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Azure resource visualizer skill: Mermaid diagrams of your Azure resource groups

The Azure resource visualizer skill has coding agents map a resource group and write a Mermaid architecture diagram in Markdown. How to install and use it.

By the Kipt team · Updated 27 October 2026

Source: microsoft/azure-skills · Maintainer: Microsoft · License: MIT · Checked: 27 October 2026

What is the Azure resource visualizer skill?

The Azure resource visualizer skill turns a live Azure resource group into documentation. A coding agent lists every resource in the group, works out how they connect (network, data flow, identity, configuration), and writes a Markdown file with an inventory table and a Mermaid architecture diagram.

Its description reads: "Analyze Azure resource groups and generate detailed Mermaid architecture diagrams showing the relationships between individual resources." The SKILL.md frames the agent's job as a "mission" to "examine Azure resource groups, understand their structure and relationships, and generate comprehensive Mermaid diagrams that clearly illustrate the architecture."

The skill ships in microsoft/azure-skills, the Azure Skills Plugin, where the README lists it under "Optimize architecture and cost". Its frontmatter gives version 1.2.3, author Microsoft and license MIT. The skills.sh page notes it was originally from github/awesome-copilot.

As of 27 October 2026, its skills.sh page listed about 567,200 installs (snapshot, 27 October 2026).

What does it do?

The folder has a SKILL.md of about 8.5 KB, a short Resource Graph reference, and two assets: example-diagram.md (a sample diagram) and template-architecture.md (the output template). The workflow has four steps.

1. Pick the resource group. If you didn't name one, the agent lists resource groups with their locations as a numbered list and waits for your choice. The constraints say never to proceed "without confirming resource group selection."

2. Discover and analyze. It queries every resource in the group through Azure MCP or az, and records name, type, SKU or tier, region, key settings, network settings, identities and dependencies. For bulk discovery across subscriptions, the reference file gives az graph query patterns, which need the resource-graph CLI extension. Then it maps relationships: VNet peering, subnets and private endpoints, app to database flows, managed identities, and app settings that point at Key Vault.

3. Build the diagram. The rules are specific:

  • Use graph TB (top to bottom) or graph LR (left to right, better for wide architectures).
  • Group resources in subgraphs by layer: Network, Compute, Data, Security, Monitoring.
  • Put details in node labels, such as an App Service plan tier, a Function runtime, storage redundancy or a VNet address space.
  • Label every connection, with --> for data flow, -.-> for optional links and ==> for critical paths.

4. Write the file. The agent creates [resource-group-name]-architecture.md in the workspace root, or in docs/ if that folder exists. The template sections are a header (subscription, region, resource count, date), an overview, a resource inventory table, the diagram, relationship details (network, data flow, identity, dependencies) and notes with recommendations.

GitHub renders this kind of file directly: its docs on creating diagrams say to add Mermaid syntax "inside a fenced code block with the mermaid language identifier," which is the format the skill specifies.

How do you install the Azure resource visualizer skill?

The repo README documents several routes. The plugin is the closer fit, because the skill's tool patterns call the Azure MCP Server that the plugin wires in.

Claude Code: the Azure Skills Plugin. Run inside Claude Code:

/plugin install azure@claude-plugins-official

Or run /plugin and search for "azure". See Claude Code plugins and Claude Code MCP.

GitHub Copilot CLI:

/plugin marketplace add microsoft/azure-skills
/plugin install azure@azure-skills

Codex, Cursor and Gemini CLI. For Codex, the README says to run codex plugin marketplace add microsoft/azure-skills, then install azure from /plugins. For Cursor, use the Cursor Marketplace or Settings, then Plugins. For Gemini CLI, run gemini extensions install https://github.com/microsoft/azure-skills. See Codex skills and Cursor skills.

Skill only. The command on skills.sh copies just this folder:

npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/azure-skills --skill azure-resource-visualizer

The skill tells the agent to fall back to az when it has no tool for a step, such as az resource list --resource-group <name> --output json, so the files alone work with a signed-in Azure CLI.

Prerequisites, per the README: an Azure account or subscription, Node.js 18 or later on your PATH (npx starts the MCP servers), and the Azure CLI signed in with az login. The skills CLI used for the skill-only route needs Node.js 22.20 or later, per its README.

How do you use it?

Ask for a diagram or an explanation of how resources fit together. The skill is model-invoked, and its trigger list includes "create architecture diagram", "visualize Azure resources", "diagram my resources" and "map Azure infrastructure".

Example prompts (suggestions, not from the repo):

  • Diagram my Azure resources. (the agent should list groups and ask which one)
  • Create an architecture diagram for the rg-shop-prod resource group.
  • Show how the resources in rg-api-staging connect, including private endpoints and managed identities.
  • Map rg-data-platform left to right and save it in docs.

Expect a pause for the resource group choice, a round of read-only queries, then a new Markdown file. Open it in a Mermaid-capable viewer, or push it and view it on GitHub.

Tips and limits

From the repo and skills.sh, not from testing:

  • One resource group at a time. The workflow centers on a single group. Cross-group dependencies go in the notes, per the edge cases section.
  • Big groups get split. For "50+ resources" the skill says to consider several diagrams by layer.
  • Check the output. The rules say to verify relationships rather than assume them, and to "test syntax mentally before output", not with a renderer. Preview the file before you publish it.
  • Secrets stay as placeholders. The SKILL.md says "Never put secret values in the resource diagram." Read the file anyway before you commit it, since it describes your network layout.
  • Audits. On skills.sh, Gen Agent Trust Hub rated it Pass (Safe) on 3 October 2026, noting that resource metadata it reads could carry injected text and that the skill writes files; it credited the placeholder rule for secrets. Socket and Snyk both rated it Pass on 3 October 2026.

The MIT License lets you copy and change the skill as long as you keep Microsoft's copyright and license notices.

Save it in your Kipt library

The template is the part teams most often want to change: your own section order, an owner column in the inventory, or a fixed docs/architecture/ folder. In Kipt, open Skills and paste the skill's GitHub folder link into the import box, or drop the folder or a .zip, then edit the copy. It carries the skill and its two assets, not the plugin's MCP setup. Skills in your private GitHub repo install into Claude Code or Codex with one command:

npx skills add https://github.com/<you>/<repo>.git --all -g

Kipt is not affiliated with Microsoft.

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Questions

What is the Azure resource visualizer skill?

azure-resource-visualizer is an Agent Skill in Microsoft's microsoft/azure-skills repo. It has a coding agent examine one Azure resource group, map how its resources connect, and write a Markdown file with a resource inventory and a Mermaid architecture diagram.

How do I install the Azure resource visualizer skill?

In Claude Code, run /plugin install azure@claude-plugins-official to get the Azure Skills Plugin, which bundles the skill with the Azure MCP Server. For the skill files alone, run npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/azure-skills --skill azure-resource-visualizer.

What file does the skill create?

A Markdown file named after the resource group, in the form [resource-group-name]-architecture.md, saved in the workspace root or in a docs folder if one exists. It follows a template with a header, summary, resource inventory table, Mermaid diagram, relationship details and notes.

Does the Azure resource visualizer change my resources?

No. Its Never Do list includes modifying or deleting Azure resources and calls the work read-only analysis. It reads resources through Azure MCP tools or the Azure CLI and writes only the Markdown file in your project.

Will the diagram include secrets or connection strings?

It shouldn't. The SKILL.md tells the agent to use only placeholder names for secret values such as keys, connection strings and Key Vault secrets, and says never to put secret values in the diagram. Review the file before you commit or share it.

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