Azure Resource Availability

Query live Azure APIs to validate resource availability before template generation or deployment. Checks VM SKU restrictions, Kubernetes/runtime version support, API version compatibility, and subscription quota. Use during requirements gathering and preflight to catch deployment failures early.

Details

Property	Value
Skill Directory	.github/skills/azure-resource-availability/
Phase	Pre-Deploy
User Invocable	✅ Yes
Usage	/azure-resource-availability Resource type, region, and SKU/version to validate

Documentation

Azure Resource Availability

Validate that Azure resources, SKUs, service versions, and API versions are available in the target subscription and region before generating templates or deploying.

When to Use

• Requirements Gathering — After collecting region + resource type, validate availability before finalizing
• Template Generation — When selecting API versions and resource properties, verify they exist
• Preflight — As a blocking gate before what-if analysis
• Deployment Retry — After a deployment failure, diagnose availability issues

Procedure

Step 1: Parse Resources to Validate

Extract the resource list from one of these sources (in priority order):

1. ARM template — Parse template.json for resource types, API versions, SKUs, and service versions
2. Requirements document — Parse requirements.json for requested resources
3. User input — Resource type, region, and version/SKU provided directly

For each resource, extract:

• Resource type (e.g., Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters)
• Target region
• API version used in the template
• SKU or VM size (if applicable)
• Service version (e.g., Kubernetes version, runtime version)

Step 2: Check VM/Compute SKU Availability

For any resource that uses a VM SKU (AKS node pools, App Service Plans, VMs):

# Check if the SKU is available and unrestricted in the target region
az vm list-skus \
  --location {region} \
  --resource-type virtualMachines \
  --size {sku_name} \
  --output json 2>&1 | \
  jq '[.[] | select(.restrictions | length == 0)] | length'

Interpret results:

• Count > 0 → SKU is available
• Count = 0 → SKU is restricted or doesn't exist in this region

If unavailable, find alternatives:

# Find similar unrestricted SKUs in the same family
# Example: if Standard_B2s is restricted, find other 2-vCPU options
az vm list-skus \
  --location {region} \
  --resource-type virtualMachines \
  --output json 2>&1 | \
  jq -r '[.[] | select((.restrictions | length == 0) and (.capabilities[] | select(.name == "vCPUs" and .value == "2"))) | .name] | unique | .[:5] | .[]'

Step 3: Check Service Version Availability

Kubernetes (AKS)

# Get supported non-preview Kubernetes versions
az aks get-versions \
  --location {region} \
  --output json 2>&1 | \
  jq -r '[.values[] | select(.isPreview != true)] | sort_by(.version) | .[].version'

Check: Is the requested version in the list?

• If not, report which versions ARE available
• Flag if the version exists but is preview-only or LTS-only

Function App / App Service Runtimes

# Linux runtimes
az functionapp list-runtimes --os-type linux --output json 2>&1 | \
  jq -r '.[] | "\(.runtime): \(.version)"'

# Web App runtimes
az webapp list-runtimes --os-type linux --output json 2>&1

Check: Is the requested runtime + version available?

Container Apps

# Check if Container Apps is available in the region
az provider show \
  --namespace Microsoft.App \
  --query "resourceTypes[?resourceType=='containerApps'].locations" \
  --output json 2>&1

Step 4: Check API Version Compatibility

For each resource type in the template, verify the API version is valid:

# Get available API versions for a resource type
az provider show \
  --namespace {namespace} \
  --query "resourceTypes[?resourceType=='{resourceType}'].apiVersions" \
  --output json 2>&1

Example: For Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters:

az provider show \
  --namespace Microsoft.ContainerService \
  --query "resourceTypes[?resourceType=='managedClusters'].apiVersions" \
  --output json 2>&1

Validation rules:

1. The API version used in the template MUST appear in the list
2. Prefer the latest stable (non-preview) version
3. If the template uses a preview API version, flag it as a warning
4. Report if a newer stable version is available

Recommend the latest stable API version:

# Get the latest non-preview API version
az provider show \
  --namespace {namespace} \
  --query "resourceTypes[?resourceType=='{resourceType}'].apiVersions" \
  --output json 2>&1 | \
  jq -r '.[][] | select(test("preview") | not)' | head -1

Step 5: Check Subscription Quota

For compute resources, verify the subscription has available quota:

# Check vCPU quota usage in the target region
az vm list-usage \
  --location {region} \
  --output json 2>&1 | \
  jq '.[] | select(.name.value | test("cores|vCPU"; "i")) | {name: .name.localizedValue, current: .currentValue, limit: .limit, available: (.limit - .currentValue)}'

Check: Will the deployment exceed quota limits?

• Calculate total vCPUs needed (node count × vCPUs per VM)
• Compare against available quota
• Flag if available quota < required

Step 6: Check Resource Provider Registration

# Verify the resource provider is registered in the subscription
az provider show \
  --namespace {namespace} \
  --query "registrationState" \
  --output tsv 2>&1

If not registered: Flag as blocking — the deployment will fail. Include the registration command:

az provider register --namespace {namespace}

Step 7: Generate Availability Report

Produce a structured report with pass/fail/warning for each check.

Save to: .azure/deployments/{deployment-id}/availability-report.md (if deployment context exists)

# Resource Availability Report

**Region:** {region}
**Subscription:** {subscription-name} (`{subscription-id}`)
**Checked:** {ISO 8601 timestamp}

## Summary

| Check | Status | Details |
|-------|--------|---------|
| VM SKU: {sku} in {region} | ✅ Available / ❌ Restricted | {details} |
| K8s Version: {version} | ✅ Supported / ❌ Unsupported | {alternatives} |
| API Version: {api-version} | ✅ Valid / ⚠️ Outdated / ❌ Invalid | Latest stable: {latest} |
| Quota: vCPUs | ✅ Sufficient / ⚠️ Low / ❌ Exceeded | {current}/{limit} |
| Provider: {namespace} | ✅ Registered / ❌ Not registered | {command} |

## Availability Gate

**🟢 PASSED** — All checks passed. Safe to proceed with template generation/deployment.
**🟡 WARNINGS** — Non-blocking issues found. Review before proceeding.
**🔴 BLOCKED** — Blocking issues found. Must resolve before proceeding.

## Blocking Issues
{List of issues that prevent deployment}

## Warnings
{List of non-blocking issues}

## Recommendations
{Suggested alternatives for any failed checks}

Step 8: Return Structured Results

Return the report to the calling agent/skill with:

• Overall gate status: PASSED, WARNINGS, or BLOCKED
• Per-resource availability details
• Recommended alternatives for any failures

JSON output (for programmatic consumption by other agents):

{
  "gate": "PASSED|WARNINGS|BLOCKED",
  "region": "{region}",
  "timestamp": "{ISO 8601}",
  "checks": [
    {
      "type": "vm-sku",
      "resource": "{resource-name}",
      "requested": "{sku}",
      "status": "available|restricted|unavailable",
      "alternatives": ["{alt1}", "{alt2}"]
    },
    {
      "type": "service-version",
      "resource": "{resource-name}",
      "requested": "{version}",
      "status": "supported|lts-only|preview-only|unsupported",
      "supported": ["{v1}", "{v2}", "{v3}"]
    },
    {
      "type": "api-version",
      "resource": "{resource-type}",
      "requested": "{api-version}",
      "status": "valid|outdated|invalid",
      "latestStable": "{latest}",
      "available": ["{v1}", "{v2}"]
    },
    {
      "type": "quota",
      "metric": "vCPUs",
      "required": 2,
      "available": 48,
      "limit": 50,
      "status": "sufficient|low|exceeded"
    },
    {
      "type": "provider-registration",
      "namespace": "{namespace}",
      "status": "registered|not-registered"
    }
  ]
}

Error Handling

Error	Action
Not logged in to Azure	Note in report; in interactive mode suggest az login; in headless mode fail
Region not found	Report as blocking; suggest default regions (East US, West Europe)
Provider namespace unknown	Report as warning; may be a typo in the resource type
Command timeout	Retry once; if still fails, report as "unable to verify" with ❓
Empty results	Treat as "unavailable" — the SKU/version likely doesn't exist

Integration Points

Called by Requirements Gatherer (early validation)

User provides region + resource type + SKU/version
→ /azure-resource-availability checks all three
→ If BLOCKED: present alternatives before finalizing requirements
→ If PASSED: proceed to template generation

Called by Template Generator (API version selection)

Before selecting API version for a resource type
→ /azure-resource-availability checks latest stable API version
→ Generator uses the returned version instead of hardcoding

Called by Preflight (blocking gate)

After template is generated, before what-if
→ /azure-resource-availability parses template for all resources
→ Validates SKUs, versions, API versions, quota
→ If BLOCKED: fail preflight with actionable report
→ If PASSED: proceed to what-if analysis

Called by Deploy Workflow (freshness check)

Before deploying a template (especially if generated days ago)
→ /azure-resource-availability re-checks all versions
→ If any version has been deprecated since generation: warn