Pre-Deployment Validation

VALIDATE BEFORE DEPLOYING - Catch naming errors, quota limits, and Bicep issues BEFORE they fail mid-deployment.

Azure Resource Naming Constraints

CRITICAL: Many Azure resources have strict naming rules. Validate names BEFORE generating any code or running any commands.

Common Naming Limits

The 24-Character Problem

Storage Accounts and Key Vaults are limited to 24 characters. This is the most common naming failure.

Bad examples:

• •mycompanyproductionstore (25 chars) - FAILS
• •dev-my-application-storage (26 chars) - FAILS
• •my-key-vault-production (23 chars but has hyphens) - FAILS for storage

Good examples:

• •mycompprodstore (15 chars) - OK
• •devmyappstor (12 chars) - OK
• •prodkeyvault01 (14 chars) - OK

Naming Validation Checklist

Before generating resource names:

1. •Count characters - Storage/KeyVault must be <=24 chars
2. •Check allowed characters:
   • •Storage: lowercase + numbers ONLY (no hyphens!)
   • •KeyVault: lowercase + numbers + hyphens
   • •ACR: alphanumerics only (no hyphens!)
3. •Check global uniqueness - Storage, ACR, KeyVault names must be globally unique
4. •Use abbreviations for long names:
   • •prod not production
   • •stor not storage
   • •kv not keyvault
   • •acr not containerregistry

Use MCP Tools for Validation

Before creating Bicep/Terraform, get the schema to understand constraints:

Tool: azure__bicepschema
Parameters:
  resource-type: "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts"

This returns the full schema including naming constraints.

Bicep Validation

ALWAYS use the Azure MCP deployment tools to validate Bicep before deploying.

Get IaC Rules Before Writing Bicep

Tool: azure__deploy
Command: deploy_iac_rules_get
Parameters:
  deployment-tool: "AZD"
  iac-type: "bicep"
  resource-types: "containerapp,storage"

This returns best practices and rules for writing correct Bicep.

Get Schema for Specific Resources

Tool: azure__bicepschema
Parameters:
  resource-type: "Microsoft.App/containerApps"

This returns the complete Bicep schema so you know all required/optional properties.

Generate a Deployment Plan

Before writing any infrastructure code, generate a plan:

Tool: azure__deploy
Command: deploy_plan_get
Parameters:
  workspace-folder: "/path/to/project"
  project-name: "myapp"
  target-app-service: "ContainerApp"
  provisioning-tool: "AZD"
  azd-iac-options: "bicep"

This generates a complete deployment plan with recommended services.

Subscription & Resource Filtering

CRITICAL: Never dump entire subscription or resource lists into context - this can overflow (140K+ characters).

Filtering Subscriptions

# GOOD - Clean, limited output
az account list --query "[].{Name:name, ID:id}" -o table

# BAD - Can produce massive output
az account list   # Full JSON with all metadata

Filtering Resources

# GOOD - Filter and limit
az resource list --resource-group RG --query "[].{Name:name, Type:type}" -o table

# GOOD - Filter by type
az containerapp list -g RG --query "[].{Name:name, FQDN:properties.configuration.ingress.fqdn}" -o table

# BAD - Everything
az resource list   # Can be 100K+ chars

MCP Tool Best Practices

When using MCP tools that list resources:

1. •Always specify resource group when possible
2. •Use query parameters to filter results
3. •Paginate if the tool supports it
4. •Summarize results instead of showing raw output

Common Filters

# Only show names and essential info
--query "[].{Name:name, Location:location, Status:properties.provisioningState}"

# Limit results
--query "[:10]"  # First 10 only

# Filter by condition
--query "[?properties.provisioningState=='Succeeded']"

Pre-flight Command

Run /azure:preflight before any deployment to check:

• •Tools installed (az, azd, docker)
• •Authentication valid
• •Quota availability
• •Docker running

Quick Validation Flow

1. •Name check - Validate all resource names against limits above
2. •Get IaC rules - azure__deploy with command deploy_iac_rules_get for best practices
3. •Get schemas - azure__bicepschema for specific resources
4. •Generate plan - azure__deploy with command deploy_plan_get for full deployment plan
5. •Run preflight - /azure:preflight for tool/auth checks
6. •Deploy - azd up