/prepare

App Onboard Prepare — Pricing Guide

⛔ SELF-CHECK: If costEstimate.breakdown[] has ANY monthlyUsd > 0, at least one pricing_get or az rest pricing API call MUST appear in this session. Estimating from memory or training data is NEVER acceptable — reference values in this file may be outdated. If API fails after 2 attempts, use the reference value WITH disclaimer: "⚠️ Estimated from reference — live API unavailable."

Free-Tier Shortcut — Skip API

⛔ Check this FIRST. If ALL services use free-tier SKUs → write $0 cost estimate, add disclaimer "Estimate assumes usage within free grant limits", skip to Step 7.

App Service Quick Reference

⛔ Case-sensitive: use B1 not b1. Use skuName (not armSkuName) for Basic/Standard.

How to Use

1. Pick SKU from sku-matrix.md based on budget intent.
2. Find service section in pricing-guide-services.md for filter strings and formulas.
3. Call the pricing router — tool mcp_azure_mcp_pricing (VS Code) / azure-pricing (CLI) — with intent, command: "pricing_get", and a parameters object (NOT --flags). Parallel OK. ⛔ At least one filter inside parameters: sku, service, region, service-family, or filter. ⛔ sku matches armSkuName, not skuName — use it ONLY when armSkuName is populated (App Service, MySQL/PostgreSQL, Redis). Empty-armSkuName services (ACR, Storage, Cosmos, Key Vault) return [] or 400 for sku/service — use a raw filter on serviceName + meterName instead.
4. Apply the monthly multiplier from each meter's unitOfMeasure (see § Monthly Multiplier) — NOT a per-service constant.
5. Cross-check returned retailPrice against planned SKU.

Monthly Multiplier — by Meter Unit

⛔ Read unitOfMeasure per price record — NEVER blanket × 730 (one service mixes units, e.g. ACR returns 1/Day + 1 Second + 1 GB/Month):

Usage-Based Services

When AI/OpenAI/LLM components detected: add "💸 Usage-based — excluded from total" to costEstimate.breakdown[] and "⚠️🤖 AI inference costs excluded" to assumptions[]. Surface at EVERY approval gate.

Service Pricing Reference

See pricing-guide-services.md for per-service filter strings, meter names, and monthly formulas.

Key rules:

• armSkuName is empty for most PaaS — filter by meterName or productName
• Monthly multiplier: read unitOfMeasure (§ Monthly Multiplier) — never assume ×730
• Functions Consumption / Static Web Apps: not in API
• Default isPrimaryMeterRegion eq true + priceType eq 'Consumption' — but check the service section in pricing-guide-services.md first; some drop isPrimaryMeterRegion (Service Bus, Cosmos 100 RU/s, Redis Basic).
• Service names are case-sensitive

Troubleshooting

When pricing_get returns empty: (1) Check armSkuName populated/case-sensitive? (2) HTTP fallback: https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?$filter={filter}. (3) After 2 failures, use pricing-guide-services.md with disclaimer. (4) Log to costEstimate.apiFailures[].

⛔ Never claim user has free credits remaining. Use: "Check balance at portal."