Dependencies (related skills — do not duplicate)
This skill focuses on the Azure Update customer-deck workflow (classification, region stamps, UPDATE Points table, notes, validation gate, MCP sourcing). It deliberately does not re-document general PowerPoint mechanics. Reference these instead.
powerpoint-automation skill
General PPTX engineering. Use it for the underlying COM / python-pptx mechanics this workflow builds on:
- COM Automation against an open PowerPoint (win32com), target-only close, restore
- RefURL pattern (bottom-left "page title + URL" text boxes with shape-level hyperlinks)
- Overflow review, autofit, text-frame handling
- Translating / editing existing decks, screenshots, icons, video
This skill's scripts already implement the Azure-Update-specific COM operations; when you need to debug
COM behavior, autofit, or hyperlink mechanics generally, defer to powerpoint-automation.
Python build engine
The optional Python build phase uses python-pptx and Pillow from the checked-in
scripts/python/requirements.lock. It requires an existing workspace .venv; skill scripts never install
or mutate global packages. PowerPoint remains required for PDF export, rendering, and final delivery gates.
Python-engine customer distribution additionally uses pinned pypdf to extract the actual PDF text; it is
not a build dependency, but the distribution gate fails closed when it is unavailable.
Pipeline and verifier wrappers require PowerShell 7 (pwsh); Windows PowerShell 5.1 is not supported.
agentic-workflow-guide skill
The SSOT for primitive selection (prompt vs instruction vs skill vs agent vs hook) and multi-agent design. This skill's pipeline uses the Orchestrator-Workers pattern (a coordinator that delegates to parallel workers and joins their outputs — see agents-overview.md). Use the guide when:
- deciding whether a new piece of this workflow should be an agent, a script, or a reference
- reviewing or refactoring the 7-agent orchestration
- judging whether the orchestration is over-engineered for a given run
Microsoft docs / Azure Updates MCP
Two MCP servers are used. Tool name prefixes vary by host (e.g. mcp_releasecommun_*,
mcp_microsoft_lea_*); match against your host's registered tools.
| MCP server | Endpoint URL | Tools | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Updates — Microsoft Release Communications (MRC) | https://www.microsoft.com/releasecommunications/mcp |
*_get_recent_azure_updates (list, OData filter) / *_get_azure_update_by_id (full body) |
fetch + detail Azure Updates (region hint, status, body) |
| Microsoft Learn Docs | https://learn.microsoft.com/api/mcp |
*_microsoft_docs_search / *_microsoft_docs_fetch |
verify region (Deploy Region), retirement dates, GA/Preview state |
- The MRC server also powers M365 Roadmap; this skill uses only the Azure Updates tools. No auth / no license required (subject to Microsoft API Terms of Use). Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/admin/manage/mrc-mcp
- Endpoints are for MCP clients over streamable HTTP, not direct browser/API calls; tool names/schemas may change — discover via
tools/list, don't hardcode. - Azure Updates MCP: list with
*_get_recent_azure_updates, then deep-dive each id with*_get_azure_update_by_id. Prefer one-by-one over wide parallel batches. - Microsoft Learn Docs MCP: always prefer ja-jp URLs (
learn.microsoft.com/ja-jp/...) in output. - These are the only external services this skill calls; both are read-only.
Boundary
| Need | Where |
|---|---|
| Azure Update classification / region stamp / UPDATE Points / gate | this skill |
| Generic COM / RefURL / overflow / translate | powerpoint-automation |
| Should this be an agent/script/reference? | agentic-workflow-guide |
| Region / status / body facts | docs & Azure Updates MCP |