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SKILL.md
npx skills add alirezarezvani/claude-skills --skill azure-cloud-architect
Design Azure architectures for startups and enterprises. Use when asked to design Azure infrastructure, create Bicep/ARM templates, optimize Azure costs, set up Azure DevOps pipelines, or migrate to Azure. Covers AKS, App Service, Azure Functions, Cosmos DB, and cost optimization.
npx skills add alirezarezvani/claude-skills --skill azure-cloud-architect
Design scalable, cost-effective Azure architectures for startups and enterprises with Bicep infrastructure-as-code templates.
Collect application specifications:
Run the architecture designer to get pattern recommendations:
Example output:
Select from recommended patterns:
See references/architecture_patterns.md for detailed pattern specifications.
Validation checkpoint: Confirm the recommended pattern matches the team's operational maturity and compliance requirements before proceeding to Step 3.
Create infrastructure-as-code for the selected pattern:
Example Bicep output (core web app resources):
Full templates including Front Door, Key Vault, Managed Identity, and monitoring are generated by
bicep_generator.pyand also available inreferences/architecture_patterns.md.
Bicep is the recommended IaC language for Azure. Prefer Bicep over ARM JSON templates: Bicep compiles to ARM JSON, has cleaner syntax, supports modules, and is first-party supported by Microsoft.
Analyze estimated costs and optimization opportunities:
Example output:
Output includes:
Set up Azure DevOps Pipelines or GitHub Actions with Azure:
Validate security posture before production:
If deployment fails:
Common failure causes:
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.WebGenerates architecture pattern recommendations based on requirements.
Input: Application type, expected users, JSON requirements Output: Recommended pattern, service stack, cost estimate, pros/cons
Analyzes Azure resource configurations for cost savings.
Input: JSON file with current Azure resource inventory Output: Recommendations for:
Generates Bicep template scaffolds from architecture type.
Output: Production-ready Bicep templates with:
Provide these details for architecture design:
| Requirement | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Application type | What you're building | SaaS platform, mobile backend |
| Expected scale | Users, requests/sec | 10k users, 100 RPS |
| Budget | Monthly Azure limit | $500/month max |
| Team context | Size, Azure experience | 3 devs, intermediate |
| Compliance | Regulatory needs | HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2 |
| Availability | Uptime requirements | 99.9% SLA, 1hr RPO |
JSON Format:
| Anti-Pattern | Why It Fails | Do This Instead |
|---|---|---|
| ARM JSON templates for new projects | Verbose, hard to read, no modules | Use Bicep — compiles to ARM, cleaner syntax |
| Storing secrets in App Settings | Secrets visible in portal, no rotation | Use Key Vault references in App Settings |
| Single large AKS node pool | Cannot optimize for different workloads | Use multiple node pools: system, app, jobs |
| Public endpoints on PaaS services | Exposed attack surface | Use Private Endpoints + VNet integration |
| Over-provisioning "just in case" | Wastes budget month one | Start small, use autoscale, right-size monthly |
| Shared resource groups for everything | Blast radius, RBAC nightmares | One resource group per environment per workload |
| No tagging strategy | Cannot track costs or ownership | Tag: environment, owner, cost-center, app-name |
| Using classic resources | Deprecated, limited features | Use ARM/Bicep resources exclusively |
| Skill | Relationship |
|---|---|
engineering-team/aws-solution-architect | AWS equivalent — same 6-step workflow, different services |
engineering-team/gcp-cloud-architect | GCP equivalent — completes the cloud trifecta |
engineering-team/senior-devops | Broader DevOps scope — pipelines, monitoring, containerization |
engineering/terraform-patterns | IaC implementation — use for Terraform modules targeting Azure |
engineering/ci-cd-pipeline-builder | Pipeline construction — automates Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions |
| Document | Contents |
|---|---|
references/architecture_patterns.md | 5 patterns: web app, microservices/AKS, serverless, data pipeline, multi-region |
references/service_selection.md | Decision matrices for compute, database, storage, messaging, networking |
references/best_practices.md | Naming conventions, tagging, RBAC, network security, monitoring, DR |
{
"recommended_pattern": "app_service_web",
"service_stack": ["App Service", "Azure SQL", "Front Door", "Key Vault", "Entra ID"],
"estimated_monthly_cost_usd": 280,
"pros": ["Managed platform", "Built-in autoscale", "Deployment slots"],
"cons": ["Less control than VMs", "Platform constraints", "Cold start on consumption plans"]
}# Web app stack (Bicep)
python scripts/bicep_generator.py --arch-type web-app --output main.bicep@description('The environment name')
param environment string = 'dev'
@description('The Azure region for resources')
param location string = resourceGroup().location
@description('The application name')
param appName string = 'myapp'
// App Service Plan
resource appServicePlan 'Microsoft.Web/serverfarms@2023-01-01' = {
name: '${environment}-${appName}-plan'
location: location
sku: {
name: 'P1v3'
tier: 'PremiumV3'
capacity: 1
}
properties: {
reserved: true // Linux
}
}
// App Service
resource appService 'Microsoft.Web/sites@2023-01-01' = {
name: '${environment}-${appName}-web'
location: location
properties: {
serverFarmId: appServicePlan.id
httpsOnly: true
siteConfig: {
linuxFxVersion: 'NODE|20-lts'
minTlsVersion: '1.2'
ftpsState: 'Disabled'
alwaysOn: true
}
}
identity: {
type: 'SystemAssigned'
}
}
// Azure SQL Database
resource sqlServer 'Microsoft.Sql/servers@2023-05-01-preview' = {
name: '${environment}-${appName}-sql'
location: location
properties: {
administrators: {
azureADOnlyAuthentication: true
}
minimalTlsVersion: '1.2'
}
}
resource sqlDatabase 'Microsoft.Sql/servers/databases@2023-05-01-preview' = {
parent: sqlServer
name: '${appName}-db'
location: location
sku: {
name: 'GP_S_Gen5_2'
tier: 'GeneralPurpose'
}
properties: {
autoPauseDelay: 60
minCapacity: json('0.5')
}
}python scripts/cost_optimizer.py \
--config current_resources.json \
--json{
"current_monthly_usd": 2000,
"recommendations": [
{ "action": "Right-size SQL Database GP_S_Gen5_8 to GP_S_Gen5_2", "savings_usd": 380, "priority": "high" },
{ "action": "Purchase 1-year Reserved Instances for AKS node pools", "savings_usd": 290, "priority": "high" },
{ "action": "Move Blob Storage to Cool tier for objects >30 days old", "savings_usd": 65, "priority": "medium" }
],
"total_potential_savings_usd": 735
}# GitHub Actions — deploy Bicep to Azure
name: Deploy Infrastructure
on:
push:
branches: [main]
permissions:
id-token: write
contents: read
jobs:
deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: azure/login@v2
with:
client-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_CLIENT_ID }}
tenant-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_TENANT_ID }}
subscription-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID }}
- uses: azure/arm-deploy@v2
with:
resourceGroupName: rg-myapp-dev
template: ./infra/main.bicep
parameters: environment=dev# Azure DevOps Pipeline
trigger:
branches:
include:
- main
pool:
vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
steps:
- task: AzureCLI@2
inputs:
azureSubscription: 'MyServiceConnection'
scriptType: 'bash'
scriptLocation: 'inlineScript'
inlineScript: |
az deployment group create \
--resource-group rg-myapp-dev \
--template-file infra/main.bicep \
--parameters environment=dev