Azure bastion
Expert knowledge for Azure Bastion development including best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and integrations & coding patterns. Use when configuring Bastion for AKS private clusters, VM scale sets, Entra ID auth, hub/spoke VNets, or IP-based cross-VNet access, and other Azure Bastion related development tasks. Not for Azure Virtual Network (use azure-virtual-network), Azure Virtual Machines (use azure-virtual-machines), Azure VPN Gateway (use azure-vpn-gateway), Azure Firewall (use azure-firewall).From its SKILL.md
npx -y skills add MicrosoftDocs/Agent-Skills --skill azure-bastionAssembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.
One thing to look at
- fetches URLsInstructs the agent to fetch 8 URLs, including https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/cost-optimization and 7 more.
SKILL.md
6.8 KB, ~1.4k tokens by cl100k_base, as published. Nobody here has run it
Azure Bastion Skill
This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Bastion. Covers best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and integrations & coding patterns. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.
How to Use This Skill
IMPORTANT for Agent: Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g.,
L35-L120), useread_filewith the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g.,[security.md](security.md)), useread_fileon the linked reference file
IMPORTANT for Agent: If
metadata.generated_atis more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. Ifmcp_microsoftdocstools are not available, suggest the user install it: Installation Guide
This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:
- Preferred: Use
mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetchwith query stringfrom=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown. - Fallback: Use
fetch_webpagewith query stringfrom=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.
Category Index
| Category | Lines | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Best Practices | L35-L39 | Guidance on reducing Azure Bastion costs through sizing, scaling, and usage patterns while maintaining secure remote access and compliance best practices. |
| Decision Making | L40-L46 | Guidance on choosing and upgrading Bastion SKU tiers and using IP-based Bastion connections across VNets, subscriptions, and environments. |
| Architecture & Design Patterns | L47-L53 | Architectural options and patterns for Azure Bastion: hub/spoke and peered VNets, private-only deployments, network/topology design, and deployment guidance for secure remote access. |
| Limits & Quotas | L54-L58 | Configuring Azure Bastion host scaling limits, including max concurrent RDP/SSH sessions, connection thresholds, and how to adjust or plan capacity for different SKUs. |
| Security | L59-L65 | Configuring secure Azure Bastion access: Entra ID authentication, required NSG rules, and hardening best practices to lock down Bastion hosts and connections. |
| Configuration | L66-L77 | Configuring Azure Bastion features: auth (Kerberos), monitoring/metrics/logs, native client access, session management, recording, and shareable links. |
| Integrations & Coding Patterns | L78-L85 | How to use Azure Bastion with AKS private clusters, VM scale sets, and native Windows/Linux clients, including SSH/RDP connectivity patterns and file transfer via Bastion native clients. |
Best Practices
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Optimize Azure Bastion costs without reducing security | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/cost-optimization |
Decision Making
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Select the appropriate Azure Bastion SKU tier | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-sku-comparison |
| Use Azure Bastion IP-based connections across environments | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/connect-ip-address |
| View and upgrade Azure Bastion SKU tiers safely | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/upgrade-sku |
Architecture & Design Patterns
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Understand Azure Bastion deployment architectures | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/design-architecture |
| Design and deploy private-only Azure Bastion | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/private-only-deployment |
| Use Azure Bastion with VNet peering architectures | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/vnet-peering |
Limits & Quotas
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Configure Azure Bastion host scaling limits | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/configure-host-scaling |
Security
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Configure Microsoft Entra ID auth for Azure Bastion | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-entra-id-authentication |
| Configure Azure Bastion NSG rules for secure access | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-nsg |
| Harden and secure your Azure Bastion deployment | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/secure-bastion |
Configuration
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Azure Bastion configuration settings and options | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/configuration-settings |
| Configure Kerberos authentication for Azure Bastion | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/kerberos-authentication-portal |
| Configure monitoring and diagnostics for Azure Bastion | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/monitor-bastion |
| Reference Azure Bastion monitoring metrics and logs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/monitor-bastion-reference |
| Configure Azure Bastion for native client access | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/native-client |
| Monitor and manage active Azure Bastion sessions | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/session-monitoring |
| Configure and use Azure Bastion session recording | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/session-recording |
| Create and use Azure Bastion shareable links | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/shareable-link |
Integrations & Coding Patterns
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Connect to AKS private clusters via Azure Bastion | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-connect-to-aks-private-cluster |
| Connect to VM scale sets using Azure Bastion | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-connect-vm-scale-set |
| Connect from Linux native clients through Azure Bastion | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/connect-vm-native-client-linux |
| Connect from Windows native clients through Azure Bastion | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/connect-vm-native-client-windows |
| Transfer files via Azure Bastion native clients | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/vm-upload-download-native |
What ships with it
Read from the repository
Just SKILL.md. No reference files, no scripts.
Gives 0 of the 12 instructions most containers cloud skills give in ~1.4k tokens
Counted across 607 of the 705 authors here whose files we hold, read 2026-09-06
- Run as non-root userin 34 of 607, across 27 files
- Use multi-stage buildsin 29 of 607
- Set resource requests and limitsin 24 of 607, across 20 files
- Configure liveness and readiness probesin 18 of 607, across 14 files
- Use named volumes for persistent datain 14 of 607, across 9 files
- Pin base image versionsin 14 of 607
- Set up environment variablesin 14 of 607, across 10 files
- Pin provider versionsin 14 of 607
- Apply least privilege RBAC permissionsin 10 of 607, across 7 files
- Create a dockerignore filein 10 of 607
- Use remote state with lockingin 9 of 607
- Pin base images by digestin 9 of 607, across 8 files
Said here and by no other author read
- Use the Category Index to locate relevant sections
- Use read_file on linked reference files
- Suggest pulling latest version if metadata is old
- Suggest installing MicrosoftDocs MCP if unavailable.
- Use read_file with specified lines
Grouped from the skills themselves: near-identical wordings counted once, and counted by distinct author, so one author publishing three of these counts once. Length counted with cl100k_base; the agent that loads this file may tokenize it differently.