npx skills add ...
npx skills add microsoft/agent-skills --skill azure-servicebus-py
npx skills add microsoft/agent-skills --skill azure-servicebus-py
Azure Service Bus SDK for Python messaging. Use for queues, topics, subscriptions, and enterprise messaging patterns. Triggers: "service bus", "ServiceBusClient", "queue", "topic", "subscription", "message broker".
Enterprise messaging for reliable cloud communication with queues and pub/sub topics.
🔑 Two rules apply to every code sample below:
- Prefer
DefaultAzureCredential. It works locally (Azure CLI / VS Code / Developer CLI) and in Azure (managed identity, workload identity) with no code change. Avoid connection strings, account/API keys — they bypass Entra audit and rotation.
- Local dev:
DefaultAzureCredentialworks as-is.- Production: set
AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod(orAZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>) to constrain the credential chain to production-safe credentials.- Wrap every client in a context manager so HTTP transports, sockets, and token caches are released deterministically:
- Sync:
with <Client>(...) as client:- Async:
async with <Client>(...) as client:andasync with DefaultAzureCredential() as credential:(fromazure.identity.aio)Snippets may abbreviate this setup, but production code should always follow both rules.
| Client | Purpose | Get From |
|---|---|---|
ServiceBusClient | Connection management | Direct instantiation |
ServiceBusSender | Send messages | client.get_queue_sender() / get_topic_sender() |
ServiceBusReceiver | Receive messages | client.get_queue_receiver() / get_subscription_receiver() |
| Mode | Behavior | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
PEEK_LOCK (default) | Message locked, must complete/abandon | Reliable processing |
RECEIVE_AND_DELETE | Removed immediately on receive | At-most-once delivery |
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
complete_message() | Remove from queue (success) |
abandon_message() | Release lock, retry immediately |
dead_letter_message() | Move to dead-letter queue |
defer_message() | Set aside, receive by sequence number |
azure.xxx sync clients with azure.xxx.aio async clients in the same call path. Choose one mode per module.with Client(...) as client: (sync) or async with Client(...) as client: (async) for proper cleanup. For async DefaultAzureCredential from azure.identity.aio, also use async with credential: so tokens and transports are cleaned up.DefaultAzureCredential for portable auth across local dev and Azure (avoid connection strings / API keys when possible).max_wait_time to avoid infinite blocking| File | Contents |
|---|---|
| references/patterns.md | Competing consumers, sessions, retry patterns, request-response, transactions |
| references/dead-letter.md | DLQ handling, poison messages, reprocessing strategies |
| scripts/setup_servicebus.py | CLI for queue/topic/subscription management and DLQ monitoring |
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential, ManagedIdentityCredential
from azure.servicebus import ServiceBusClient
# Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential. Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>
credential = DefaultAzureCredential(require_envvar=True)
# Or use a specific credential directly in production:
# See https://learn.microsoft.com/python/api/overview/azure/identity-readme?view=azure-python#credential-classes
# credential = ManagedIdentityCredential()
namespace = "<namespace>.servicebus.windows.net"
with ServiceBusClient(
fully_qualified_namespace=namespace,
credential=credential
) as client:
# Use client here (see following sections for operations)
...import asyncio
from azure.servicebus.aio import ServiceBusClient
from azure.servicebus import ServiceBusMessage
from azure.identity.aio import DefaultAzureCredential
async def send_messages():
credential = DefaultAzureCredential()
async with ServiceBusClient(
fully_qualified_namespace="<namespace>.servicebus.windows.net",
credential=credential
) as client:
sender = client.get_queue_sender(queue_name="myqueue")
async with sender:
# Single message
message = ServiceBusMessage("Hello, Service Bus!")
await sender.send_messages(message)
# Batch of messages
messages = [ServiceBusMessage(f"Message {i}") for i in range(10)]
await sender.send_messages(messages)
# Message batch (for size control)
batch = await sender.create_message_batch()
for i in range(100):
try:
batch.add_message(ServiceBusMessage(f"Batch message {i}"))
except ValueError: # Batch full
await sender.send_messages(batch)
batch = await sender.create_message_batch()
batch.add_message(ServiceBusMessage(f"Batch message {i}"))
await sender.send_messages(batch)
asyncio.run(send_messages())async def receive_messages():
credential = DefaultAzureCredential()
async with ServiceBusClient(
fully_qualified_namespace="<namespace>.servicebus.windows.net",
credential=credential
) as client:
receiver = client.get_queue_receiver(queue_name="myqueue")
async with receiver:
# Receive batch
messages = await receiver.receive_messages(
max_message_count=10,
max_wait_time=5 # seconds
)
for msg in messages:
print(f"Received: {str(msg)}")
await receiver.complete_message(msg) # Remove from queue
asyncio.run(receive_messages())from azure.servicebus import ServiceBusReceiveMode
receiver = client.get_queue_receiver(
queue_name="myqueue",
receive_mode=ServiceBusReceiveMode.RECEIVE_AND_DELETE
)async with receiver:
messages = await receiver.receive_messages(max_message_count=1)
for msg in messages:
try:
# Process message...
await receiver.complete_message(msg) # Success - remove from queue
except ProcessingError:
await receiver.abandon_message(msg) # Retry later
except PermanentError:
await receiver.dead_letter_message(
msg,
reason="ProcessingFailed",
error_description="Could not process"
)# Send to topic
sender = client.get_topic_sender(topic_name="mytopic")
async with sender:
await sender.send_messages(ServiceBusMessage("Topic message"))
# Receive from subscription
receiver = client.get_subscription_receiver(
topic_name="mytopic",
subscription_name="mysubscription"
)
async with receiver:
messages = await receiver.receive_messages(max_message_count=10)# Send with session
message = ServiceBusMessage("Session message")
message.session_id = "order-123"
await sender.send_messages(message)
# Receive from specific session
receiver = client.get_queue_receiver(
queue_name="session-queue",
session_id="order-123"
)
# Receive from next available session
from azure.servicebus import NEXT_AVAILABLE_SESSION
receiver = client.get_queue_receiver(
queue_name="session-queue",
session_id=NEXT_AVAILABLE_SESSION
)from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
message = ServiceBusMessage("Scheduled message")
scheduled_time = datetime.now(timezone.utc) + timedelta(minutes=10)
# Schedule message
sequence_number = await sender.schedule_messages(message, scheduled_time)
# Cancel scheduled message
await sender.cancel_scheduled_messages(sequence_number)from azure.servicebus import ServiceBusSubQueue
# Receive from dead-letter queue
dlq_receiver = client.get_queue_receiver(
queue_name="myqueue",
sub_queue=ServiceBusSubQueue.DEAD_LETTER
)
async with dlq_receiver:
messages = await dlq_receiver.receive_messages(max_message_count=10)
for msg in messages:
print(f"Dead-lettered: {msg.dead_letter_reason}")
await dlq_receiver.complete_message(msg)from azure.servicebus import ServiceBusClient, ServiceBusMessage
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
with ServiceBusClient(
fully_qualified_namespace="<namespace>.servicebus.windows.net",
credential=DefaultAzureCredential()
) as client:
with client.get_queue_sender("myqueue") as sender:
sender.send_messages(ServiceBusMessage("Sync message"))
with client.get_queue_receiver("myqueue") as receiver:
for msg in receiver:
print(str(msg))
receiver.complete_message(msg)