pp-azure-functions-admin

Azure Functions — Printing Press CLI

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the azure-functions-admin-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:

1. Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to $HOME/.local/bin on macOS/Linux and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin on Windows:

   npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install azure-functions-admin --cli-only
   

2. Verify: azure-functions-admin-pp-cli --version
3. Ensure the reported install directory is on $PATH for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.

If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.5 or newer):

go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/cloud/azure-functions-admin/cmd/azure-functions-admin-pp-cli@latest

If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

When to Use This CLI

Use this CLI when you need to understand or audit Azure Functions you already run: take inventory across a subscription, decide whether to move an app off the Consumption plan to kill cold starts, audit app settings for leaked secrets or dev/prod drift, or triage which function is failing. It is the right tool for read-only inspection and analysis, especially for agents and scripts that want JSON output and a local cache.

Anti-triggers

Do not use this CLI for:

• Deploying or publishing function code — use func azure functionapp publish or az functionapp deployment.
• Creating, restarting, scaling, or deleting function apps — this CLI is read-only by design.
• Changing app settings or rotating keys — use az functionapp config appsettings set / az functionapp keys set.
• Building a new Functions project — use the Azure Functions Core Tools (func init).

Unique Capabilities

These capabilities aren't available in any other tool for this API.

Cold-start & plan-fit observatory

• coldstart — See how often your functions cold-start and how slow those starts are, with the projected cost of moving to a Premium always-ready plan.

  Reach for this to answer 'are cold starts hurting us, and is Premium worth it' instead of guessing from anecdotes.

  azure-functions-admin coldstart --app my-function-app --agent
  

• scaling — Track instance scale-out and execution-time drift for an app over a time window, flagging when p95 duration creeps above baseline.

  Reach for this to catch a slow-degrading function before it pages you.

  azure-functions-admin scaling --app my-function-app --window 7d --agent
  

• plan-fit — Per-app recommendation of Consumption vs Premium vs Dedicated across a resource group, based on invocation density, cold-start sensitivity, and duration.

  Reach for this when deciding how to host a fleet of functions cost-effectively.

  azure-functions-admin plan-fit --resource-group my-resource-group --agent
  

Config hygiene & secret hygiene

• drift — Diff app settings across function apps and their deployment slots, flagging settings present in one environment but not another and plaintext values that should be Key Vault references.

  Reach for this before a release to catch dev/prod config divergence.

  azure-functions-admin drift --resource-group my-resource-group --agent
  

• secrets-audit — Flag app settings holding raw secret values instead of @Microsoft.KeyVault references, plus stale or unused function keys.

  Reach for this to find leaked secrets and tighten config hygiene.

  azure-functions-admin secrets-audit --app my-function-app --agent
  

Operational triage

• failures — Cluster recent invocation failures by function and exception type from Application Insights over a time window.

  Reach for this to triage which function and which exception is failing most.

  azure-functions-admin failures --app my-function-app --since 24h --agent
  

• stale — Find functions with zero invocations in the last N days as cleanup candidates.

  Reach for this to prune dead functions and shrink your attack surface.

  azure-functions-admin stale --days 90 --agent
  

Command Reference

apps — Inspect Azure Function Apps (Microsoft.Web/sites where kind~functionapp)

• azure-functions-admin-pp-cli apps get — Get a single Function App
• azure-functions-admin-pp-cli apps list — List Function Apps in a subscription (filter kind~functionapp)

functions — List functions within a Function App

• azure-functions-admin-pp-cli functions <subscriptionId> <resourceGroup> <name> — List functions in a Function App

plans — List App Service / hosting plans (serverfarms)

• azure-functions-admin-pp-cli plans <subscriptionId> — List hosting plans (tier decode: Y1=Consumption, EP*=Premium, P*=Dedicated)

settings — Read Function App application settings

• azure-functions-admin-pp-cli settings <subscriptionId> <resourceGroup> <name> — List application settings (values are masked by the analysis layer)

slots — List deployment slots for a Function App

• azure-functions-admin-pp-cli slots <subscriptionId> <resourceGroup> <name> — List deployment slots

subscriptions — List Azure subscriptions reachable by the current credential

• azure-functions-admin-pp-cli subscriptions — List accessible subscriptions

Finding the right command

When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:

azure-functions-admin-pp-cli which "<capability in your own words>"

which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match — fall back to --help or use a narrower query.

Recipes

Cold-start check before a plan decision

azure-functions-admin coldstart --app <app> --agent

Returns cold-start frequency, p50/p95 cold-start latency, and the projected always-ready cost so you can decide on Premium with numbers, not vibes.

Audit a whole resource group for plan fit

azure-functions-admin plan-fit --resource-group <rg> --agent

One call ranks every app's ideal plan from its real invocation density and cold-start sensitivity.

Find leaked secrets in app settings

azure-functions-admin secrets-audit --app <app> --agent

Flags settings holding raw secret values that should be @Microsoft.KeyVault references, plus unused keys.

Trim a verbose response for an agent

azure-functions-admin apps list --agent --select value.name,value.location,value.kind,value.properties.state

App-list responses are large and deeply nested; --select with dotted paths returns only the fields an agent needs, saving context.

Triage today's failures

azure-functions-admin failures --app <app> --since 24h --agent

Clusters the last day of invocation failures by function and exception type so you fix the biggest one first.

Auth Setup

This CLI talks to Azure Resource Manager using a standard Azure credential, the same way the official tools do. The simplest setup for a newcomer:

1. Have an Azure subscription with at least one Function App.
2. Create a read-only service principal (run once, in the Azure Cloud Shell or after az login): az ad sp create-for-rbac --name azure-functions-admin --role Reader --scopes /subscriptions/<your-subscription-id> That prints an appId, password, and tenant.
3. Export them so the CLI can read them: export AZURE_TENANT_ID=<tenant> export AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<appId> export AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=<password> export AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID=<your-subscription-id>
4. Run azure-functions-admin doctor to confirm everything connects.

The Reader role is enough for every command except keys, which lists function/host keys — that needs the Website Contributor role (or a custom role granting Microsoft.Web/sites/host/listkeys/action). If you are already signed in with az login, the CLI will use that session automatically and you can skip the service principal.

Run azure-functions-admin-pp-cli doctor to verify setup.

Agent Mode

Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.

• Pipeable — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr

• Filterable — --select keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:

  azure-functions-admin-pp-cli apps list mock-value --agent --select id,name,status
  

• Previewable — --dry-run shows the request without sending

• Offline-friendly — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available

• Non-interactive — never prompts, every input is a flag

• Read-only — do not use this CLI for create, update, delete, publish, comment, upvote, invite, order, send, or other mutating requests

Response envelope

Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:

{
  "meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
  "results": <data>
}

Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal AND no machine-format flag (--json, --csv, --compact, --quiet, --plain, --select) is set — piped/agent consumers and explicit-format runs get pure JSON on stdout.

Agent Feedback

When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:

azure-functions-admin-pp-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
azure-functions-admin-pp-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
azure-functions-admin-pp-cli feedback list --json --limit 10

Entries are stored locally at ~/.local/share/azure-functions-admin-pp-cli/feedback.jsonl. They are never POSTed unless AZURE_FUNCTIONS_ADMIN_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT is set AND either --send is passed or AZURE_FUNCTIONS_ADMIN_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true. Default behavior is local-only.

Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.

Output Delivery

Every command accepts --deliver <sink>. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:

Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.

Named Profiles

A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - HeyGen's "Beacon" pattern.

azure-functions-admin-pp-cli profile save briefing --json
azure-functions-admin-pp-cli --profile briefing apps list mock-value
azure-functions-admin-pp-cli profile list --json
azure-functions-admin-pp-cli profile show briefing
azure-functions-admin-pp-cli profile delete briefing --yes

Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. agent-context lists all available profiles under available_profiles so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.

Exit Codes

Argument Parsing

Parse $ARGUMENTS:

1. Empty, help, or --help → show azure-functions-admin-pp-cli --help output
2. Starts with install → ends with mcp → MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above
3. Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with --agent)

MCP Server Installation

1. Install the MCP server:

   go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/cloud/azure-functions-admin/cmd/azure-functions-admin-pp-mcp@latest
   

2. Register with Claude Code:

   claude mcp add azure-functions-admin-pp-mcp -- azure-functions-admin-pp-mcp
   

3. Verify: claude mcp list

Direct Use

1. Check if installed: which azure-functions-admin-pp-cli If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill).
2. Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.
3. Execute with the --agent flag:

   azure-functions-admin-pp-cli <command> [subcommand] [args] --agent
   

4. If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help: azure-functions-admin-pp-cli <command> --help.