Azure Observability
Route your agent through Azure Monitor, Application Insights, Log Analytics, alerts, and workbooks for metrics, APM, KQL, and dashboards on live Azure workloads.
Overview
Azure Observability is an agent skill for the Operate phase that guides metrics, APM, Log Analytics KQL, alerts, and workbooks on Azure Monitor and Application Insights.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/azure-skills --skill azure-observabilityWhat is this skill?
- Maps Monitor, Application Insights, Log Analytics, Alerts, and Workbooks with when-to-use and CLI/MCP entry points
- Prefers Azure MCP commands: monitor_metrics_query, monitor_logs_query, Application Insights components
- Supports distributed tracing, APM scenarios, KQL log queries, and interactive workbook reports
- Documents az monitor, az monitor app-insights, az monitor log-analytics, and az monitor alert CLI flows
- Explicit scope boundaries: not App Insights SDK instrumentation, not ADX/Kusto clusters, not cost optimization
- Service table covers five areas: Azure Monitor, Application Insights, Log Analytics, Alerts, and Workbooks
Adoption & trust: 98.2k installs on skills.sh; 1.2k GitHub stars; 3/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
Your app is on Azure but you cannot quickly query the right Monitor or App Insights APIs—or you keep reaching for the wrong skill for SDK setup or cost reports.
Who is it for?
Indie operators debugging production Azure apps who already have telemetry flowing and need KQL, dashboards, and alert wiring.
Skip if: Greenfield instrumentation without the SDK skill, pure FinOps cost cuts, or querying standalone Azure Data Explorer clusters instead of Log Analytics.
When should I use this skill?
USE FOR Azure Monitor, Application Insights, Log Analytics, alerts, workbooks, metrics, APM, distributed tracing, KQL, and monitoring dashboards; DO NOT USE FOR App Insights SDK instrumentation, ADX/Kusto clusters, or co
What do I get? / Deliverables
Your agent issues MCP or CLI-backed metrics and log queries, traces APM data, and configures alerts or workbooks using the correct Azure observability services.
- KQL or metrics queries against Log Analytics and Monitor
- Alert and workbook configuration guidance aligned to Azure tooling
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Observability services are consulted after deployment when you need metrics, traces, logs, and incident signals—classic Operate → monitoring placement. Focus is telemetry query and dashboard tooling on Azure, not application SDK instrumentation or pure cost analysis.
How it compares
Azure platform observability orchestration—not replacing appinsights-instrumentation for code changes or azure-cost-optimization for bills.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is azure-observability for?
Solo builders and small teams operating Azure-hosted SaaS or APIs who want agent help with Monitor, Application Insights, Log Analytics KQL, alerts, and workbooks.
When should I use azure-observability?
During Operate → monitoring when investigating errors or latency, building dashboards, or tuning alert actions—after apps already send data to Azure Monitor or App Insights.
Is azure-observability safe to install?
It assumes Azure credentials and MCP/CLI access to your subscription; review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page and scope agent permissions to least-privilege before running queries or alert changes.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Azure Observability
# Azure Observability Services ## Services | Service | Use When | MCP Tools | CLI | |---------|----------|-----------|-----| | Azure Monitor | Metrics, alerts, dashboards | `azure__monitor` | `az monitor` | | Application Insights | APM, distributed tracing | `azure__applicationinsights` | `az monitor app-insights` | | Log Analytics | Log queries, KQL | `azure__kusto` | `az monitor log-analytics` | | Alerts | Notifications, actions | - | `az monitor alert` | | Workbooks | Interactive reports | `azure__workbooks` | - | ## MCP Server (Preferred) When Azure MCP is enabled: ### Monitor - `azure__monitor` with command `monitor_metrics_query` - Query metrics - `azure__monitor` with command `monitor_logs_query` - Query logs with KQL ### Application Insights - `azure__applicationinsights` with command `applicationinsights_component_list` - List App Insights resources ### Log Analytics - `azure__kusto` with command `kusto_cluster_list` - List clusters - `azure__kusto` with command `kusto_query` - Execute KQL queries **If Azure MCP is not enabled:** Run `/azure:setup` or enable via `/mcp`. ## CLI Reference ```bash # List Log Analytics workspaces az monitor log-analytics workspace list --output table # Query logs with KQL az monitor log-analytics query \ --workspace WORKSPACE_ID \ --analytics-query "AzureActivity | take 10" # List Application Insights az monitor app-insights component list --output table # List alerts az monitor alert list --output table # Query metrics az monitor metrics list \ --resource RESOURCE_ID \ --metric "Percentage CPU" ``` ## Common KQL Queries ```kql // Recent errors AppExceptions | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) | project TimeGenerated, Message, StackTrace | order by TimeGenerated desc // Request performance AppRequests | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) | summarize avg(DurationMs), count() by Name | order by avg_DurationMs desc // Resource usage AzureMetrics | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) | where MetricName == "Percentage CPU" | summarize avg(Average) by Resource ``` ## Monitoring Strategy | What to Monitor | Service | Metric/Log | |-----------------|---------|------------| | Application errors | App Insights | Exceptions, failed requests | | Performance | App Insights | Response time, dependencies | | Infrastructure | Azure Monitor | CPU, memory, disk | | Security | Log Analytics | Sign-ins, audit logs | | Costs | Cost Management | Budget alerts | ## SDK Quick References For programmatic access to monitoring services, see the condensed SDK guides: - **OpenTelemetry**: [Python](references/sdk/azure-monitor-opentelemetry-py.md) | [TypeScript](references/sdk/azure-monitor-opentelemetry-ts.md) | [Python Exporter](references/sdk/azure-monitor-opentelemetry-exporter-py.md) - **Monitor Query**: [Python](references/sdk/azure-monitor-query-py.md) | [Java](references/sdk/azure-monitor-query-java.md) - **Log Ingestion**: [Python](references/sdk/azure-monitor-ingestion-py.md) | [Java](references/sdk/azure-monitor-ingestion-java.md) - **App Insights Mgmt**: [.NET](references/sdk/azure-mgmt-applicationinsights-dotnet.md) ## Service Details For deep documentation on specific services: - Application Insights setup -> `appinsights-instrumentation` skill - KQL query patterns -> [Log Analytics KQL documentation](https://learn.micr