How to deploy to Azure with GitHub Copilot or Claude Code using Azure Skills and the Azure MCP Server

The 2026 Stack Overflow Developer Survey found that 73% of developers using AI coding assistants rely on them daily, with Claude Code and GitHub Copilot being the most commonly used agents. Only 20% use AI for deploying, operating or troubleshooting production systems. Microsoft's Azure Skills Plugin aims to address this gap by streamlining the deployment process.

The plugin consists of two layers: Azure skills and the Azure MCP Server. Azure skills are folders containing workflows, decision trees and rules that the agent loads when a request matches the skill's description. The MCP Server contains over 200 structured tools across more than 40 Azure services, enabling the agent to perform various operations like listing resource groups, checking prices, querying logs and running azd commands.

The plugin is generally available for Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio 2026, Claude Code and IntelliJ, with Visual Studio 2022 still in public preview. To install the plugin, you need an Azure subscription, Node.js 18 or later on your PATH, and the Azure CLI, Azure Developer CLI and Git. In Visual Studio Code, install the Azure MCP Server extension from the Marketplace, and in GitHub Copilot CLI or Claude Code, use the marketplace commands to add the plugin.

Once installed, the plugin provides three prompts to confirm each layer is working. The azure-prepare skill generates a skeleton of .azure/deployment-plan.md and analyzes the project's requirements, while the azure-validate skill checks the project's compliance and readiness for deployment. Finally, the azure-deploy skill executes the deployment using the Azure Developer CLI.