Azure Stack Deploy

Run an Azure Deployment Stack create (subscription scope) for a prepared Git-Ape deployment artifact and write state.json (schemaVersion 1.0). Use locally so the result matches the CI deploy workflow.

Details

Property	Value
Skill Directory	.github/skills/azure-stack-deploy/
Phase	General
User Invocable	✅ Yes
Usage	/azure-stack-deploy Deployment ID (folder under .azure/deployments/) — optional --location override

Documentation

Azure Stack Deploy

Deploy a Git-Ape deployment artifact as a subscription-scoped Azure Deployment Stack (az stack sub create --action-on-unmanage deleteAll). The stack is the lifecycle owner of every resource the template creates — across resource groups and subscription scope — which makes destroy idempotent in a single call (see azure-stack-destroy).

This skill produces the same state.json schema (schemaVersion: "1.0") as the CI workflow at .github/workflows/git-ape-deploy.yml, so local deployments and pipeline deployments are interchangeable.

When to Use

• Local deployment from VS Code or terminal (the git-ape agent invokes this in Stage 3)
• Re-deploying an existing deployment ID after template edits — stacks are stateful, so this is an in-place update
• Any time you would otherwise run az deployment sub create against a Git-Ape template.json

Do NOT use for

• Tearing down / destroying an existing deployment — use azure-stack-destroy instead
• What-if preview / preflight validation without deploying — use azure-deployment-preflight instead
• Off-topic (non-Azure, non-deployment) requests
• Generating or editing ARM templates — use azure-prepare or another IaC authoring skill

Prerequisites

Tool	Why
az (Azure CLI ≥ 2.59)	az stack sub requires CLI ≥ 2.50; 2.59 has the latest stack flags
jq	State capture and JSON extraction
bash ≥ 4 OR PowerShell 7+	Either runner works
Active az login	Skill exits early if no subscription is selected
Existing template.json (and optional parameters.json) under .azure/deployments/<id>/	Source artifacts

Procedure

1. Locate deployment artifacts

DEPLOYMENT_ID="deploy-20260506-001"
DEPLOYMENT_PATH=".azure/deployments/$DEPLOYMENT_ID"

[[ -f "$DEPLOYMENT_PATH/template.json" ]] || { echo "template.json missing"; exit 1; }

If parameters.json is present, location, project (or projectName), and environment are read from it. Defaults: eastus / unknown / dev.

2. Run the script

.github/skills/azure-stack-deploy/scripts/deploy-stack.sh \
  --deployment-id "$DEPLOYMENT_ID"

PowerShell equivalent:

.github/skills/azure-stack-deploy/scripts/deploy-stack.ps1 `
  -DeploymentId "$DEPLOYMENT_ID"

The script:

1. Resolves location, project, environment from parameters.json (or defaults)
2. Validates Azure CLI session (az account show)
3. Calls az stack sub create with the canonical Git-Ape flag set:
   • --action-on-unmanage deleteAll
   • --deny-settings-mode none
   • --description "Git-Ape deployment <id>"
   • --tags managedBy=git-ape deploymentId=<id>
   • --yes --verbose
4. On stack failure, falls back to az deployment sub create and prints ⚠️ FALLBACK: no multi-RG idempotency, no soft-delete tracking so the trade-off is unambiguous
5. On any deployment failure, dumps the per-operation failure list (az deployment operation sub list) inline so the root cause is visible without clicking into the Portal
6. On success, queries az stack sub show --query "resources[].id" for the live managed-resource list, classifies each resource (type, scope, soft-deletable, purge-protected), and writes the extended state.json
7. Updates metadata.json with status: "succeeded", deployMethod, and resourceGroups[]

3. Inspect output

✅ Deployment succeeded in 142s (method: stack)
State written to: .azure/deployments/deploy-20260506-001/state.json
Stack ID: /subscriptions/<sub>/providers/Microsoft.Resources/deploymentStacks/deploy-20260506-001

To destroy this deployment:
  /azure-stack-destroy deploy-20260506-001

What to tell the user after running

After the script returns, your reply MUST mention:

1. The primitive used: az stack sub create --action-on-unmanage deleteAll (or fallback az deployment sub create)
2. The stack ID (from state.json.stackId) — this is the single handle for destroy
3. That state.json (schemaVersion 1.0) was written under the deployment folder
4. The next-step destroy command: /azure-stack-destroy <deploymentId>

Arguments

Flag (bash)	Param (pwsh)	Required	Description
--deployment-id <id>	-DeploymentId <id>	yes	Folder name under .azure/deployments/
--location <region>	-Location <region>	no	Override the location from parameters.json
--no-fallback	-NoFallback	no	Fail loudly if the stack call fails instead of falling back to az deployment sub create

state.json schema (v1.0)

{
  "schemaVersion": "1.0",
  "deploymentId": "deploy-20260506-001",
  "timestamp": "2026-05-06T12:00:00Z",
  "status": "succeeded",
  "duration": "142s",
  "subscription": "<sub-id>",
  "location": "eastus",
  "project": "myapp",
  "environment": "dev",
  "resourceGroup": "rg-myapp-dev-eastus",
  "deployMethod": "stack",
  "stackId": "/subscriptions/<sub>/providers/Microsoft.Resources/deploymentStacks/deploy-20260506-001",
  "managedResources": [
    {
      "id": "/subscriptions/<sub>/resourceGroups/rg-myapp-dev-eastus/providers/Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/kv-myapp-dev-eus",
      "type": "Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults",
      "scope": "resourceGroup",
      "softDeletable": true,
      "purgeProtected": true
    }
  ],
  "resourceGroups": ["rg-myapp-dev-eastus"],
  "subscriptions": ["<sub-id>"],
  "externalReferences": []
}

See website/docs/deployment/state.md for the full schema reference.

Soft-deletable resource types tracked

Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults, Microsoft.CognitiveServices/accounts, Microsoft.AppConfiguration/configurationStores, Microsoft.ApiManagement/service, Microsoft.MachineLearningServices/workspaces, Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults.

The destroy skill (azure-stack-destroy) consumes the softDeletable and purgeProtected fields to drive its purge sweep.

Failure modes

Symptom	Likely cause	Recovery
Not logged in to Azure	az login missing	Run az login then retry
template.json missing	Wrong deployment ID	Check .azure/deployments/ contents
Stack create fails immediately	Region/policy blocks Deployment Stacks	Re-run without --no-fallback, accept the legacy path, or pick a supported region
Stack succeeds but state.json missing managed resources	az stack sub show race condition	Re-run — the script is idempotent (stacks de-duplicate on --name)

Related

• azure-stack-destroy — the matching destroy skill (single source of truth: stackId)
• azure-deployment-preflight — what-if and permission checks BEFORE deploy
• azure-security-analyzer — security gate (BLOCKING) before deploy confirmation