/azure-well-architected

name: azure-well-architected
description: 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 platforms, SaaS on Azure, AVD/AVS deployments, or core compute/storage/networking services, and other Azure Well Architected related development tasks.
compatibility: Requires network access. Uses mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch or fetch_webpage to retrieve documentation.
metadata:
  generated_at: "2026-11-08"
  generator: "docs2skills/1.0.0"

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](https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/mcp/blob/main/README.md)

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

| Category | Lines | Description | |----------|-------|-------------| | Design Review Checklists | L35-L43 | Checklists to review Azure workloads for cost, operations, performance, reliability, and security best practices and identify gaps against Well-Architected guidance. | | Recommendations | L44-L116 | Prescriptive best practices for Azure cost, operations, performance, reliability, and security—how to design, implement, monitor, and continuously optimize workloads across all Well-Architected pillars. | | Design Principles | L117-L132 | High-level Azure design guidance: cost, performance, reliability, security/Zero Trust, sustainability, operational excellence, capacity resilience, and patterns for AI, HPC, and SaaS workloads. | | Tradeoffs | L133-L142 | Guidance on weighing cost, reliability, performance, security, and operations tradeoffs in Azure architectures, including regions/AZ choices and cross-pillar design decisions. | | Service Guides | L143-L179 | Service-specific Azure Well-Architected guidance: design, configure, secure, and optimize core services (compute, storage, networking, data, PaaS) using WAF best practices. | | Workload Patterns | L180-L224 | Design 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 Questions | L225-L236 | Guided 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

| Topic | URL | |-------|-----| | Use Cost Optimization design review checklist for Azure | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/checklist | | Use operational excellence design review checklist | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/operational-excellence/checklist | | Use performance efficiency design review checklist | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/performance-efficiency/checklist | | Use reliability design checklist for Azure workloads | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/reliability/checklist | | Use the Security design review checklist for workloads | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/security/checklist |

Recommendations

| Topic | URL | |-------|-----| | Align Azure resource usage with billing increments | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/align-usage-to-billing-increments | | Implement cost data collection and review for Azure workloads | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/collect-review-cost-data | | Use consolidation strategies to reduce Azure costs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/consolidation | | Build and maintain a cost model for Azure workloads | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/cost-model | | Create a culture of financial responsibility for cloud costs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/create-culture-financial-responsibility | | Negotiate and obtain best provider rates for Azure | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/get-best-rates | | Reduce Azure workload costs through code optimization | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/optimize-code-costs | | Optimize individual component costs in Azure workloads | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/optimize-component-costs | | Optimize Azure data storage and management costs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimization/optimize-data-costs | | Optimize non-production and production environment costs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/cost-optimiza