SkillsSKILLS
Cloud

azure-hosted-copilot-sdk▌

microsoft/azure-skills · updated Apr 8, 2026

$npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/azure-skills --skill azure-hosted-copilot-sdk
summary

Build and deploy GitHub Copilot SDK applications to Azure with flexible model configuration.

  • ›Three scaffolding paths: create new greenfield projects, add SDK services to existing repos, or deploy existing SDK apps with Azure infrastructure
  • ›Supports three model configurations: GitHub's default models, specific GitHub models via discovery, or bring-your-own-model (BYOM) on Azure with DefaultAzureCredential authentication
  • ›Includes complete templates with Express/TypeScript API, React/Vi
skill.md

GitHub Copilot SDK on Azure

Codebase Detection — MANDATORY FIRST CHECK

Before routing to azure-prepare for ANY prompts involving an existing codebase, scan the workspace for Copilot SDK markers. If ANY marker is found, this skill MUST be used instead of azure-prepare:

Marker Where to check
@github/copilot-sdk package.json dependencies
copilot-sdk package.json name or dependencies
CopilotClient Source files (.ts, .js)
createSession + sendAndWait Source files (.ts, .js)

⚠️ Warning: ANY prompt targeting an existing codebase — deploy, modify, add feature, update, enhance — MUST trigger this skill when codebase contains @github/copilot-sdk, even if the prompt does not mention "copilot". Do NOT fall through to azure-prepare.

Step 1: Route

User wants Action
Build new (empty project) Step 2A (scaffold)
Add new SDK service to existing repo Step 2B (scaffold alongside)
Deploy existing SDK app to Azure Step 2C (add infra to existing SDK app)
Modify/add features to existing SDK app Use codebase context + SDK references to implement
Add SDK to existing app code Integrate SDK
Use Azure/own model Step 3 (BYOM config)

Step 2A: Scaffold New (Greenfield)

azd init --template azure-samples/copilot-sdk-service

Template includes API (Express/TS) + Web UI (React/Vite) + infra (Bicep) + Dockerfiles + token scripts — do NOT recreate. See SDK ref.

Step 2B: Add SDK Service to Existing Repo

User has existing code and wants a new Copilot SDK service alongside it. Scaffold template to a temp dir, copy the API service + infra into the user's repo, adapt azure.yaml to include both existing and new services. See deploy existing ref.

Step 2C: Deploy Existing SDK App

User already has a working Copilot SDK app and needs Azure infra. See deploy existing ref.

Step 3: Model Configuration

Three model paths (layers on top of 2A/2B):

Path Config
GitHub default No model param — SDK picks default
GitHub specific model: "<name>" — use listModels() to discover
Azure BYOM model + provider with bearerToken via DefaultAzureCredential

⚠️ BYOM Auth — MANDATORY: Azure BYOM configurations MUST use DefaultAzureCredential (local dev) or ManagedIdentityCredential (production) to obtain a bearerToken. The ONLY supported auth pattern is bearerToken in the provider config. See auth-best-practices.md for the credential pattern and model config ref for the full BYOM code example.

See model config ref.

Step 4: Deploy

Invoke azure-prepare (skip its Step 0 routing — scaffolding is done) → azure-validate → azure-deploy in order.

Rules

  • Read AGENTS.md in user's repo before changes
  • Docker required (docker info)
  • BYOM auth: ONLY bearerToken via DefaultAzureCredential or ManagedIdentityCredential — no other auth pattern is supported