Recommend Azure VM sizes, scale sets, and configurations based on workload requirements and budget.

Analyzes workload type, performance needs, scaling requirements, and cost to suggest 2–3 VM or VMSS options with trade-offs
Verifies recommendations against live Microsoft documentation; falls back to reference files if fetch fails
Queries the unauthenticated Azure Retail Prices API for current pricing without requiring an Azure subscription
Guides VM vs VMSS decision through a decision tree covering autoscaling, instance count, availability, and statefulness
Covers all VM families (general purpose, compute/memory optimized, GPU, confidential computing) and VMSS orchestration modes (Flexible vs Uniform)

Azure Compute Skill

Routes Azure VM requests to the appropriate workflow based on user intent.

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when the user:

Asks about Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) or VM Scale Sets (VMSS)
Asks about choosing a VM, VM sizing, pricing, or cost estimates
Needs a workload-based recommendation for scenarios like database, GPU, deep learning, HPC, web tier, or dev/test
Mentions VM families, autoscale, load balancing, or Flexible versus Uniform orchestration
Wants to troubleshoot Azure VM connectivity issues such as unreachable VMs, RDP/SSH failures, black screens, NSG/firewall issues, or credential resets
Uses prompts like "Help me choose a VM"

Routing

User intent?
├─ Recommend / choose / compare / price a VM or VMSS
│  └─ Route to [VM Recommender](workflows/vm-recommender/vm-recommender.md)
│
├─ Can't connect / RDP / SSH / troubleshoot a VM
│  └─ Route to [VM Troubleshooter](workflows/vm-troubleshooter/vm-troubleshooter.md)
│
└─ Unclear
   └─ Ask: "Are you looking for a VM recommendation, or troubleshooting a connectivity issue?"

Signal	Workflow
"recommend VM", "which VM", "VM size", "VM pricing", "VMSS", "scale set"	VM Recommender
"can't connect", "RDP", "SSH", "NSG blocking", "reset password", "black screen"	VM Troubleshooter

Workflows

Workflow	Purpose	References
VM Recommender	Recommend VM sizes, VMSS, pricing using public APIs/docs	vm-families, retail-prices-api, vmss-guide, vm-quotas
VM Troubleshooter	Diagnose and resolve VM connectivity failures (RDP/SSH)	cannot-connect-to-vm

azure-compute

Azure Compute Skill

When to Use This Skill

Routing

Workflows