Skills azure-observability

📊

azure-observability

Name: azure-observability
Author: microsoft

Safe

Azure Observability with Monitor, App Insights, and KQL

This skill provides Claude with knowledge of Azure monitoring services, Application Insights, Log Analytics, KQL queries, and SDK references for implementing full-stack observability in Azure applications.

Supports: Claude Codex Code(CC)

🥉 73 Bronze

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Using "azure-observability". Query recent exceptions from Application Insights

Expected outcome:

Use this KQL query:

```kql
AppExceptions
| where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)
| project TimeGenerated, Message, StackTrace
| order by TimeGenerated desc
```

Or use the Azure CLI:

```bash
az monitor log-analytics query \
--workspace WORKSPACE_ID \
--analytics-query "AppExceptions | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)"
```

Using "azure-observability". How to configure OpenTelemetry for Python

Expected outcome:

Install the package:

```bash
pip install azure-monitor-opentelemetry
```

Then configure in your Python code:

```python
from azure.monitor.opentelemetry import configure_azure_monitor
configure_azure_monitor()
```

Best practices:
- Call configure_azure_monitor() early, before importing instrumented libraries
- Use environment variables for the connection string in production
- Set cloud role name for multi-service Application Map

Security Audit

Safe

v1 • 2/20/2026

This is an official Microsoft documentation skill containing only markdown reference files. All 57 static findings are false positives: backtick commands are CLI examples in documentation, URLs point to Microsoft Learn documentation, and environment variable patterns are standard configuration. No malicious behavior detected.

Files scanned

329

Lines analyzed

findings

Total audits

No security issues found

Audited by: claude

Quality Score

Architecture

100

Maintainability

Content

Community

100

Security

Spec Compliance

What You Can Build

Debug application errors with App Insights

Query Application Insights to find recent exceptions, failed requests, and performance issues in production applications.

Analyze infrastructure metrics

Use Azure Monitor and Log Analytics to query CPU, memory, and disk metrics across Azure resources.

Build custom monitoring dashboards

Create KQL queries for custom reports and integrate with Azure Workbooks for interactive visualizations.

Try These Prompts

Query recent errors

Show me how to query recent errors from Application Insights using KQL to find exceptions in the last hour.

Check resource performance

Write a KQL query to get average response time and request count from App Insights, grouped by operation name.

Set up OpenTelemetry

Show me how to configure Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry for a Python FastAPI application with custom span attributes.

Monitor Azure infrastructure

Give me CLI commands to list Log Analytics workspaces and query CPU metrics for virtual machines.

Best Practices

Use KQL queries with time filters (ago()) to limit result sets and improve performance
Configure OpenTelemetry at application startup before importing other instrumented libraries
Use AAD authentication instead of instrumentation keys for production workloads

Avoid

Avoid querying large time ranges without filters - this causes slow queries and high costs
Do not hardcode connection strings in source code - use environment variables
Avoid logging sensitive user data in Application Insights - this creates compliance issues

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Azure Monitor and Application Insights?

Azure Monitor is the core platform for collecting metrics and logs. Application Insights is an APM (Application Performance Monitoring) solution built on Azure Monitor, focused on application-level observability with distributed tracing.

Do I need an Azure subscription to use this skill?

Yes, this skill provides reference documentation for Azure services. Actual queries require an Azure subscription with Log Analytics workspaces or Application Insights resources.

Can this skill create Application Insights resources?

No, this skill provides documentation and query examples. Use the Azure CLI (az monitor app-insights component create) or Azure portal to create resources.

What is KQL?

KQL (Kusto Query Language) is the query language for Azure Log Analytics and Application Insights. It is similar to SQL but optimized for log analytics with time-series data.

How do I enable the Azure MCP server?

Run /azure:setup or enable the Azure MCP via /mcp command. The MCP provides direct access to monitor_metrics_query, monitor_logs_query, and kusto_query commands.

Is OpenTelemetry supported for all Azure services?

OpenTelemetry is supported for many Azure services via the Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry Distro. Check the SDK documentation for the latest supported languages and frameworks.