Architecture Guidance Sources (For Design Direction Decisions)
A source registry for using Azure official architecture guidance only for design direction decisions.
The URLs in this document are a list of sources for "where to look". Do not hardcode the contents of these URLs as fixed facts. Do not use for SKU, API version, region, model availability, or PE mapping decisions — those are handled exclusively via
azure-dynamic-sources.md.
Purpose Separation
| Purpose | Document to Use | Decidable Items |
|---|---|---|
| Design direction decisions | This document (architecture-guidance-sources) | Architecture patterns, best practices, service combination direction, security boundary design |
| Deployment spec verification | azure-dynamic-sources.md |
API version, SKU, region, model availability, PE groupId, actual property values |
What must NOT be decided using this document:
- API version
- SKU names/pricing
- Region availability
- Model names/versions/deployment types
- PE groupId / DNS Zone mapping
- Specific values for resource properties
Primary Sources
Targeted fetch targets for design direction decisions.
| ID | Document | URL | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Azure Architecture Center | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ | Hub — Entry point for finding domain-specific documents |
| A2 | Well-Architected Framework | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/framework/ | Security/reliability/performance/cost/operations principles |
| A3 | Cloud Adoption Framework / Landing Zone | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/ready/landing-zone/ | Enterprise governance, network topology, subscription structure |
| A4 | Azure AI/ML Architecture | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/ | AI/ML workload reference architecture hub |
| A5 | Basic Foundry Chat Reference Architecture | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/architecture/basic-azure-ai-foundry-chat | Basic Foundry-based chatbot structure |
| A6 | Baseline AI Foundry Chat Reference Architecture | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/architecture/baseline-openai-e2e-chat | Foundry chatbot enterprise baseline (including network isolation) |
| A7 | RAG Solution Design Guide | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/guide/rag/rag-solution-design-and-evaluation-guide | RAG pattern design guide |
| A8 | Microsoft Fabric Overview | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/get-started/microsoft-fabric-overview | Fabric platform overview and workload understanding |
| A9 | Fabric Governance / Adoption | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/fabric-adoption-roadmap-governance | Fabric governance, adoption roadmap |
Secondary Sources (awareness only)
Not direct fetch targets; referenced only for change awareness.
| Document | URL | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Updates | https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/ | Service changes/new feature announcements. Not a targeted fetch target |
Fetch Trigger — When to Query
Architecture guidance documents are not queried on every request. Only perform targeted fetch when the following triggers apply.
Trigger Conditions
- When the user's workload type is identified in Phase 1 (automatic)
- Pre-query the relevant workload's reference architecture to adjust question depth
- Triggers automatically even if the user doesn't mention "best practice" etc.
- Purpose: Reflect official architecture-based design decision points in questions, beyond SKU/region spec questions
- When the user requests design direction justification
- Keywords such as "best practice", "reference architecture", "recommended structure", "baseline", "well-architected", "landing zone", "enterprise pattern"
- When architecture boundaries for a new service combination are ambiguous
- Inter-service relationships that cannot be determined from existing reference files/service-gotchas
- When enterprise-level security/governance design is needed
- Subscription structure, network topology, landing zone patterns
When Triggers Do Not Apply
- Simple resource creation (SKU/API version/region questions) → Use only
azure-dynamic-sources.md - Service combinations already covered in domain-packs → Prioritize reference files
- Bicep property value verification →
service-gotchas.mdor MS Docs Bicep reference
Fetch Budget
| Scenario | Max Fetch Count |
|---|---|
| Default (when trigger fires) | Architecture guidance documents up to 2 |
| Additional fetch allowed when | Conflicts between documents / core design uncertainty remains / user explicitly requests deeper justification |
| Simple deployment spec questions | 0 (no architecture guidance queries) |
Decision Rule by Question Type
| Question Type | Documents to Query | Design Decision Points to Extract | Documents NOT to Query |
|---|---|---|---|
| RAG / chatbot / Foundry app | A5 or A6 + A7 | Network isolation level, authentication method (managed identity vs key), indexing strategy (push vs pull), monitoring scope | Do not traverse entire Architecture Center |
| Enterprise security / governance / landing zone | A2 + A3 | Subscription structure, network topology (hub-spoke etc.), identity/governance model, security boundary | AI/ML domain documents not needed |
| Fabric data platform | A8 + A9 | Capacity model (SKU selection criteria), governance level, data boundary (workspace separation etc.) | AI-related documents not needed |
| Ambiguous service combination (unclear pattern) | A1 (find closest domain document from hub) + that document | Key design decision points identified from the document | Do not traverse all sub-documents |
| Simple resource creation values (SKU/API/region) | No query | — | All architecture guidance |
| General AI/ML architecture | A4 (hub) + closest reference architecture | Compute isolation, data boundary, model serving approach | Do not crawl entirely |
URL Fallback Rule
- Use
en-usLearn URLs by default - If a specific URL returns 404 / redirect / deprecated → Fall back to the parent hub page
- Example: If A5 fails → Search for "foundry chat" keyword on A4 (AI/ML hub)
- If not found on the parent hub either → Search by title keyword on A1 (Architecture Center main)
- Do not use the contents of a URL as fixed rules just because the URL exists
Full Traversal Prohibited
- Do not broadly traverse (crawl) Architecture Center sub-documents
- Only targeted fetch 1–2 related documents according to the decision rule by question type
- Even within fetched documents, only reference relevant sections; do not read the entire document
- Unlimited fetching, recursive link following, and sub-page enumeration are prohibited