Azure Compute

MicrosoftOfficialCreated by Microsoft

Skill
Tool integration
Cloud and DevOps
MIT
Medium risk

From the author

Azure VM/VMSS router. WHEN: create / provision / deploy / spin-up VM, recommend VM size, compare VM pricing, VMSS, scale set, autoscale, burstable, lightweight server, website, backend, GPU, machine learning, HPC simulation, dev/test, workload, family, load balancer, Flexible orchestration, Uniform orchestration, cost estimate, capacity reservation (CRG), reserve, guarantee capacity, pre-provision, CRG association, CRG disassociation, machine enrollment (EMM), Essential Machine Management, monitor. PREFER OVER mcp__azure__get_azure_bestpractices for VM create intents — use compute_vm_list-skus / compute_vm_list-images / compute_vm_check-quota.

— the description by Microsoft

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The Azure Compute skill acts as a primary router for infrastructure-level tasks within Azure. It directs user requests to specialized workflows for recommending, provisioning, and managing bare virtual machine infrastructure. It is designed to handle the lifecycle of VMs and VMSS, including capacity planning through Capacity Reservation Groups and machine monitoring via Essential Machine Management.

What it does

Routes requests to specific workflows for VM and VMSS provisioning.
Provides guidance on selecting VM families based on workload requirements.
Facilitates capacity reservation and guarantee for critical infrastructure.
Supports Essential Machine Management for enrollment and monitoring tasks.
Enables cost estimation and pricing comparisons for various VM SKUs.
Distinguishes between infrastructure deployment and application-level service deployment.

When to use it

When you need to provision or deploy bare virtual machines or scale sets.
When you require assistance in selecting the appropriate VM family for a specific workload.
When you need to reserve or guarantee capacity for your Azure compute resources.
When you are setting up or monitoring machines using Essential Machine Management.
When you need to compare pricing for different VM SKUs or regions.

Advantages

Centralized entry point for all Azure compute-related infrastructure tasks.
Prevents confusion between infrastructure provisioning and application deployment.
Provides structured paths for complex tasks like capacity reservation.
Ensures consistent use of specialized tools for quota and SKU management.

Usage examples

“I need to deploy a set of web servers. Which VM family should I use?”: The skill routes the request to the VM Recommender to analyze your workload and suggest the appropriate D-series or B-series VMs.
“How can I reserve capacity for my production database VMs?”: The skill initiates the Capacity Reservation workflow to guide you through creating and associating a Capacity Reservation Group.
“Provision a new Ubuntu VM for testing.”: The skill routes the request to the VM Creator workflow to handle the infrastructure deployment.
“How do I enroll my machines in Essential Machine Management?”: The skill directs you to the Essential Machine Management workflow for enrollment and monitoring instructions.

Install

Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/microsoft/azure-compute/download

Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip azure-compute.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Microsoft

Azure Compute Skill

Routes Azure VM and Virtual Machine Scale Set (VMSS) requests to the right workflow.

When to Use This Skill

User wants to recommend, compare, or price a VM or VMSS
User wants to create, provision, or deploy a VM or VMSS
User asks about Capacity Reservation Groups (CRG) — reserve, guarantee capacity, pre-provision
User asks about Essential Machine Management (EMM) — machine enrollment, monitor

Disambiguate with azure-prepare: if the user wants to deploy an application (Docker service, web app, API, serverless workload), route to azure-prepare. vm-creator is for bare VM/VMSS infrastructure only.

Routing

Mandatory workflow-first routing: never route directly to references/* files. First classify the user intent below, open the matched workflow file, then load only the reference files that workflow requests. Reference files are supporting material, not entry points. If the intent is unclear, ask a clarifying question to disambiguate between the workflows.

Workflow	File	Use when
VM Recommender	vm-recommender.md	User asks which VM/VMSS to choose, whether to use VMSS/autoscaling, wants pricing, or wants to compare options
VM Creator	vm-creator.md	User wants to create, provision, or deploy a bare VM or VMSS (not an app deployment)
Capacity Reservation	capacity-reservation.md	User needs to reserve / guarantee VM capacity (CRG create / associate / disassociate)
Essential Machine Management	essential-machine-management.md	User asks about EMM / machine enrollment / monitor

Files

ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer971 B
LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer1.1 KiB
SKILL.md2.6 KiB
references/retail-prices-api.md6.3 KiB
references/vm-families.md5.8 KiB
references/vm-quotas.md4.1 KiB
references/vmss-guide.md6.2 KiB
workflows/capacity-reservation/capacity-reservation.md7.8 KiB
workflows/capacity-reservation/references/association-disassociation.md3.8 KiB
workflows/capacity-reservation/references/capacity-reservation-overview.md6.0 KiB
workflows/essential-machine-management/essential-machine-management.md5.0 KiB
workflows/essential-machine-management/references/emm-enable-flow-portal-guidance.md3.1 KiB
workflows/essential-machine-management/references/emm-enable-flow.md9.2 KiB
workflows/essential-machine-management/references/emm-overview.md2.4 KiB
workflows/essential-machine-management/references/emm-prerequisites.md3.5 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/examples/bicep/README.md1.6 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/examples/bicep/main.bicep3.8 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/examples/terraform/README.md2.5 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/examples/terraform/main.tf3.2 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/examples/terraform/outputs.tf135 B
workflows/vm-creator/examples/terraform/variables.tf1010 B
workflows/vm-creator/references/delivery-options/github-pr.md3.2 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/delivery-options/index.md2.3 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/delivery-options/print.md474 B
workflows/vm-creator/references/delivery-options/save-local.md2.0 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/depth-probe/beginner.md1.2 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/depth-probe/cost-deep.md1.1 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/depth-probe/index.md3.0 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/depth-probe/networking-deep.md1.6 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/depth-probe/security-deep.md1.2 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/depth-probe/spec-deep.md1.3 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/mcp-tools.md2.3 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/output-adapters/az-cli.md1.9 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/output-adapters/bicep.md1.7 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/output-adapters/index.md3.0 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/output-adapters/mcp-apply.md2.6 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/output-adapters/terraform.md1.5 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/plan-card.md3.9 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/references/validation-gates.md2.2 KiB
workflows/vm-creator/vm-creator.md7.5 KiB
workflows/vm-recommender/references/handoff-to-creator.md1.6 KiB
workflows/vm-recommender/references/web-fetch-policy.md1.6 KiB
workflows/vm-recommender/vm-recommender.md6.4 KiB

references/vm-families.md

VM Family Guide

Select a VM family by matching the user's workload to the right category. Families describe hardware intent — not individual SKUs.

Source: Azure VM sizes overview
Note: This reference may become stale. Before making final recommendations, verify critical specifications (especially Spot VM support, newer series availability, and specific family capabilities) by fetching the relevant learn.microsoft.com documentation.

Family Selection Table

Workload	Family	Series	Quota Resource Name	Why
Web servers, dev/test, microservices	General Purpose	D-series (Dsv5, Ddsv5, Dasv5)	`standardDSv5Family` / `standardDDSv5Family`	Balanced CPU:memory ratio
Burstable / intermittent loads	General Purpose	B-series (Bsv2, Basv2)	`standardBsv2Family` / `standardBasv2Family`	Low baseline CPU, credits for bursts; cheapest option
CI/CD, batch, gaming servers	Compute Optimized	F-series (Fsv2, Fasv6)	`standardFSv2Family`	High CPU:memory ratio
Relational DBs, in-memory caches	Memory Optimized	E-series (Esv5, Edsv5, Easv5)	`standardESv5Family` / `standardEDSv5Family`	High memory:CPU ratio
SAP HANA, very large DBs	Memory Optimized	M-series (Msv3, Mdsv3)	`standardMSMediumMemoryv3Family`	Extreme memory (up to 4 TB)
Big Data, NoSQL, data warehousing	Storage Optimized	L-series (Lsv3, Lasv3)	`standardLSv3Family`	High disk throughput and IOPS
ML training, inference, rendering	GPU	NC-series (NCadsH100v5, NCasT4v3)	`StandardNCadsH100v5Family`	NVIDIA GPU compute
Large-scale AI/ML training	GPU	ND-series (ND_MI300X_v5, NDH100v5)	`standardNDSH100v5Family`	Multi-GPU, high memory
Virtual desktop, cloud gaming	GPU	NV-series (NVadsA10v5)	`StandardNVADSA10v5Family`	GPU graphics/visualization
Cloud gaming, VDI (AMD GPU)	GPU	NG-series (NGadsV620v1)	`StandardNGADSV620v1Family`	AMD Radeon GPU; cost-effective graphics
Confidential workloads	Confidential	DC-series (DCasv5, DCadsv5)	`standardDCASv5Family`	Hardware-based TEE isolation
Confidential + encrypted memory	Confidential	EC-series (ECasv5, ECadsv5)	`standardECASv5Family`	TEE isolation with memory encryption
CFD, weather simulation, FEA	HPC	HB/HC-series (HBv4, HBv5)	`standardHBv4Family` / `standardHBv5Family`	InfiniBand, high memory bandwidth
EDA, large memory HPC	HPC	HX-series	`standardHXFamily`	Very large memory capacity

⚠️ Do not normalize quota name casing. The mixed casing (e.g., standard vs Standard) matches the exact values returned by az vm list-usage. Changing them will break quota lookups.

Decision Tree

Workload needs GPU?
├─ Yes → training/inference? → NC/ND-series
│        visualization/VDI?  → NV/NG-series
├─ No
│  ├─ Confidential computing? → DC/EC-series
│  ├─ HPC (MPI, InfiniBand)? → HB/HC/HX-series
│  ├─ High disk I/O (NoSQL, warehousing)? → L-series
│  ├─ Memory-heavy (DB, cache, SAP)?
│  │  ├─ Extreme (>1 TB RAM) → M-series
│  │  └─ Standard → E-series
│  ├─ CPU-heavy (batch, CI/CD)? → F-series
│  ├─ Burstable / dev-test? → B-series
│  └─ Balanced / general web → D-series

Key Trade-offs

Choice	Pro	Con
B-series (burstable)	Lowest cost	Throttled when credits exhausted
AMD (`a` suffix) vs Intel	~5–15% cheaper	Some workloads assume Intel extensions
ARM (`p` suffix, Cobalt)	Best price-performance for Linux	Windows not supported; check app compatibility
Previous-gen (v4, v3)	Sometimes cheaper	Not recommended for new deployments
Spot VMs	Up to 90% discount	Can be evicted with 30s notice

Naming Convention

Standard_<Family><Subfamily?><vCPUs><Features>_<Version>

Letter	Meaning
`a`	AMD CPU
`p`	ARM (Cobalt/Ampere) CPU
`d`	Local temp disk
`s`	Premium SSD capable
`l`	Low memory per core
`i`	Isolated (dedicated host)
`b`	Block storage perf

Example: Standard_D4as_v5 → D-family, AMD, 4 vCPUs, premium SSD, version 5.

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Security

What our scanner noticed· Medium risk

References to credential files

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Created by

Microsoft

Publisher

Microsoft (Official)

Source

microsoft/skills · .github/plugins/azure-skills/skills/azure-compute · commit 0696600

Licence

MIT License (redistribution allowed)

LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from .github/plugins/azure-skills/LICENSE)
ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)

Synced

2026-11-09

Also distributed in

microsoft/azure-skills

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft or Microsoft.

Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download azure-compute.zip