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Azure Developer CLI Preview: Streamlined Cloud Development

Azure Developer Tools CLI DevOps Cloud Native

The Azure Developer CLI (azd) is a new developer-centric command-line tool for building cloud applications. Previewed at Ignite 2021, it provides an opinionated, high-level workflow for the full development lifecycle.

What is Azure Developer CLI?

Azure Developer CLI provides:

  • Template-based setup: Start projects from proven templates
  • Environment management: Development, staging, production
  • Integrated provisioning: Infrastructure as Code with Bicep
  • CI/CD generation: GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps pipelines
  • Simple commands: init, up, deploy, down

Getting Started

Installation

# macOS/Linux
curl -fsSL https://aka.ms/install-azd.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -ex AllSigned -c "Invoke-RestMethod 'https://aka.ms/install-azd.ps1' | Invoke-Expression"

# Verify installation
azd version

# Login to Azure
azd auth login

Initialize a Project

# Start from a template
azd init --template azure-samples/todo-nodejs-mongo

# Or create from scratch
mkdir my-app && cd my-app
azd init

# Project structure created:
# my-app/
# ├── .azure/           # Azure configuration
# ├── infra/            # Bicep templates
# ├── src/              # Application code
# └── azure.yaml        # Project configuration

Project Configuration

# azure.yaml
name: my-todo-app
metadata:
  template: azure-samples/todo-nodejs-mongo@0.0.1

services:
  api:
    project: ./src/api
    language: js
    host: appservice

  web:
    project: ./src/web
    language: js
    host: appservice

pipeline:
  provider: github

Provisioning Infrastructure

Single Command Deployment

# Provision and deploy everything
azd up

# This runs:
# 1. azd provision - Creates Azure resources
# 2. azd deploy - Deploys application code

# Output:
# Deploying services (azd deploy)
#   (1/2) Deploying service api
#   (2/2) Deploying service web
#
# SUCCESS: Your application was deployed to Azure!
#
# Web:  https://my-todo-app-web.azurewebsites.net
# API:  https://my-todo-app-api.azurewebsites.net

Environment Management

# Create environments
azd env new dev
azd env new staging
azd env new prod

# List environments
azd env list

# Switch environments
azd env select staging

# Set environment variables
azd env set DATABASE_URL "mongodb://..."
azd env set API_KEY "secret-key"

# View environment
azd env get-values

Infrastructure Files

// infra/main.bicep
targetScope = 'subscription'

@minLength(1)
@maxLength(64)
param name string

@minLength(1)
param location string

param apiServiceName string = ''
param webServiceName string = ''

var abbrs = loadJsonContent('./abbreviations.json')
var resourceToken = toLower(uniqueString(subscription().id, name, location))
var tags = { 'azd-env-name': name }

resource rg 'Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups@2021-04-01' = {
  name: '${abbrs.resourcesResourceGroups}${name}'
  location: location
  tags: tags
}

module api './app/api.bicep' = {
  name: 'api'
  scope: rg
  params: {
    name: !empty(apiServiceName) ? apiServiceName : '${abbrs.webSitesAppService}api-${resourceToken}'
    location: location
    tags: tags
    applicationInsightsName: monitoring.outputs.applicationInsightsName
    appServicePlanId: appServicePlan.outputs.id
    runtimeName: 'node'
    runtimeVersion: '16-lts'
    appSettings: {
      MONGODB_URI: cosmos.outputs.connectionString
    }
  }
}

module web './app/web.bicep' = {
  name: 'web'
  scope: rg
  params: {
    name: !empty(webServiceName) ? webServiceName : '${abbrs.webSitesAppService}web-${resourceToken}'
    location: location
    tags: tags
    applicationInsightsName: monitoring.outputs.applicationInsightsName
    appServicePlanId: appServicePlan.outputs.id
    runtimeName: 'node'
    runtimeVersion: '16-lts'
    appSettings: {
      API_BASE_URL: api.outputs.uri
    }
  }
}

module appServicePlan './core/host/appserviceplan.bicep' = {
  name: 'appserviceplan'
  scope: rg
  params: {
    name: '${abbrs.webServerFarms}${resourceToken}'
    location: location
    tags: tags
    sku: {
      name: 'B1'
    }
  }
}

module cosmos './core/database/cosmos-mongo.bicep' = {
  name: 'cosmos'
  scope: rg
  params: {
    name: '${abbrs.documentDBDatabaseAccounts}${resourceToken}'
    location: location
    tags: tags
    databaseName: 'todo'
  }
}

module monitoring './core/monitor/monitoring.bicep' = {
  name: 'monitoring'
  scope: rg
  params: {
    location: location
    tags: tags
    logAnalyticsName: '${abbrs.operationalInsightsWorkspaces}${resourceToken}'
    applicationInsightsName: '${abbrs.insightsComponents}${resourceToken}'
  }
}

output AZURE_LOCATION string = location
output AZURE_TENANT_ID string = tenant().tenantId
output API_URI string = api.outputs.uri
output WEB_URI string = web.outputs.uri

CI/CD Pipeline Generation

# Generate pipeline
azd pipeline config

# This creates:
# - .github/workflows/azure-dev.yml (for GitHub)
# - .azdo/pipelines/azure-dev.yml (for Azure DevOps)

Generated GitHub Actions workflow:

# .github/workflows/azure-dev.yml
name: Azure Dev

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  id-token: write
  contents: read

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    env:
      AZURE_CLIENT_ID: ${{ vars.AZURE_CLIENT_ID }}
      AZURE_TENANT_ID: ${{ vars.AZURE_TENANT_ID }}
      AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID: ${{ vars.AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID }}
      AZURE_ENV_NAME: ${{ vars.AZURE_ENV_NAME }}
      AZURE_LOCATION: ${{ vars.AZURE_LOCATION }}

    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Install azd
        uses: Azure/setup-azd@v0.1.0

      - name: Log in with Azure (Federated Credentials)
        if: ${{ env.AZURE_CLIENT_ID != '' }}
        run: |
          azd auth login `
            --client-id "$Env:AZURE_CLIENT_ID" `
            --federated-credential-provider "github" `
            --tenant-id "$Env:AZURE_TENANT_ID"
        shell: pwsh

      - name: Provision Infrastructure
        run: azd provision --no-prompt
        env:
          AZURE_ENV_NAME: ${{ vars.AZURE_ENV_NAME }}
          AZURE_LOCATION: ${{ vars.AZURE_LOCATION }}
          AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID: ${{ vars.AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID }}

      - name: Deploy Application
        run: azd deploy --no-prompt

Working with Templates

List Available Templates

# Browse templates
azd template list

# Popular templates:
# - todo-nodejs-mongo       Node.js + MongoDB
# - todo-python-mongo       Python + MongoDB
# - todo-csharp-cosmos-sql  C# + Cosmos DB
# - todo-java-mongo         Java + MongoDB
# - react-web-app           React frontend

Create Your Own Template

# Initialize as template
azd init --template-name my-company-template

# Template structure:
my-company-template/
├── .azdo/                    # Azure DevOps pipelines
├── .devcontainer/            # Dev container config
├── .github/                  # GitHub Actions
├── .vscode/                  # VS Code settings
├── infra/                    # Bicep templates
│   ├── main.bicep
│   ├── main.parameters.json
│   └── core/                 # Reusable modules
├── src/
│   ├── api/
│   └── web/
├── azure.yaml                # Project manifest
├── README.md
└── .gitignore

Template manifest:

# azure.yaml for template
name: my-company-template
metadata:
  template: my-company/microservices-template@1.0.0
  version: 1.0.0

infra:
  provider: bicep
  path: ./infra

services:
  api:
    project: ./src/api
    language: csharp
    host: containerapp
    docker:
      path: ./src/api/Dockerfile

  worker:
    project: ./src/worker
    language: csharp
    host: containerapp
    docker:
      path: ./src/worker/Dockerfile

  web:
    project: ./src/web
    language: js
    host: staticwebapp

hooks:
  preprovision:
    shell: sh
    run: ./scripts/pre-provision.sh

  postprovision:
    shell: sh
    run: ./scripts/post-provision.sh

  predeploy:
    shell: sh
    run: npm run build

Advanced Commands

Monitoring and Logs

# View recent logs
azd monitor --logs

# Open Application Insights
azd monitor --live

# Open Azure Portal
azd monitor --portal

# View specific service logs
azd deploy api --logs

Partial Operations

# Provision only
azd provision

# Deploy only (after provision)
azd deploy

# Deploy specific service
azd deploy api

# Preview changes before provision
azd provision --preview

Clean Up

# Delete all resources
azd down

# Keep resource group but delete resources
azd down --purge

# Force delete without confirmation
azd down --force

Integration with VS Code

// .vscode/tasks.json
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "azd: up",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "azd up",
      "problemMatcher": []
    },
    {
      "label": "azd: deploy",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "azd deploy",
      "problemMatcher": []
    },
    {
      "label": "azd: provision",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "azd provision",
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ]
}

Azure Developer CLI represents a significant shift toward developer productivity. By providing high-level commands and proven templates, it reduces the complexity of building cloud applications while maintaining flexibility.

Resources

Michael John Pena

Michael John Pena

Senior Data Engineer based in Sydney. Writing about data, cloud, and technology.