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@b3c238e
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Azure VM/VMSS router. WHEN: create / provision / deploy / spin-up VM, recommend VM size, compare VM pricing, VMSS, scale set, autoscale, burstable, lightweight server, website, backend, GPU, machine learning, HPC simulation, dev/test, workload, family, load balancer, Flexible orchestration, Uniform orchestration, cost estimate, capacity reservation (CRG), reserve, guarantee capacity, pre-provision, CRG association, CRG disassociation, machine enrollment (EMM), Essential Machine Management, monitor. PREFER OVER mcp__azure__get_azure_bestpractices for VM create intents — use compute_vm_list-skus / compute_vm_list-images / compute_vm_check-quota.

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Use this Skill: https://skilld.dev/gh/microsoft/skills/azure-compute

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referencesretail-prices-api.md

≈1.6k tokens on demand. Your agent reads this file only when SKILL.md points to it.

Azure Retail Prices API Guide

The Azure Retail Prices API is unauthenticated — no Azure account or subscription needed.

Endpoint

https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices

Preview version (includes savings plan rates):

https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?api-version=2023-01-01-preview

Querying VM Prices

No Azure CLI command exists for the Retail Prices API. Since the API is unauthenticated, use curl (bash) or Invoke-RestMethod (PowerShell) directly. The az rest command also works but adds no auth benefit.

Basic VM price lookup

GET https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?$filter=serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armRegionName eq 'eastus' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5' and priceType eq 'Consumption'
curl -s "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?\$filter=serviceName%20eq%20'Virtual%20Machines'%20and%20armRegionName%20eq%20'eastus'%20and%20armSkuName%20eq%20'Standard_D4s_v5'%20and%20priceType%20eq%20'Consumption'"
$filter = "serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armRegionName eq 'eastus' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5' and priceType eq 'Consumption'"
$response = Invoke-RestMethod "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?`$filter=$filter"
$response.Items | Select-Object armSkuName, retailPrice, unitOfMeasure, meterName

Filter by family (all D-series in a region)

GET https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?$filter=serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armRegionName eq 'eastus' and contains(armSkuName, 'Standard_D') and priceType eq 'Consumption'
curl -s "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?\$filter=serviceName%20eq%20'Virtual%20Machines'%20and%20armRegionName%20eq%20'eastus'%20and%20contains(armSkuName,%20'Standard_D')%20and%20priceType%20eq%20'Consumption'"
$filter = "serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armRegionName eq 'eastus' and contains(armSkuName, 'Standard_D') and priceType eq 'Consumption'"
$response = Invoke-RestMethod "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?`$filter=$filter"
$response.Items | Select-Object armSkuName, retailPrice, meterName

Reservation pricing

GET https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?$filter=serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5' and priceType eq 'Reservation'
curl -s "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?\$filter=serviceName%20eq%20'Virtual%20Machines'%20and%20armSkuName%20eq%20'Standard_D4s_v5'%20and%20priceType%20eq%20'Reservation'"
$filter = "serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5' and priceType eq 'Reservation'"
$response = Invoke-RestMethod "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?`$filter=$filter"
$response.Items | Select-Object armSkuName, retailPrice, reservationTerm, meterName

Non-USD currency

Append currencyCode parameter:

GET https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?currencyCode='EUR'&$filter=serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5'
curl -s "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?currencyCode='EUR'&\$filter=serviceName%20eq%20'Virtual%20Machines'%20and%20armSkuName%20eq%20'Standard_D4s_v5'"
$filter = "serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5'"
$response = Invoke-RestMethod "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?currencyCode='EUR'&`$filter=$filter"
$response.Items | Select-Object armSkuName, retailPrice, currencyCode, meterName

Available Filters

Filter Example Value Notes
serviceName 'Virtual Machines' Case-sensitive in preview API
armRegionName 'eastus', 'westeurope' ARM region name
armSkuName 'Standard_D4s_v5' Full ARM SKU name
priceType 'Consumption', 'Reservation' Pay-as-you-go vs reserved
serviceFamily 'Compute' Broad category
productName 'Virtual Machines Dv5 Series' Product line
meterName 'D4s v5', 'D4s v5 Spot' Includes Spot and Low Priority

Warning: Filter values are case-sensitive in API version 2023-01-01-preview and later.

Response Fields

Field Description
armSkuName ARM SKU name (e.g., Standard_D4s_v5)
retailPrice Microsoft retail price (USD unless overridden)
unitOfMeasure Usually 1 Hour for VMs
armRegionName Region code
meterName Human-readable meter (includes "Spot" / "Low Priority" variants)
productName Product line with OS (e.g., "Virtual Machines Dv5 Series Windows")
type Consumption, Reservation, or DevTestConsumption
reservationTerm 1 Year or 3 Years (reservation only)
savingsPlan Array with term and unitPrice (preview API only)
isPrimaryMeterRegion Filter to true to avoid duplicate regional meters

Pagination

API returns max 1,000 records per request. Follow NextPageLink in the response to get more:

{ "NextPageLink": "https://prices.azure.com:443/api/retail/prices?$filter=...&$skip=1000" }

Tips for Recommendations

  1. Filter Linux vs Windows: productName contains the OS — e.g., 'Virtual Machines Dv5 Series' (Linux) vs 'Virtual Machines Dv5 Series Windows'
  2. Use isPrimaryMeterRegion eq true to deduplicate
  3. Compare Consumption + Reservation + Savings Plan for full cost picture
  4. Monthly estimate: retailPrice × 730 (hours/month)
  5. Spot pricing: Filter meterName containing 'Spot' for discounted interruptible VMs

Source: SKILL.md on GitHub

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  • Gen Agent Trust Hub15d

    This skill provides a comprehensive and secure workflow for provisioning Azure Virtual Machines and Scale Sets. It follows security best practices by recommending SSH keys over passwords, restricting network access to the user's public IP, and ensuring secrets are handled as parameters rather than hardcoded values.

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    Risk: MEDIUM · 1 issue

Provenance

Signed by skilld at b3c238e. This ties the file your Agent reads to that commit on GitHub. It does not review the instructions.

Last checked against GitHub yesterday.

Activeupdated 2 months ago

Capability

metadata
{
  "author": "Microsoft",
  "version": "2.5.1"
}

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