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Azure Identity Dotnet

MicrosoftOfficialCreated by Microsoft

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  • Tool integration
  • Software development
  • MIT
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From the author

Azure Identity library for .NET. Authentication library for Azure SDK clients using Microsoft Entra ID. Use for DefaultAzureCredential, managed identity, service principals, and developer credentials. Triggers: "Azure Identity", "DefaultAzureCredential", "ManagedIdentityCredential", "ClientSecretCredential", "authentication .NET", "Azure auth", "credential chain".
— the description by Microsoft

AutoGineer summary

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

The Azure Identity library provides a unified set of authentication credentials for .NET developers interacting with Azure services. It simplifies the process of authenticating Azure SDK clients by supporting various methods, including managed identities, service principals, and developer-specific credentials. The library is designed to be thread-safe and supports seamless transitions from local development to production environments through the DefaultAzureCredential chain.

What it does

  • Provides a consistent authentication interface for Azure SDK clients.
  • Supports DefaultAzureCredential for automatic environment-based authentication.
  • Enables authentication via Managed Identities for secure production deployments.
  • Facilitates service principal authentication using secrets or certificates.
  • Integrates with ASP.NET Core dependency injection for streamlined configuration.
  • Offers specialized credentials for local developer tools like Azure CLI and Visual Studio.

When to use it

  • When building .NET applications that need to authenticate with Azure services.
  • When you want to use the same code for local development and cloud production.
  • When implementing secure, passwordless authentication using Managed Identities.
  • When managing multiple authentication scenarios within a single application.

Advantages

  • Reduces code complexity by abstracting authentication logic.
  • Improves security by supporting managed identities over hardcoded credentials.
  • Thread-safe design allows for efficient reuse of credential instances.
  • Highly configurable for specific environment requirements or sovereign clouds.
  • Provides clear error handling for common authentication failures.

Usage examples

“How do I authenticate a BlobServiceClient using DefaultAzureCredential in .NET?”
The agent provides a code snippet showing the instantiation of DefaultAzureCredential and its injection into the BlobServiceClient constructor.
“How can I configure my ASP.NET Core app to use Azure Identity via dependency injection?”
The agent demonstrates using AddAzureClients and UseCredential within the Startup or Program file to register Azure services.
“What is the best way to authenticate in a production Azure environment?”
The agent explains the use of ManagedIdentityCredential and provides a code example for configuring it with a specific user-assigned client ID.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/microsoft/azure-identity-dotnet/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

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

Documentation by Microsoft

Azure Identity library for .NET

Authentication library for Azure SDK clients using Microsoft Entra ID.

Installation

dotnet add package Azure.Identity

# For ASP.NET Core integration
dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Azure

# For brokered authentication and Visual Studio Code credential support
dotnet add package Azure.Identity.Broker

Environment Variables

Service Principal with Secret
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<application-client-id>
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<directory-tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=<client-secret-value>
Service Principal with Certificate
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<application-client-id>
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<directory-tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_PATH=<path-to-pfx-or-pem>
AZURE_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD=<certificate-password>  # Optional
Managed Identity
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<user-assigned-managed-identity-client-id>  # Only for user-assigned

DefaultAzureCredential

The recommended credential for most scenarios. Tries multiple authentication methods in order. See DefaultAzureCredential overview for the current credential chain order and defaults.

Basic Usage
using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Storage.Blobs;

var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
var blobClient = new BlobServiceClient(
    new Uri("https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net"),
    credential);
ASP.NET Core with Dependency Injection
using Azure.Identity;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Azure;

builder.Services.AddAzureClients(clientBuilder =>
{
    clientBuilder.AddBlobServiceClient(
        new Uri("https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net"));
    clientBuilder.AddSecretClient(
        new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"));
    
    // Uses DefaultAzureCredential by default
    clientBuilder.UseCredential(new DefaultAzureCredential());
});
Customizing DefaultAzureCredential
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
    new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions
    {
        ExcludeEnvironmentCredential = true,
        ExcludeManagedIdentityCredential = false,
        ExcludeVisualStudioCredential = false,
        ExcludeAzureCliCredential = false,
        ExcludeInteractiveBrowserCredential = false, // Enable interactive
        TenantId = "<tenant-id>",
        ManagedIdentityClientId = "<user-assigned-mi-client-id>"
    });

Credential Types

ManagedIdentityCredential (Production)
// System-assigned managed identity
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(ManagedIdentityId.SystemAssigned);

// User-assigned by client ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId("<client-id>"));

// User-assigned by resource ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedResourceId("<resource-id>"));

// User-assigned by object ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedObjectId("<object-id>"));
ClientSecretCredential
var credential = new ClientSecretCredential(
    tenantId: "<tenant-id>",
    clientId: "<client-id>",
    clientSecret: "<client-secret>");

var client = new SecretClient(
    new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
    credential);
ClientCertificateCredential
var certificate = X509CertificateLoader.LoadCertificateFromFile("MyCertificate.pfx");
var credential = new ClientCertificateCredential(
    tenantId: "<tenant-id>",
    clientId: "<client-id>",
    certificate);
ChainedTokenCredential (Custom Chain)
var credential = new ChainedTokenCredential(
    new ManagedIdentityCredential(),
    new AzureCliCredential());

var client = new SecretClient(
    new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
    credential);
Developer Credentials
// Azure CLI
var credential = new AzureCliCredential();

// Azure PowerShell
var credential = new AzurePowerShellCredential();

// Azure Developer CLI (azd)
var credential = new AzureDeveloperCliCredential();

// Visual Studio
var credential = new VisualStudioCredential();

// Interactive Browser
var credential = new InteractiveBrowserCredential();

Environment-Based Configuration

// Production vs Development
TokenCredential credential = builder.Environment.IsProduction()
    ? new ManagedIdentityCredential("<client-id>")
    : new DefaultAzureCredential();

Sovereign Clouds

var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
    new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions
    {
        AuthorityHost = AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureGovernment
    });

// Available authority hosts:
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzurePublicCloud (default)
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureGovernment
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureChina

Credential Types Reference

CategoryCredentialPurpose
ChainsDefaultAzureCredentialPreconfigured chain for dev-to-prod
ChainedTokenCredentialCustom credential chain
Azure-HostedManagedIdentityCredentialAzure managed identity
WorkloadIdentityCredentialKubernetes workload identity
EnvironmentCredentialEnvironment variables
Service PrincipalClientSecretCredentialClient ID + secret
ClientCertificateCredentialClient ID + certificate
ClientAssertionCredentialSigned client assertion
UserInteractiveBrowserCredentialBrowser-based auth
DeviceCodeCredentialDevice code flow
OnBehalfOfCredentialDelegated identity
DeveloperAzureCliCredentialAzure CLI
AzurePowerShellCredentialAzure PowerShell
AzureDeveloperCliCredentialAzure Developer CLI
VisualStudioCredentialVisual Studio

Best Practices

1. Use Deterministic Credentials in Production
// Development
var devCredential = new DefaultAzureCredential();

// Production - use specific credential
var prodCredential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId("<client-id>"));
2. Reuse Credential Instances
// Good: Single credential instance shared across clients
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
var blobClient = new BlobServiceClient(blobUri, credential);
var secretClient = new SecretClient(vaultUri, credential);
3. Configure Retry Policies
var options = new ManagedIdentityCredentialOptions(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId(clientId))
{
    Retry =
    {
        MaxRetries = 3,
        Delay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0.5),
    }
};
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(options);
4. Enable Logging for Debugging
using Azure.Core.Diagnostics;

using AzureEventSourceListener listener = new((args, message) =>
{
    if (args is { EventSource.Name: "Azure-Identity" })
    {
        Console.WriteLine(message);
    }
}, EventLevel.LogAlways);

Error Handling

using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Security.KeyVault.Secrets;

var client = new SecretClient(
    new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
    new DefaultAzureCredential());

try
{
    KeyVaultSecret secret = await client.GetSecretAsync("secret1");
}
catch (AuthenticationFailedException e)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Authentication Failed: {e.Message}");
}
catch (CredentialUnavailableException e)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Credential Unavailable: {e.Message}");
}

Key Exceptions

ExceptionDescription
AuthenticationFailedExceptionBase exception for authentication errors
CredentialUnavailableExceptionCredential cannot authenticate in current environment
AuthenticationRequiredExceptionInteractive authentication is required

Managed Identity Support

Supported Azure services:

  • Azure App Service and Azure Functions

  • Azure Arc

  • Azure Cloud Shell

  • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

  • Azure Service Fabric

  • Azure Virtual Machines

  • Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets

Thread Safety

All credential implementations are thread-safe. A single credential instance can be safely shared across multiple clients and threads.

PackagePurposeInstall
Azure.IdentityAuthentication (this library)dotnet add package Azure.Identity
Microsoft.Extensions.AzureDI integrationdotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Azure
Azure.Identity.BrokerBrokered authdotnet add package Azure.Identity.Broker

Files

SKILL.md

Azure Identity library for .NET

Authentication library for Azure SDK clients using Microsoft Entra ID.

Installation

dotnet add package Azure.Identity

# For ASP.NET Core integration
dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Azure

# For brokered authentication and Visual Studio Code credential support
dotnet add package Azure.Identity.Broker

Environment Variables

Service Principal with Secret
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<application-client-id>
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<directory-tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=<client-secret-value>
Service Principal with Certificate
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<application-client-id>
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<directory-tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_PATH=<path-to-pfx-or-pem>
AZURE_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD=<certificate-password>  # Optional
Managed Identity
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<user-assigned-managed-identity-client-id>  # Only for user-assigned

DefaultAzureCredential

The recommended credential for most scenarios. Tries multiple authentication methods in order. See DefaultAzureCredential overview for the current credential chain order and defaults.

Basic Usage
using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Storage.Blobs;

var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
var blobClient = new BlobServiceClient(
    new Uri("https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net"),
    credential);
ASP.NET Core with Dependency Injection
using Azure.Identity;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Azure;

builder.Services.AddAzureClients(clientBuilder =>
{
    clientBuilder.AddBlobServiceClient(
        new Uri("https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net"));
    clientBuilder.AddSecretClient(
        new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"));
    
    // Uses DefaultAzureCredential by default
    clientBuilder.UseCredential(new DefaultAzureCredential());
});
Customizing DefaultAzureCredential
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
    new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions
    {
        ExcludeEnvironmentCredential = true,
        ExcludeManagedIdentityCredential = false,
        ExcludeVisualStudioCredential = false,
        ExcludeAzureCliCredential = false,
        ExcludeInteractiveBrowserCredential = false, // Enable interactive
        TenantId = "<tenant-id>",
        ManagedIdentityClientId = "<user-assigned-mi-client-id>"
    });

Credential Types

ManagedIdentityCredential (Production)
// System-assigned managed identity
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(ManagedIdentityId.SystemAssigned);

// User-assigned by client ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId("<client-id>"));

// User-assigned by resource ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedResourceId("<resource-id>"));

// User-assigned by object ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedObjectId("<object-id>"));
ClientSecretCredential
var credential = new ClientSecretCredential(
    tenantId: "<tenant-id>",
    clientId: "<client-id>",
    clientSecret: "<client-secret>");

var client = new SecretClient(
    new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
    credential);
ClientCertificateCredential
var certificate = X509CertificateLoader.LoadCertificateFromFile("MyCertificate.pfx");
var credential = new ClientCertificateCredential(
    tenantId: "<tenant-id>",
    clientId: "<client-id>",
    certificate);
ChainedTokenCredential (Custom Chain)
var credential = new ChainedTokenCredential(
    new ManagedIdentityCredential(),
    new AzureCliCredential());

var client = new SecretClient(
    new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
    credential);
Developer Credentials
// Azure CLI
var credential = new AzureCliCredential();

// Azure PowerShell
var credential = new AzurePowerShellCredential();

// Azure Developer CLI (azd)
var credential = new AzureDeveloperCliCredential();

// Visual Studio
var credential = new VisualStudioCredential();

// Interactive Browser
var credential = new InteractiveBrowserCredential();

Environment-Based Configuration

// Production vs Development
TokenCredential credential = builder.Environment.IsProduction()
    ? new ManagedIdentityCredential("<client-id>")
    : new DefaultAzureCredential();

Sovereign Clouds

var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
    new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions
    {
        AuthorityHost = AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureGovernment
    });

// Available authority hosts:
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzurePublicCloud (default)
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureGovernment
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureChina

Credential Types Reference

CategoryCredentialPurpose
ChainsDefaultAzureCredentialPreconfigured chain for dev-to-prod
ChainedTokenCredentialCustom credential chain
Azure-HostedManagedIdentityCredentialAzure managed identity
WorkloadIdentityCredentialKubernetes workload identity
EnvironmentCredentialEnvironment variables
Service PrincipalClientSecretCredentialClient ID + secret
ClientCertificateCredentialClient ID + certificate
ClientAssertionCredentialSigned client assertion
UserInteractiveBrowserCredentialBrowser-based auth
DeviceCodeCredentialDevice code flow
OnBehalfOfCredentialDelegated identity
DeveloperAzureCliCredentialAzure CLI
AzurePowerShellCredentialAzure PowerShell
AzureDeveloperCliCredentialAzure Developer CLI
VisualStudioCredentialVisual Studio

Best Practices

1. Use Deterministic Credentials in Production
// Development
var devCredential = new DefaultAzureCredential();

// Production - use specific credential
var prodCredential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId("<client-id>"));
2. Reuse Credential Instances
// Good: Single credential instance shared across clients
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
var blobClient = new BlobServiceClient(blobUri, credential);
var secretClient = new SecretClient(vaultUri, credential);
3. Configure Retry Policies
var options = new ManagedIdentityCredentialOptions(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId(clientId))
{
    Retry =
    {
        MaxRetries = 3,
        Delay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0.5),
    }
};
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(options);
4. Enable Logging for Debugging
using Azure.Core.Diagnostics;

using AzureEventSourceListener listener = new((args, message) =>
{
    if (args is { EventSource.Name: "Azure-Identity" })
    {
        Console.WriteLine(message);
    }
}, EventLevel.LogAlways);

Error Handling

using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Security.KeyVault.Secrets;

var client = new SecretClient(
    new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
    new DefaultAzureCredential());

try
{
    KeyVaultSecret secret = await client.GetSecretAsync("secret1");
}
catch (AuthenticationFailedException e)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Authentication Failed: {e.Message}");
}
catch (CredentialUnavailableException e)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Credential Unavailable: {e.Message}");
}

Key Exceptions

ExceptionDescription
AuthenticationFailedExceptionBase exception for authentication errors
CredentialUnavailableExceptionCredential cannot authenticate in current environment
AuthenticationRequiredExceptionInteractive authentication is required

Managed Identity Support

Supported Azure services:

  • Azure App Service and Azure Functions

  • Azure Arc

  • Azure Cloud Shell

  • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

  • Azure Service Fabric

  • Azure Virtual Machines

  • Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets

Thread Safety

All credential implementations are thread-safe. A single credential instance can be safely shared across multiple clients and threads.

PackagePurposeInstall
Azure.IdentityAuthentication (this library)dotnet add package Azure.Identity
Microsoft.Extensions.AzureDI integrationdotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Azure
Azure.Identity.BrokerBrokered authdotnet add package Azure.Identity.Broker

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

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

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Attribution and licence

Created by
Microsoft
Publisher
Microsoft (Official)
Source
microsoft/skills · .github/plugins/azure-sdk-dotnet/skills/azure-identity-dotnet · commit 0696600
Licence
MIT License (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced

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