microsoft / microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure

Replace microsoft-foundry skill azd context resolution (Step 2) with a script

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microsoft-foundry skills untriaged
Dominant language
Python
Stars
250
Forks
204
Avg merge
1d 12h
Merged PRs (30d)
67

Description

## Summary

Copilot has identified a portion of a skill that is a good candidate for replacement with a script.

The candidate is the **azd context resolution (Step 2)** in the `microsoft-foundry` skill (`SKILL.md`, Common Project Context Resolution).

## Candidate description

**azd context resolution (Step 2)**

This step runs `azd env get-values` — which emits *all* environment variables — and maps a fixed, known set of ~10 named variables (`AZURE_AI_PROJECT_ENDPOINT` / `AZURE_AIPROJECT_ENDPOINT`, `AGENT__NAME`, `AGENT__VERSION`, `AZURE_CONTAINER_REGISTRY_NAME` / `AZURE_CONTAINER_REGISTRY_ENDPOINT`, `APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING`, `AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID`, `AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP`, `AZURE_AI_ACCOUNT_NAME`, `AZURE_AI_PROJECT_NAME`) to deployment context. This is the textbook "command produces a lot of output, only a small part is needed" case — deterministic, output-heavy, and repeated across the deploy/invoke/observe/trace/troubleshoot sub-skills. The script could also fold in the environment-name precedence (`AZURE_ENV_NAME`, then the azd default from `.azure/config.json`) and emit a compact set of resolved values.

## Affected file and lines

- [`SKILL.md` — Step 2: Resolve Environment and Deployment Context (L120–L140)](https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure/blob/164e0cda7b9d75d6e0d64b235d17bd7ff5e2909e/plugin/skills/microsoft-foundry/SKILL.md#L120-L140)

## Next steps

1. **Evaluate the candidate** — confirm the steps are stable and parameterizable, and that the script captures everything the skill needs.
2. **Create both a bash _and_ a PowerShell version** of the script so the skill works across platforms.
3. **Run integration tests** to verify the scripts behave correctly and the skill still completes end-to-end.

## Background Information

### Why replace regular steps with scripts

Replacing a regular, well-defined series of steps with a script can:

- **Reduce token usage** — the skill no longer needs to spell out each command and parse large command output inline; the agent invokes one script and reads a compact result.
- **Improve reliability** — the logic is written and tested once, instead of being re-derived by the agent on every run.
- **Improve determinism** — the same inputs always produce the same steps and output, removing run-to-run variation.
- **Improve speed of execution** — a single script call replaces multiple round-trips of command generation, execution, and large-output parsing.

### Authoring notes for the scripts

- **Reference scripts with markdown links**, not just a bare path to the script file.
- **Include examples** in the skill showing how to run each script (sample invocation with arguments).
- **Briefly explain what each script does** where it is referenced.
- **The script output should explain what it did**, so the agent and user can understand the result without re-inspecting raw command output.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with SKILL.md Step 2, lines 120–140, and inspect .azure/config.json for the environment-name precedence. Review how the deploy, invoke, observe, trace, and troubleshoot sub-skills use the resolved values, then run the integration tests. Done means bash and PowerShell scripts produce the compact context and the skill still completes end-to-end.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
azure, bash, powershell
Domain
cloud, devops, tooling
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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