Azure Resource Lookup

Azure Resource Lookup

Find Azure resources efficiently across subscriptions and return concise, actionable metadata.

Use This Skill When

• The user cannot find a resource in Azure
• The user needs inventory by type, region, tag, or naming pattern
• The user needs configuration details before making changes
• The user needs to verify resource existence or validate naming conventions

Context: Lookup Maturity

Immature: Manual searches in portal, incomplete knowledge of resources Developing: CLI queries, some automation of common lookups Managed: Scripted queries with filtering, tags for organization → Target Optimized: Auto-indexing, graph-based discovery, dependency visualization

Required Inputs

• Scope: Management group, subscription, resource group, or single app name?
• Resource type: Specific type (VMs, databases) or keyword search?
• Filters: Region, environment tag, owner, creation date range?
• Required fields: Basic (id, name, location) or detailed (config, cost, status)?
• Output format: Table, JSON, or filtered list?

Decision Tree

What are you looking for?
├─ Specific resource by name → Direct query: az resource show --name
├─ All resources of one type → Type filter: az resource list --resource-type
├─ Resources in a region → Location filter: az resource list --location
├─ Resources by tag → Tag filter: az resource list --query "[?tags.Environment=='Prod']"
└─ Unknown (keyword search) → Graph query with semantic search

How broad is the scope?
├─ Single resource group → Query is fast
├─ Single subscription → Query takes 5-10 seconds
├─ Multiple subscriptions → Use Azure Resource Graph (optimized)
└─ Entire organization → Use Azure Resource Graph with batch mode

Do you need real-time status or historical data?
├─ Real-time → CLI query (az resource list)
├─ Historical → Query resource logs (Activity logs)
├─ Cost-related → Query Cost Management API

Workflow

Phase 1: Query Resources

1. Find by name:

```bash # Exact match az resource show --name "myappdb" --resource-type "Microsoft.Sql/servers/databases"

# Output { "id": "/subscriptions/abc123/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.Sql/servers/myserver/databases/myappdb", "name": "myappdb", "type": "Microsoft.Sql/servers/databases", "location": "eastus", "properties": { "status": "Online", "edition": "Standard", "serviceLevelObjective": "S0" } } ```

1. Find by type (all VMs in subscription):

```bash az resource list --resource-type "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines" \ --query "[].{name:name, group:resourceGroup, location:location, vmSize:properties.hardwareProfile.vmSize}" \ -o table

# Output Name Group Location VmSize vm-prod-1 prod-rg eastus StandardD2sv3 vm-prod-2 prod-rg eastus StandardD2sv3 vm-dev-1 dev-rg eastus Standard_B2s ```

1. Find by tag (all prod resources):

``bash az resource list --query "[?tags.Environment=='Prod']" \ --query "[].{name:name, type:type, group:resourceGroup}" \ -o table ``

1. Find by region:

``bash az resource list --location "eastus" \ --query "[].{name:name, type:type, sku:sku.name}" \ -o table ``

1. Find by naming pattern:

``bash # All resources starting with "api-" az graph query -q "resources | where name startswith 'api-'" \ -o table ``

Phase 2: Azure Resource Graph (advanced queries)

Why Resource Graph? Fast, parallel queries across subscriptions without hitting throttle limits.

1. Query all subscriptions (as organization admin):

``bash # All databases across subscriptions az graph query -q "resources | where type == 'microsoft.sql/servers/databases' | project name, resourceGroup, location, properties.status" ``

1. Find resources by partial name (fuzzy search):

``bash az graph query -q "resources | where name contains 'prod' and type contains 'compute'" ``

1. Find orphaned resources (no tags, old creation date):

``bash az graph query -q "resources | where tags == '{}' and tostring(properties.timeCreated) < '2023-01-01'" ``

1. Find underutilized resources (check costs):

``bash # App Service plans with low CPU az graph query -q "resources | where type == 'microsoft.web/serverfarms' | project name, resourceGroup, properties.workerCount, properties.sku" ``

Phase 3: Extract Configuration Details

1. Database configuration:

``bash az sql db show --resource-group prod-rg --server myserver --name myappdb \ --query "{name:name, status:status, tier:edition, slo:serviceLevelObjective, backupRetention:longTermRetentionBackupResourceId}" ``

1. VM configuration:

``bash az vm show --resource-group prod-rg --name vm-prod-1 \ --query "{name:name, vmSize:hardwareProfile.vmSize, osType:osProfile.osType, imageId:storageProfile.imageReference.id, powerState:powerState}" ``

1. App Service configuration:

``bash az webapp config show --resource-group prod-rg --name myapp \ --query "{runtime:properties.runtime, ftpEnabled:properties.ftpsState, http20Enabled:properties.http20Enabled, minTlsVersion:properties.minTlsVersion}" ``

1. Network configuration:

``bash az network nsg show --resource-group prod-rg --name prod-nsg \ --query "securityRules[].{name:name, protocol:protocol, sourcePort:sourcePortRange, destPort:destinationPortRange, access:access, direction:direction}" ``

Phase 4: Cost & Metrics Lookup

1. Estimated monthly cost:

``bash # App Service pricing az vm show --resource-group prod-rg --name vm-prod-1 \ --query "hardwareProfile.vmSize" | xargs -I {} \ az vm list-prices --location eastus --vmImage UbuntuLTS --query "[?name=='{}'].prices[].value" -o table ``

1. Resource usage metrics (for decisions):

``bash # Last 7 days average CPU az monitor metrics list --resource-group prod-rg --resource-type virtualMachines \ --name vm-prod-1 --metric Percentage\ CPU --start-time 2024-04-16T00:00:00Z \ --aggregation Average --interval PT1H ``

Phase 5: Validate & Deep Inspect

1. Checklist before changes:

``` Resource: myappdb (SQL Database) ✓ Exists in: prod-rg / eastus ✓ Status: Online ✓ Backups enabled: Yes (35-day retention) ✓ Access: Private endpoint configured ✓ Monitoring: Application Insights connected ✓ Owner tag: team-database (found)

Safe to modify: YES (all prerequisites met) ```

1. Dependencies (what breaks if we change this?):

```bash # Find all app services using this database az graph query -q "resources | where properties.connectionStrings contains 'myappdb'"

# Find who has access az role assignment list --resource-group prod-rg --resource-name myappdb ```

1. Recent changes (who touched this?):

``bash az monitor activity-log list --resource-group prod-rg \ --query "[?resourceId contains 'myappdb']" \ --query "[].{time:eventTimestamp, caller:caller, operationName:operationName.value}" \ -o table ``

Output Contract

1. Query Summary

• What was searched?
• How many results?
• Time taken?

1. Resource Table (matching results)

• Name, Type, Location, Status
• Resource Group, Tags
• Relevant config fields

1. Notable Findings

• ⚠️ Untagged resources
• ⚠️ Old/orphaned resources
• ⚠️ Non-standard configurations
• ✓ Best practices followed

1. Configuration Details (if requested)

• Current settings
• Recent changes (Activity Log)
• Dependencies (what uses this?)

1. Suggested Next Steps

• Inspect related resources
• Check cost/metrics
• Validate before changes

Guardrails

• Always confirm scope before broad queries: Querying entire org can take time.
• Check access first: Ensure you have permissions to view resources.
• Avoid destructive commands in lookup workflows: This skill is read-only.
• Mark stale data: If discovery is incomplete, flag assumptions.
• Use Resource Graph for scale: CLI is faster for single subscriptions; Graph for multi-subscription.
• Protect sensitive output: Don't expose API keys or connection strings from config lookups.
• Validate query results: Don't assume 0 results = resource doesn't exist (could be permissions issue).

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: manu14357
• Source: manu14357/zskills
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://zskills.vercel.app

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.