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Azure Developer CLI commands overview

The Azure Developer CLI (azd) is designed to streamline the end-to-end developer workflow on Azure. azd provides high-level commands that act as abstractions to simplify common developer tasks such as project initialization, infrastructure provisioning, code deployment, and monitoring. azd commands are available in the terminal, an integrated development environment (IDE), or through CI/CD (continuous integration/continuous deployment) pipelines. In this article, you'll learn about the following:

  • Essential azd command concepts
  • How azd commands compare to other tools
  • The relationship between azd commands and templates
  • Common azd commands and which development tasks they accelerate

Note

Visit the Deploy an Azure Developer CLI template quickstart to explore a sample azd command workflow in more detail.

Compare Azure Developer CLI commands

The emphasis on high-level development stages differentiates azd commands from other command-line tools such as the Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell. Whereas those tools provide numerous commands for granular control over individual Azure resources and configurations, azd provides fewer, broader commands to automate higher-level development tasks such as provisioning multiple resources or deploying multiple services at once.

The following table highlights the differences between a sample azd command and other Azure command-line tools. Note that the azd provision command performs numerous tasks at once, and does not have a direct equivalent in these other tools. Many Azure CLI or PowerShell commands would be required to accomplish the same task.

Tool Sample Command Outcome
Azure Developer CLI azd provision Provisions multiple Azure resources required for an app based on project resources and configurations, such as an Azure resource group, an Azure App Service web app and app service plan, an Azure Storage account, and an Azure Key Vault.
Azure CLI az webapp create --resource-group myResourceGroup --plan myAppServicePlan --name myWebApp Provisions a new web app in the specified resource group and app service plan.
Azure PowerShell New-AzWebApp -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" -Name "myWebApp" -AppServicePlan "myAppServicePlan" Provisions a new web app in the specified resource group and app service plan.

Azure Developer CLI commands and templates

azd commands are able to perform broader workflow tasks due in-part to their integration with the azd template system. Azure Developer CLI templates are code projects that adhere to azd structural conventions and include sample application code, infrastructure files, and configuration files. Most azd templates include the following:

  • .azure folder - Contains essential Azure configurations and environment variables, such as the location to deploy resources or other subscription information.
  • infra folder - Contains all of the Bicep or Terraform infrastructure-as-code files for the azd template.
  • src folder - Contains all of the deployable app source code.
  • azure.yaml file - A configuration file that defines one or more services in your project and maps them to Azure resources defined in the infra folder for deployment.

A screenshot showing an Azure Developer CLI template structure.

Without azd commands, these templates are just standard code repositories. Essentially, azd templates serve as foundational blueprints, while CLI commands act as the engine driving deployment, management, and monitoring of your applications. azd commands use the assets in these templates to perform various tasks.

Using the preceding template as an example:

  • The azd provision command creates resources in Azure using the infrastructure-as-code files in the infra folder of a template.
  • The azd deploy command deploys an app or service defined in the src folder.

Note

azd can also create and manage some Azure resources without the need to define infrastructure-as-code templates manually using the new azd compose feature, which is currently in alpha.

Explore common commands

The following sections provide an overview of some of the most common azd commands to provide examples of working with templates and different development tasks.

Note

For a complete list of azd commands and their parameters, visit the Azure Developer CLI reference page.

Initialize and run a template

  • azd init: Initializes an existing azd template or creates and initializes a new template. This command essentially sets up the necessary files and directories to start working with azd.
  • azd up: A convenience command to provision, package, and deploy all of your app resources in one command. This command is the equivalent of running azd provision, azd package, and azd deploy individually.

Infrastructure Provisioning

  • azd provision: Provisions the required Azure resources such as Azure Container App instances or Azure Storage accounts based on infrastructure-as-code templates or resources defined in azure.yaml.

Code Deployment

  • azd package: Packages the application's code to be deployed to Azure.
  • azd deploy: Deploys your application code to the resources created by the azd provision command.

Monitoring and Management

  • azd monitor: Provides insights into the health and performance of the deployed application

CI/CD Pipeline Configuration

  • azd pipeline config: Configures a CI/CD pipeline for the project. This command sets up continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines to automate the build and deployment processes.

Environment Management

  • azd env list: Lists all the different environments (e.g., development, staging, production) that have been set up for the template.
  • azd env new: Creates a new environment with its own configuration and resources, allowing you to manage multiple environments for different stages of development.

Resource Cleanup

  • azd down: Deletes the Azure resources created by the template to clean up your environment and avoid unnecessary costs.

Next steps

What are Azure Developer CLI templates?