Recipe Selection
Choose the deployment recipe based on project needs and existing tooling.
⛔ Special Cases: Detect First
Before selecting a recipe, check for these special project types:
| Project Type | Detection | Recipe Selection |
|---|---|---|
| .NET Aspire | *.AppHost.csproj or Aspire.Hosting package |
AZD (auto via azd init --from-code) → aspire.md |
💡 Tip: .NET Aspire projects always use AZD recipe with auto-generated configuration. Do not manually select recipe or create artifacts.
Quick Decision
Default: AZD unless specific requirements indicate otherwise.
💡 Tip: azd supports both Bicep and Terraform as IaC providers. When Terraform is mentioned for Azure deployment, default to azd+Terraform for the best developer experience.
Decision Criteria
| Choose | When |
|---|---|
| AZD (Bicep) | New projects, multi-service apps, want simplest deployment (azd up) |
| AZD (Terraform) | DEFAULT for Terraform - Want Terraform IaC + azd simplicity, Azure deployment with Terraform |
| AZCLI | Existing az scripts, need imperative control, custom pipelines, AKS |
| Bicep | IaC-first approach, no CLI wrapper needed, direct ARM deployment |
| Terraform | Multi-cloud deployments (non-Azure-first), complex TF workflows incompatible with azd, explicitly requested |
Auto-Detection
| Found in Workspace | Suggested Recipe |
|---|---|
azure.yaml with infra.provider: terraform |
AZD (Terraform) |
azure.yaml (Bicep or no provider specified) |
AZD (Bicep) |
*.tf files (no azure.yaml) |
AZD (Terraform) - DEFAULT (unless multi-cloud) |
infra/*.bicep (no azure.yaml) |
Bicep or AZCLI |
Existing az scripts |
AZCLI |
| None | AZD (Bicep) - default |
Recipe Comparison
| Feature | AZD (Bicep) | AZD (Terraform) | AZCLI | Bicep | Terraform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Config file | azure.yaml | azure.yaml + *.tf | scripts | *.bicep | *.tf |
| IaC language | Bicep | Terraform | N/A | Bicep | Terraform |
| Deploy command | azd up |
azd up |
az commands |
az deployment |
terraform apply |
| Dockerfile gen | Auto | Auto | Manual | Manual | Manual |
| Environment mgmt | Built-in | Built-in | Manual | Manual | Workspaces |
| CI/CD gen | Built-in | Built-in | Manual | Manual | Manual |
| Multi-cloud | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Learning curve | Low | Low-Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Record Selection
Document in .azure/deployment-plan.md:
## Recipe: AZD (Terraform)
**Rationale:**
- Team has Terraform expertise
- Want multi-cloud IaC flexibility
- But prefer azd's simple deployment workflow
- Multi-service app (API + Web)Or for pure Terraform:
## Recipe: Terraform
**Rationale:**
- Multi-cloud deployment (AWS + Azure)
- Complex Terraform modules incompatible with azd conventions
- Existing Terraform CI/CD pipeline