | | Azure Container Instances FAQs on limits and behavior | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-faq | | Check ACI resource availability and quota limits by region | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-resource-and-quota-limits | | FAQ and limits for Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-faq | | Use Azure Container Instances with virtual networks | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-virtual-network-concepts |
Security
| Topic | URL | |-------|-----| | Configure automatic HTTPS for Azure Container Instances using Caddy | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-container-group-automatic-ssl | | Enable TLS for Azure Container Instances with Nginx sidecar | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-container-group-ssl | | Encrypt Azure Container Instances deployment data with customer-managed keys | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-encrypt-data | | Secure images and secrets for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-image-security | | Enable and use managed identities in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-managed-identity | | Configure RBAC permissions for Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-configure-permissions | | Configure ACI to pull images from ACR using service principals | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-using-azure-container-registry | | Mount secret volumes in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-volume-secret | | Set ACI DNS name reuse policy to prevent subdomain takeover | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/how-to-reuse-dns-names | | Use built-in Azure Policy definitions for Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/policy-reference | | Use managed identities for ACI image pulls from private ACR | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/using-azure-container-registry-mi |
Configuration
| Topic | URL | |-------|-----| | Use config maps to manage settings in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-config-map | | Configure custom DNS for Azure Container Instances container groups | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-custom-dns | | Configure environment variables for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-environment-variables | | Execute commands in running Azure Container Instances containers | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-exec | | Deploy GPU-enabled workloads on Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-gpu | | Configure init containers in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-init-container | | Configure liveness probes for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-liveness-probe | | Send Azure Container Instances resource logs to Azure Monitor | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-log-analytics | | Configure readiness probes for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-readiness-probe | | YAML configuration reference for Azure Container Instances container groups | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-reference-yaml | | Configure ACI restart policies for run-once container tasks | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-restart-policy | | Create standby pools for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-create | | Retrieve details of Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-get-details | | Understand and query health state of Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-health-state | | Use standby pools to reduce Azure Container Instances scale-out latency | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-overview | | Request container groups from Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-request-container | | Update or delete Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-update-delete | | Monitor Azure Container Instances standby pool events with Log Analytics | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pools-monitor-pool-events | | Override container entrypoint command in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-start-command | | Manually stop and start Azure Container Instances container groups | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-stop-start | | Update running container groups in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-update | | Configure ACI container groups in Azure virtual networks via CLI | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-vnet | | Mount Azure Files volumes in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-volume-azure-files | | Use emptyDir volumes to share data in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-volume-emptydir | | Mount gitRepo volumes in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-volume-gitrepo | | Configure monitoring and alerts for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/monitor-azure-container-instances | | Configure monitoring and alerts for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/monitor-azure-container-instances | | Monitoring data reference for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/monitor-azure-container-instances-reference | | View Azure Container Instances logs in Log Analytics via portal | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/viewing-logs-in-portal |
Deployment
| Topic | URL | |-------|-----| | Automate ACI deployments with GitHub Actions workflow configuration | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-github-action |
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