MCPInstall

azure-well-architected

by microsoftdocsDevOps & Cloud

Expert guidance for designing, assessing, and optimizing Azure workloads using Azure Well Architected. Covers design review checklists, recommendations, design principles, tradeoffs, service guides, workload patterns, and assessment questions. Use when designing AI/HPC/SaaS workloads, AVD/AVS deployments, WAF assessments, or App Service/AKS/SQL architectures, and other Azure Well Architected related development tasks.

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Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/microsoftdocs/agent-skills --skill azure-well-architected
  1. 01

    Install

    Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.

  2. 02

    Describe the task

    Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads azure-well-architected automatically when relevant.

  3. 03

    Review the result

    The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

Azure Well Architected Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for designing, assessing, and optimizing Azure workloads using Azure Well Architected. Covers design review checklists, recommendations, design principles, tradeoffs, service guides, workload patterns, and assessment questions. 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), use read_file with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., [security.md](security.md)), use read_file on the linked reference file

IMPORTANT for Agent: If metadata.generated_at is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If mcp_microsoftdocs tools 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_fetch with query string from=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown.
  • Fallback: Use fetch_webpage with query string from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.

Category Index

CategoryLinesDescription
Design Review ChecklistsL35-L43Checklists to review Azure workloads for cost, operations, performance, reliability, and security best practices and identify gaps against Well-Architected guidance.
RecommendationsL44-L117Guidance on cost, reliability, performance, security, and operational excellence best practices for Azure workloads, including optimization, monitoring, automation, and sustainable cloud operations.
Design PrinciplesL118-L133High-level Azure design guidance: cost, performance, reliability, security/Zero Trust, sustainability, operational excellence, capacity resilience, and patterns for AI, HPC, and SaaS workloads.
TradeoffsL134-L143Guidance on weighing cost, reliability, performance, security, and operations tradeoffs in Azure architectures, including regions/AZ choices and cross-pillar design decisions.
Service GuidesL144-L180Service-specific Azure Well-Architected (WAF) guidance: design, configure, secure, and optimize individual services (App Service, AKS, SQL, networking, storage, etc.) using WAF pillars.
Workload PatternsL181-L225Design patterns, reference architectures, and end-to-end guidance for AI, HPC, mission-critical, SaaS, and sustainable workloads on Azure, including platforms, data, ops, security, and governance.
Assessment QuestionsL226-L237Guided assessments and maturity models to evaluate AI, SaaS, AVD, AVS, and other Azure workloads against WAF pillars: cost, reliability, security, performance, and operations.

Design Review Checklists

TopicURL
Use Cost Optimization design review checklist for Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/checklist
Use operational excellence design review checklisthttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/checklist
Use performance efficiency design review checklisthttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/checklist
Use reliability design checklist for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/checklist
Use the Security design review checklist for workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/checklist

Recommendations

TopicURL
Align Azure resource usage with billing incrementshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/align-usage-to-billing-increments
Implement cost data collection and review for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/collect-review-cost-data
Use consolidation strategies to reduce Azure costshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/consolidation
Build and maintain a cost model for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/cost-model
Create a culture of financial responsibility for cloud costshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/create-culture-financial-responsibility
Negotiate and obtain best provider rates for Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/get-best-rates
Reduce Azure workload costs through code optimizationhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/optimize-code-costs
Optimize individual component costs in Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/optimize-component-costs
Optimize Azure data storage and management costshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/optimize-data-costs
Optimize non-production and production environment costshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/optimize-environment-costs
Implement cost optimization for workload data flowshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/optimize-flow-costs
Optimize personnel time for Azure workload operationshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/optimize-personnel-time
Optimize scaling strategies to reduce Azure costshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/optimize-scaling-costs
Implement spending guardrails for Azure cost optimizationhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/set-spending-guardrails
Develop background jobs to offload application workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/design-guides/background-jobs
Create a disaster recovery plan for multi-region workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/design-guides/disaster-recovery
Implement transient fault handling in cloud applicationshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/design-guides/handle-transient-faults
Build workload health models to improve reliabilityhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/design-guides/health-modeling
Design and operate an incident management practicehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/design-guides/incident-management
Design data partitioning for reliable Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/design-guides/partition-data
Implement continuous integration for Azure release engineeringhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/design-guides/release-engineering-continuous-integration
Design and implement automation in Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/enable-automation
Formalize development practices for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/formalize-development-practices
Standardize Azure operations with formalized taskshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/formalize-operations-tasks
Design and run an incident management process for Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/incident-response
Adopt infrastructure as code for Azure deploymentshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/infrastructure-as-code-design
Design an observability and monitoring system in Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/observability
Implement safe deployment practices for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/safe-deployments
Implement testing practices for Azure operational excellencehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/testing
Standardize development tools and processes for OpExhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/tools-processes
Implement CI/CD-based workload development supply chainshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/workload-supply-chain
Implement capacity planning for Azure performance efficiencyhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/capacity-planning
Continuously optimize performance efficiency in Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/continuous-performance-optimize
Implement multi-layer performance monitoring for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/monitoring
Optimize application code and infrastructure performance on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/optimize-code-infrastructure
Implement data performance optimizations for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/optimize-data-performance
Optimize operational tasks to protect workload performancehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/optimize-operational-tasks
Define and expose performance targets for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/performance-targets
Implement performance testing for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/performance-test
Prioritize performance of critical flows in Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/prioritize-critical-flows
Respond to live performance issues in Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/respond-live-performance-issues
Optimize scaling and partitioning for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/scale-partition
Select Azure services to meet workload performance needshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/select-services
Plan disaster recovery strategies for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/disaster-recovery
Perform failure mode analysis to improve workload reliabilityhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/failure-mode-analysis
Identify and prioritize workload flows for reliabilityhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/identify-flows
Define availability and recovery targets for reliabilityhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/metrics
Implement monitoring strategy for workload reliabilityhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/monitoring
Design redundancy strategies to meet reliability targetshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/redundancy
Implement reliability testing strategy for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/reliability-test
Design reliable scaling strategies for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/scaling
Design self-healing and self-preservation capabilities in Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/self-preservation
Implement simplicity and efficiency for reliable Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/simplify
Securely manage and store application secrets in Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/application-secrets
Implement data classification for secure Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/data-classification
Apply encryption and secret management for Azure datahttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/encryption
Establish and apply a security baseline in Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/establish-baseline
Harden Azure resources to reduce attack surfacehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/harden-resources
Design identity and access management for workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/identity-access
Implement security incident response for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/incident-response
Design monitoring and threat detection for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/monitor-threats
Implement secure networking and connectivity controlshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/networking
Implement secure development lifecycle architecture in Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/secure-development-lifecycle
Design segmentation strategies with perimeters and isolationhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/segmentation
Implement rigorous security testing for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/test
Use cost optimization recommendations for sustainable Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/sustainability/sustainability-cost-optimization-recommendations
Adopt operational excellence practices for sustainable Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/sustainability/sustainability-operational-excellence-recommendations
Optimize performance efficiency for sustainable Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/sustainability/sustainability-performance-efficiency-recommendations
Implement reliability recommendations for sustainable Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/sustainability/sustainability-reliability-recommendations
Apply security recommendations to improve sustainable Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/sustainability/sustainability-security-recommendations

Design Principles

TopicURL
Apply WAF design principles to AI workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/design-principles
Use architecture patterns that improve cost optimizationhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/design-patterns
Apply Cost Optimization design principles in Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/principles
Design for capacity resilience in Azure architectureshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/design-guides/capacity-resilience
Use WAF design principles for Azure HPC architectureshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/hpc/hpc-design-principles
Apply mission-critical design principles on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-design-principles
Apply Operational Excellence design principles in Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/principles
Apply Performance Efficiency design principles in Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/principles
Apply reliability design principles to Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/principles
Use WAF-aligned design principles for SaaS on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/design-principles
Apply security design principles with zero trusthttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/principles
Apply sustainability design methodology for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/sustainability/sustainability-design-methodology

Tradeoffs

TopicURL
Analyze cost optimization tradeoffs across WAF pillarshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/tradeoffs
Balance regions and availability zones for reliability and costhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/design-guides/regions-availability-zones
Evaluate operational excellence tradeoffs in Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/tradeoffs
Analyze performance efficiency tradeoffs across WAF pillarshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/tradeoffs
Analyze reliability tradeoffs across WAF pillarshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/tradeoffs
Evaluate security tradeoffs in Azure architectureshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/tradeoffs

Service Guides

TopicURL
Apply WAF best practices to Azure App Service Web Appshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/app-service-web-apps
Configure Azure Monitor Application Insights using WAF guidancehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/application-insights
Apply WAF best practices to Azure API Managementhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-api-management
Apply WAF best practices to Azure Application Gateway v2https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-application-gateway
Design and configure Azure Blob Storage with WAF best practiceshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-blob-storage
Apply Well-Architected best practices to Azure Container Appshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-container-apps
Apply WAF best practices to Azure Database for MySQLhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-database-for-mysql
Use WAF-aligned architecture for Azure Databrickshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-databricks
Optimize Azure Disk Storage using WAF guidancehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-disk-storage
Design Event Grid architectures with WAF best practiceshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-event-grid
Optimize Azure Event Hubs using WAF-aligned best practiceshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-event-hubs
Architect Azure ExpressRoute connectivity with WAFhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-expressroute
Apply Well-Architected best practices to Azure Fileshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-files
Apply WAF best practices to Azure Firewallhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-firewall
Design Azure Front Door for global reliability and performancehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-front-door
Configure Azure Functions using WAF-aligned best practiceshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-functions
Apply Well-Architected guidance to Azure Kubernetes Servicehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-kubernetes-service
Design Azure Load Balancer deployments with WAF guidancehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-load-balancer
Apply WAF best practices to Azure Local deploymentshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-local
Apply Well-Architected practices to Azure Log Analyticshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-log-analytics
Apply WAF principles to Azure Machine Learning deploymentshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-machine-learning
Apply WAF best practices to Azure Managed Redishttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-managed-redis
Optimize Azure NetApp Files with WAF-aligned configurationshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-netapp-files
Apply Well-Architected practices to Azure Service Bushttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-service-bus
Design Azure Service Fabric clusters using WAF principleshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-service-fabric
Design Azure SQL Database with WAF practiceshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-sql-database
Apply WAF guidance to Azure SQL Managed Instancehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-sql-managed-instance
Architect Azure Traffic Manager with WAF-aligned routinghttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-traffic-manager
Design Azure Virtual WAN architectures using WAF guidancehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/azure-virtual-wan
Apply WAF best practices to Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQLhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/cosmos-db
Apply WAF best practices to Azure Database for PostgreSQLhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/postgresql
Implement WAF-aligned design for Azure VMshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/virtual-machines
Design Azure Virtual Network using WAF guidancehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/service-guides/virtual-network

Workload Patterns

TopicURL
Apply Well-Architected principles to AI workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/
Design AI-enabled applications on Azure using WAFhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/application-design
Select application platforms for AI workloads on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/application-platform
Use reference architecture patterns for Azure AI workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/architecture-pattern
Select and design data platforms for Azure AIhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/data-platform
Use a structured design methodology for AI workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/design-methodology
Apply Well-Architected principles to Azure AI workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/get-started
Design grounding data for Azure AI applicationshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/grounding-data-design
Implement MLOps and GenAIOps for Azure AI workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/mlops-genaiops
Operate production AI workloads on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/operations
Define roles and personas for Azure AI teamshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/personas
Apply responsible AI practices in Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/responsible-ai
Test and evaluate Azure AI models and systemshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/test
Design training data pipelines for Azure AI workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/training-data-design
Design high-performance computing workloads on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/hpc/
Apply Well-Architected guidance to Azure HPC workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/hpc/get-started-overview
Adopt a reference architecture pattern for Azure HPChttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/hpc/hpc-architecture-pattern
Design mission-critical workloads on Azure for high reliabilityhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/
Design resilient mission-critical applications on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-application-design
Select Azure application platforms for mission-critical appshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-application-platform
Adopt mission-critical architecture pattern on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-architecture-pattern
Choose data platforms for mission-critical Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-data-platform
Design deployment and testing for mission-critical workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-deployment-testing
Use mission-critical design methodology on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-design-methodology
Design networking for mission-critical Azure applicationshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-networking-connectivity
Operationalize mission-critical workloads with DevOps on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-operational-procedures
Apply WAF to mission-critical Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-overview
Implement security for mission-critical Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-security
Apply WAF best practices to SaaS solutions on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/
Develop an AI strategy for Azure-based SaaS productshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/ai-strategy
Design billing and cost management for SaaS on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/billing-cost-management
Choose and operate compute platforms for SaaS on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/compute
Design data platform and tenancy for SaaS workloads on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/data
Apply structured design methodology to SaaS workloads on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/design-methodology
Apply DevOps practices to manage SaaS workloads on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/devops
Implement governance for SaaS workloads on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/governance
Design identity and access management for SaaS workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/identity-access
Design incident management processes for SaaS solutions on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/incident-management
Design networking topology and security for SaaS on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/networking
Plan region selection and resource organization for SaaS on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/resource-organization
Design sustainable AI workloads on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/sustainability/sustainable-ai-design

Assessment Questions

TopicURL
Use AI workload assessment for WAF alignmenthttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/ai/assessment
Assess Cost Optimization maturity for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/maturity-model
Use Azure Well-Architected Review assessment effectivelyhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/design-guides/implementing-recommendations
Use mission-critical workload readiness assessment on Azurehttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/mission-critical/mission-critical-assessment
Evaluate Operational Excellence maturity for workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/maturity-model
Assess Performance Efficiency maturity for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/maturity-model
Assess reliability maturity for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/maturity-model
Use SaaS workload assessment tool for Azure architectureshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/assessment
Evaluate security maturity for Azure workloadshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/maturity-model

FAQ

What does the azure-well-architected skill do?

Expert guidance for designing, assessing, and optimizing Azure workloads using Azure Well Architected. Covers design review checklists, recommendations, design principles, tradeoffs, service guides, workload patterns, and assessment questions. Use when designing AI/HPC/SaaS workloads, AVD/AVS deployments, WAF assessments, or App Service/AKS/SQL architectures, and other Azure Well Architected related development tasks.

How do I install azure-well-architected?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/microsoftdocs/agent-skills --skill azure-well-architected in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/azure-well-architected/ (personal) or .claude/skills/azure-well-architected/ (project).

Which AI agents can use azure-well-architected?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is azure-well-architected safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains azure-well-architected?

It is published by microsoftdocs in microsoftdocs/agent-skills. It has 646 recorded installs.

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