Azure App Onboard Scaffold — IaC Generation + Self-Review

Generate deployment-ready infrastructure code from an architecture plan, verify it with adversarial self-review, and bridge to validation — all without deploying.

Quick Reference

Property	Value
Parent	azure-app-onboard
Best for	Turning prepare-plan.json service list into Bicep templates with secure-by-default patterns
Inputs	prepare-plan.json (services, naming, quotas), context.json (overrides, components, repo info)
Outputs	scaffold-manifest.json, generated IaC files in infra/
Pipeline position	Phase 3 of 4: prereq → prepare → scaffold → deploy
IaC format	Bicep (v1 default). Terraform when existing .tf detected or user override.

When to Use This Skill

Invoked by the azure-app-onboard orchestrator at Phase 3 when prepare-plan.json exists with services[]. Not directly user-routable in v1.

Return to orchestrator: When complete, return control to azure-app-onboard. Do NOT directly invoke deploy — the orchestrator manages phase transitions.

When NOT to Use

Scenario	Use Instead
User-triggered IaC (no prepare-plan.json)	azure-prepare
Subscription-scope landing zones	azure-enterprise-infra-planner
Execute deployment (azd up)	azure-deploy (do NOT invoke from AppOnboard pipeline)

MCP Tools

See shared tools for cross-phase tools and global parameters. See scaffold tools for full parameter tables.

Tool	Sub-command	Purpose	Parameters
mcp_azure_mcp_bicepschema	bicepschema_get	ARM resource type schemas	resource_type (Required), api_version (Optional)
mcp_bicep_list_avm_metadata	(flat)	AVM module catalog	None
mcp_bicep_get_bicep_best_practices	(flat)	Bicep best practices	None
mcp_bicep_get_az_resource_type_schema	(flat)	ARM resource type JSON schema	azResourceType, apiVersion (Required)
mcp_bicep_build_bicep	(flat)	Validate .bicep files (self-review L3)	filePath (Required)
mcp_bicep_format_bicep_file	(flat)	Format .bicep files (LF enforcement)	filePath (Required)
mcp_azure_mcp_deploy	deploy_iac_rules_get	IaC best practices and rules	deployment-tool, iac-type, resource-types
mcp_azure_mcp_deploy	deploy_pipeline_guidance_get	CI/CD pipeline config	is-azd-project, pipeline-platform, deploy-option
mcp_azure_mcp_get_azure_bestpractices	get_azure_bestpractices_get	SDK/Functions best practices	resource, action
mcp_azure_mcp_azureterraformbestpractices	(flat)	Terraform patterns (TF path only)	resource_type (Required)

Workflow

Session folder: .copilot-azure/sessions/{uuid}/ — reads prepare-plan.json + context.json, writes scaffold-manifest.json.

DETECT (Steps 1–4)

1. Read prepare-plan.json — verify services[] exists, read naming config (especially naming.resourcePrefix, naming.suffix, naming.resources[]). Read resource group name from context.json.azure.resourceGroup. ⛔ Use EXACTLY these names in generated IaC — do NOT invent names, derive them from environmentName, or append your own suffixes. ⛔ Use EXACTLY the names from prepare-plan.json.naming.resources[] as Bicep parameters. Do NOT derive names with take(), substring(), or string manipulation. The plan is the source of truth. Missing → trigger prepare backfill via azure-app-onboard orchestrator.
2. Read context.json — check overrides[] for iacFormat preference, detectedInfra[] for existing .tf, detectedInfraProvider for cloud provider classification.
3. Check workspace for existing IaC — ⛔ Skip if context.json.overrides[] contains ignoreExistingInfra: true. Otherwise:
   • Azure IaC (.bicep, azure.yaml, .tf with azurerm): ask_user → "Start fresh" (rename infra/ to infra.bak/) or "Use existing" (route to azure-prepare, stop pipeline).
   • Non-Azure IaC (.tf with GCP/AWS): respect context.json.overrides[].iacFormat from prepare. Default: Bicep alongside existing TF.
   • Unknown TF (detectedInfraProvider.terraform == "unknown"): ask user which provider before routing.
   • No IaC: continue.
4. Determine compute targets — Check which compute targets are in the plan (App Service/Functions, Container Apps, or both) and whether PostgreSQL/Redis is present. Do NOT read any reference files — pass this info to the sub-agent at Step 5. 4b. Pre-check API versions (main thread) — MCP tool access is unreliable in task agents — call these in the main thread before dispatching. Call mcp_bicep_list_az_resource_types_for_provider (or bicep-list_az_resource_types_for_provider) once per provider namespace in prepare-plan.json.services[] (e.g., Microsoft.Web, Microsoft.App, Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL, Microsoft.Cache, Microsoft.KeyVault, Microsoft.ContainerRegistry). Extract the latest GA API version (no -preview) for each resource type. Build an apiVersions map and pass it to the IaC gen sub-agent at Step 5. Fallback: if MCP unavailable, run az provider show --namespace {ns} --query "resourceTypes[?resourceType=='{type}'].apiVersions[?!contains(@, 'preview')] | [0][0]" -o tsv per resource type — this filters to GA-only and picks the latest. Pass "MCP unavailable" only if both MCP AND CLI fail. Sub-agent still validates generated Bicep via az bicep build.

ACTION (Steps 5–12)

⛔ File boundary: NEVER modify files outside infra/, .copilot-azure/. Scaffold only writes files — no install/build commands.

⛔ Sub-agent delegation is MANDATORY for Steps 5, 6–9, and 10–12. Each step reads its subagent-*.md template, then dispatches a task call. Do NOT read any reference file not explicitly named in these steps.

⛔ Dispatch type: task ONLY — NEVER general-purpose. general-purpose leaks sub-agent context into the main thread, accelerating compaction and evicting the orchestrator workflow. task isolates sub-agent context.

⛔ How to dispatch — VERBATIM COPY required:

1. view the subagent-*.md template file
2. Your NEXT action MUST be a task tool call — not view, powershell, create, or ANY other tool
3. The task prompt MUST contain the COMPLETE and UNMODIFIED template text. Copy the template between <<<TEMPLATE_START>>> / <<<TEMPLATE_END>>> delimiters exactly as shown below. Do NOT summarize, paraphrase, reword, or omit ANY part of it — the sub-agent needs every "Read [file]" and "Do:" instruction to produce correct output
4. AFTER the template block, append the data sections (plan JSON, overrides, etc.)

Anti-pattern (causes regressions): Writing your OWN prompt that lists workflow steps or describes what to generate. The template already contains the complete workflow — your job is to COPY it, not rewrite it.

5. IaC generation — ⛔ You MUST dispatch subagent-iac-gen.md as a task. ⛔ agent_type: "task" — NEVER "general-purpose".

   <<<TEMPLATE_START>>>
   {paste the ENTIRE content of subagent-iac-gen.md here — unmodified}
   <<<TEMPLATE_END>>>
   
   ## Data (appended by orchestrator)
   ### prepare-plan.json
   {full JSON}
   ### context.json.overrides
   {overrides array}
   ### prereq-output.json.buildRequirements
   {buildRequirements object}
   ### prereq-output.json.warnings[]
   {warnings array}
   ### Compute targets
   {App Service/Functions, Container Apps, or both + whether PostgreSQL/Redis present}
   ### apiVersions
   {map from Step 4b, e.g. {"Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults": "2023-07-01", ...} — or "MCP unavailable" if skipped}
   ### Working directory
   {absolute path}
   

   • Expect: IaC files written to infra/, file list returned for scaffold-manifest.json.files[]
   • The tag app-onboard-skill: 'true' MUST appear verbatim in generated Bicep.

5b. Deploy checklist (parallel with Step 5) — Dispatch as a task in parallel with the IaC gen subagent above. ⛔ agent_type: "task" — NEVER "general-purpose".

<<<TEMPLATE_START>>>
You are a deploy-checklist generator. Do NOT invoke any skills.

1. Read the deploy-checklist-template at: plugin/skills/azure-app-onboard/deploy/references/deploy-checklist-template.md
2. Fill in {placeholders} with real values from prepare-plan.json (appName, rgName, subscriptionId, sessionId).
3. Delete sections that don't apply to this deployment's compute target (e.g., remove App Service section for Container Apps deploys). The template section headers indicate which to delete.
4. Write the result to the session folder using the `create` tool. This file survives conversation compaction — deploy re-reads it after every long-running command.
<<<TEMPLATE_END>>>

## Data (appended by orchestrator)
### prepare-plan.json
{full JSON}
### Session path
{.copilot-azure/sessions/{uuid}/}
### Compute targets
{App Service, Container Apps, Static Web Apps, or combination}

• Expect: deploy-checklist.md written to session folder. If this subagent fails, the validate subagent (Steps 10b–12.5) will catch the missing file.

6–9. Self-review — ⛔ You MUST dispatch subagent-review.md as a task. ⛔ agent_type: "task" — NEVER "general-purpose".

<<<TEMPLATE_START>>>
{paste the ENTIRE content of subagent-review.md here — unmodified}
<<<TEMPLATE_END>>>

## Data (appended by orchestrator)
### Generated IaC files
{full content of every .bicep/.tf file}
### prepare-plan.json (services, naming, deploymentVariables)
{relevant sections}
### prereq-output.json.warnings[]
{warnings array}

• Expect: findings JSON → write to scaffold-manifest.json.selfReview
• FLAGGED at L1/L3 → fix IaC before proceeding

VALIDATE → MANIFEST → APPROVE (Steps 10–12.5)

10a. Format IaC (main thread) — For each .bicep file in infra/ (including modules/): call mcp_bicep_format_bicep_file (or bicep-format_bicep_file) with { filePath: "<absolute path>" }.This enforces LF line endings via the bicepconfig.json written during IaC generation. Fallback: skip if unavailable.

10a-conf. Conformance gate (main thread — MANDATORY for Bicep) — ⛔ Skip this entire step when the scaffold emitted Terraform (infra/main.bicep absent) — these checks are Bicep-only (Terraform is syntax-validated via terraform validate in the validate subagent). Otherwise run the conformance script from this skill's scripts/ dir; it deterministically catches ARM-rejected values az bicep build can't (invalid Bicep values, wrong DB version, reserved DB login, enablePurgeProtection):

{scaffoldDir}/scripts/scaffold-conformance.ps1 -SessionPath ".copilot-azure/sessions/{uuid}" -InfraPath infra   # pwsh (preferred)
bash {scaffoldDir}/scripts/scaffold-conformance.sh ".copilot-azure/sessions/{uuid}" infra                       # bash (only if pwsh unavailable; needs jq for the plan-dependent checks)

⛔ Prefer the .ps1 when pwsh is available — it runs every check unconditionally. The .sh twin skips the plan-dependent checks (DB-VERSION-MATCH, SERVICES-COMPLETE, DB-NAME-PRESENT, WARN-FIXED) when jq is absent. ⛔ Any BLOCK failure → fix the IaC, re-run (max 3); never present the deploy gate with an open BLOCK. Run it here in the main thread — do NOT delegate to the validate subagent or hand-judge the result when a shell exists. Pass the JSON to the validate subagent for scaffold-manifest.json.conformance.

10b–12.5. Validation + manifest — ⛔ You MUST dispatch subagent-validate.md as a task. ⛔ agent_type: "task" — NEVER "general-purpose".

<<<TEMPLATE_START>>>
{paste the ENTIRE content of subagent-validate.md here — unmodified}
<<<TEMPLATE_END>>>

## Data (appended by orchestrator)
### IaC file paths
{list of generated files}
### Self-review findings (from Steps 6–9)
{findings JSON}
### prepare-plan.json
{full JSON}
### prereq-output.json.warnings[]
{warnings array}
### prereq-output.json.healthEndpoint
{detected health path string or null}
### Conformance result
{JSON from Step 10a-conf}
### Session path
{.copilot-azure/sessions/{uuid}/}

• Expect: scaffold-manifest.json with validationResult, deploy checklist generated
• Verify deploy-checklist.md exists (written at Step 5b) — if missing, create NOW from deploy-checklist-template.md. Verify deploy-result.json exists — if missing, create from deploy-schemas.ts.
• ⛔ Verify context.json update (main-thread — do NOT delegate). Read .copilot-azure/sessions/{uuid}/context.json. If completedPhases does not include "scaffold" OR currentPhase is not "deploy", write it yourself via edit / create: append "scaffold" to completedPhases, set currentPhase to "deploy", update lastModifiedUtc to current UTC ISO 8601. This is a phase-boundary write required by pipeline-rules.md — do not skip it.
• ⛔ Return to orchestrator for Step 8 (Deploy Approval Gate). YOUR NEXT ACTION MUST BE presenting the Deploy Gate per orchestrator SKILL.md — do NOT write a "summary of generated files" message, do NOT emit a completion report. The Deploy Gate prompt (🚀 Ready to deploy? ...) is the ONLY correct next output.

Self-Healing Loop

On validation failure → read scaffold-healing-rules.md (healing cadence, PLAN_LEVEL_CHANGE, artifact consistency). Do NOT pre-read.

Error Handling

• Missing prepare-plan.json: trigger backfill via orchestrator.
• Existing IaC: handled in DETECT Step 3.
• MCP unavailable: fall back to reference patterns, flag as "unverified."
• FLAGGED findings and healing exhaustion: see scaffold-healing-rules.md.