🚀 Azure MCP in Action

Learn Azure deployments using GitHub Copilot for Azure and AI-assisted infrastructure management.

🎯 What You'll Learn

This course teaches you to deploy Azure infrastructure using GitHub Copilot in agent mode with Azure MCP. Agent mode generates infrastructure code and executes deployment commands through natural language prompts with approval gates. You review the code, approve execution, and verify results. You'll leverage AI to accelerate your Azure development from hours to minutes.

Real-World Projects You'll Deploy

The active chapters (0-3) focus on foundational skills plus the n8n automation scenario. Legacy chapters (Ghost, Superset, Metabase, Supabase, Strapi, etc.) are preserved under the old/ directory while content is refreshed. Feel free to explore them, but the primary guided path currently covers Chapters 0-3.

Core Skills

✅ Prompt Engineering for Infrastructure - Create Azure resources through natural language with agent mode
✅ Agent mode proficiency - Generate, approve, execute, and verify deployments with AI assistance
✅ Infrastructure-as-Code - Bicep and Terraform template generation
✅ Container Orchestration - Container Apps and AKS deployments
✅ Data Services - SQL, Cosmos DB, Blob Storage, and BI platforms
✅ Production Deployments - Security, monitoring, cost optimization

🔥 Why This Course is Different

Agent-First, Real-World Approach

Most Azure courses teach services in isolation. This course teaches production deployment patterns using real open-source projects that companies actually use.

AI-Assisted Learning

Generate → Approve → Execute Workflow for rapid deployment
Agent mode generates code and executes commands with approval checkpoints
Accelerate learning by 10x with AI assistance
Focus on understanding, not memorization

Portfolio-Ready Projects

Every chapter includes deployments you can showcase:

"Deployed Apache Superset on Azure Kubernetes Service"
"Architected Supabase BaaS platform on Azure"
"Implemented production Ghost CMS with MySQL and CDN"

📚 Course Structure

The active track currently includes 4 chapters (setup + three hands-on chapters). Archived chapters live under old/ until they are updated.

| # | Chapter | OSS Projects | Key Skills | Time | |---|---------|--------------|------------|------| | 0 | Course Setup & Safety | - | Azure account, safety, cost management | 90 min | | 1 | First Azure Deployment | Node.js Hello World | Generate → Approve → Execute workflow, first App Service | 60 min | | 2 | Advanced Prompt Patterns | - | Advanced prompts, patterns | 75 min | | 3 | n8n Automation Agents | n8n (Bicep + Terraform) | Specialized Copilot agents, Container Apps, PostgreSQL | 90 min |

Looking for the previous chapters (Terraform basics, Ghost, Superset, etc.)? Check the old/ folder while we migrate that content into the new agent-focused approach.

Each chapter includes:

📖 Conceptual explanations with real-world scenarios
💻 AI-assisted prompts you can copy and use
🎯 Hands-on assignments to test your skills
🚀 Production OSS deployments for your portfolio
🧹 Cleanup instructions to avoid unexpected costs

🛠️ Prerequisites

Required Knowledge

Azure Basics - Understanding of cloud computing concepts
Command Line - Comfortable with terminal/CLI usage
Git - Basic git commands and workflows

Required Tools

Azure CLI - Latest version (see glossary)
VS Code - Code editor
GitHub Copilot for Azure - VS Code extension (see glossary)
Git - Version control

Azure Account

You'll need ONE of the following:

✅ Existing Azure subscription (recommended if you have one)
✅ Free Azure account (free credits available) - Sign up here

Cost Management: Chapter 0 sets up billing alerts and teaches cleanup practices to minimize costs

🚀 Quick Start

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/azure-mcp-in-action.git
cd azure-mcp-in-action

2. Install Prerequisites

Follow Chapter 0: Course Setup for detailed setup instructions.

3. Configure GitHub Copilot for Azure

Install the GitHub Copilot for Azure extension
Open VS Code
Sign in with your GitHub account
Connect to your Azure subscription

4. Start Learning!

Begin with Chapter 0 to set up your environment safely.

💰 Cost Management

[!CAUTION] This course teaches you to deploy production-grade infrastructure. Proper cleanup is mandatory to avoid unexpected charges.

Cost Estimates by Chapter

| Chapter | Scenario | Tier/SKU | Cleanup Required | |---------|----------|----------|------------------| | 0 | Course setup + billing safeguards | Free tier | N/A | | 1 | First App Service deployment | F1 (Free) | Yes | | 2 | Prompt practice & queries (no resources) | N/A | Yes | | 3 | n8n on Container Apps + PostgreSQL | Paid (consumption/burstable) | Yes (immediate) |

Safety Features

✅ Billing alerts configured in Chapter 0 (BEFORE any deployments)
✅ Resource tagging for easy cleanup
✅ Cleanup scripts provided for every chapter
✅ Azure MCP cleanup prompts included
✅ Cost estimates shown upfront

📖 Learning Path

For Complete Beginners

Start with Chapter 0 (mandatory).
Work through Chapters 1-3 to practice App Service basics, advanced prompt patterns, and the n8n deployment.
Explore the old/ directory when you want previews of upcoming refreshed chapters.

Timeline: ~1 week (1 hour/day)

For Experienced Azure Users

Review Chapter 0 quickly (or skip if you already have the safety setup).
Jump straight to Chapter 3 to compare the Bicep vs Terraform agents.
Dip into old/ for deeper OSS case studies as needed.

For Kubernetes Learners

Finish Chapters 0-3 now to learn the agent workflows.
Until the refreshed AKS content ships, explore old/06-containerized-apps for the Superset-on-AKS walkthrough.

🎓 What Makes This Course Unique

1. Real Open-Source Projects

You don't deploy "Hello World" apps. You deploy production-grade platforms used by Netflix, Airbnb, and Mozilla.

2. AI-Assisted Workflow

Every deployment uses GitHub Copilot agent mode:

Generate and execute deployment code with natural language prompts and approval gates
Query Azure state and documentation on-demand
Diagnose and troubleshoot issues with AI assistance
Two interaction modes: Agent (actions) and Ask (learning)
Learn 10x faster by focusing on concepts, not commands

3. Portfolio Focus

Each project is designed to be resume-worthy:

"Deployed Apache Superset on Azure Kubernetes Service"
"Architected Supabase BaaS platform on Azure"
"Implemented n8n workflow automation on Container Apps"

4. Safety First

Cost management and cleanup are first-class concerns, not afterthoughts.

📦 Repository Structure

azure-mcp-in-action/
├── 00-course-setup/          # MANDATORY: Safety and setup
├── 01-first-deployment/      # Your first App Service
├── 02-prompt-patterns/       # Advanced Azure MCP patterns
├── 03-n8n/                   # Copilot agents for n8n (Bicep & Terraform)
├── old/                      # Archived chapters (Ghost, Superset, etc.)
├── scripts/                  # Validation and helper scripts
├── prompts/                  # Reusable prompt patterns
├── GLOSSARY.md               # Comprehensive terminology
├── README.md                 # This file
└── package.json              # Course metadata

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Ways to Contribute

🐛 Report bugs or issues
💡 Suggest new OSS projects to deploy
📝 Improve documentation
🎨 Create architecture diagrams
✅ Add validation scripts
🌍 Translate content

📚 Related Resources

Microsoft Resources

Related Courses

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Generative AI with JavaScript - AI fundamentals
AI Agents for Beginners - Build autonomous agents

💬 Getting Help

Discord Community

Join the Azure AI Foundry Discord for:

Course discussions
Troubleshooting help
Project showcases
Networking with learners

GitHub Issues

For course-specific issues, open an issue on this repository.

🏆 Success Stories

After completing this course, students have:

✅ Landed Azure roles at top companies
✅ Deployed production infrastructure for startups
✅ Passed Azure certifications (AZ-900, AZ-104)
✅ Built portfolio projects that wow interviewers
✅ Contributed to open-source Azure tools

Your success story could be next!

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

GitHub Copilot for Azure team for building amazing tools
Open-source projects featured in this course
Microsoft Learn for comprehensive Azure documentation
Course contributors who make this better every day

🚀 Start Your Journey

Ready to learn Azure infrastructure with AI assistance?

👉 Begin with Chapter 0: Course Setup

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