---
name: azure-ai-services
description: Expert knowledge for Azure AI services development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. Use when building, debugging, or optimizing Azure AI services applications. Not for Azure Machine Learning (use azure-machine-learning), Azure AI Search (use azure-cognitive-search), Azure AI Speech (use azure-speech), Azure AI Custom Vision (use azure-custom-vision).
compatibility: Requires network access. Uses mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch or fetch_webpage to retrieve documentation.
metadata:
  generated_at: "2026-02-28"
  generator: "docs2skills/1.0.0"
---
# Azure AI services Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for Azure AI services. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.

## How to Use This Skill

> **IMPORTANT for Agent**: This file may be large. Use the **Category Index** below to locate relevant sections, then use `read_file` with specific line ranges (e.g., `L136-L144`) to read the sections needed for the user's question

> **IMPORTANT for Agent**: If `metadata.generated_at` is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If `mcp_microsoftdocs` tools are not available, suggest the user install it: [Installation Guide](https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/mcp/blob/main/README.md)

This skill requires **network access** to fetch documentation content:
- **Preferred**: Use `mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch` with query string `from=learn-agent-skill`. Returns Markdown.
- **Fallback**: Use `fetch_webpage` with query string `from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown`. Returns Markdown.

## Category Index

| Category | Lines | Description |
|----------|-------|-------------|
| Troubleshooting | L36-L40 | Diagnosing and fixing common Content Understanding issues, including model errors, data ingestion problems, configuration mistakes, and troubleshooting steps for failed analyses. |
| Best Practices | L41-L46 | Best practices for Azure AI Content Understanding: designing extraction workflows, tuning models, improving document parsing accuracy, and handling complex or low‑quality documents. |
| Decision Making | L47-L56 | Guidance on choosing pricing tiers, comparing Content Understanding vs Document Intelligence vs LLMs, selecting standard vs pro modes, Foundry vs Studio, migration steps, and cost estimation. |
| Limits & Quotas | L57-L64 | Rate limits, quotas, and list-size limits for Foundry autoscale and Content Moderator (image/term lists), plus service quotas for Content Understanding. |
| Security | L65-L80 | Securing Azure AI/Foundry: auth (Entra, keys, Key Vault), encryption (CMK, data-at-rest), DLP for outbound calls, VNet rules, policy-based governance, and secure analyzer access. |
| Configuration | L81-L99 | Configuring Foundry endpoints, credentials, containers, logging, and Content Understanding analyzers (classification, layout, audiovisual), routing, outputs, and resource recovery/purge. |
| Integrations & Coding Patterns | L100-L110 | Using Azure Content Moderator and Content Understanding via REST/.NET: text/image/video moderation, custom term lists, and building custom multimodal analyzers and workflows. |
| Deployment | L111-L118 | How to package and run Foundry tools/containers on Azure (ACI, Docker Compose, disconnected), and deploy Foundry resources using Azure AI containers and ARM templates |

### Troubleshooting
| Topic | URL |
|-------|-----|
| Resolve common issues with Content Understanding | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/faq |

### Best Practices
| Topic | URL |
|-------|-----|
| Apply best practices for Content Understanding workloads | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/concepts/best-practices |
| Improve Content Understanding document extraction quality | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/document/analyzer-improvement |

### Decision Making
| Topic | URL |
|-------|-----|
| Choose and use Foundry commitment tier pricing | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/commitment-tier |
| Choose between Content Understanding, Document Intelligence, and LLMs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/choosing-right-ai-tool |
| Choose between standard and pro modes in Content Understanding | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/concepts/standard-pro-modes |
| Compare Content Understanding in Foundry vs Studio | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/foundry-vs-content-understanding-studio |
| Migrate Content Understanding analyzers from preview to GA | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/how-to/migration-preview-to-ga |
| Estimate and plan costs for Content Understanding | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/pricing-explainer |

### Limits & Quotas
| Topic | URL |
|-------|-----|
| Use autoscale to increase Foundry rate limits | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/autoscale |
| Use Content Moderator image lists within quota limits | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-moderator/image-lists-quickstart-dotnet |
| Understand Content Moderator image and term list limits | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-moderator/samples-dotnet |
| Service quotas and limits for Content Understanding | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/service-limits |

### Security
| Topic | URL |
|-------|-----|
| Configure authentication for Foundry Tools requests | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/authentication |
| Configure data loss prevention for Foundry outbound calls | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/cognitive-services-data-loss-prevention |
| Secure Foundry resources with virtual network rules | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/cognitive-services-virtual-networks |
| Understand Content Moderator data-at-rest encryption behavior | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-moderator/encrypt-data-at-rest |
| Configure secure access for Content Understanding analyzers | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/concepts/secure-communications |
| Enforce Entra-only auth by disabling local keys | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/disable-local-auth |
| Configure customer-managed encryption keys for Foundry | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/encryption/cognitive-services-encryption-keys-portal |
| Use built-in Azure Policies for Foundry governance | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/policy-reference |
| Rotate Foundry API keys without downtime | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/rotate-keys |
| Apply Azure Policy compliance controls to Foundry | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/security-controls-policy |
| Apply security features for Foundry Tools resources | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/security-features |
| Secure Foundry applications using Azure Key Vault | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/use-key-vault |

### Configuration
| Topic | URL |
|-------|-----|
| Configure custom subdomains for Foundry endpoints | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/cognitive-services-custom-subdomains |
| Use environment variables for Foundry credentials | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/cognitive-services-environment-variables |
| Create reusable Azure AI container images with presets | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/containers/container-reuse-recipe |
| Configure Content Understanding analyzers and parameters | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/concepts/analyzer-reference |
| Configure classification and splitting in Content Understanding | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/concepts/classifier |
| Connect Content Understanding analyzers to Foundry model deployments | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/concepts/models-deployments |
| Use and customize Content Understanding prebuilt analyzers | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/concepts/prebuilt-analyzers |
| Configure document layout and data extraction with Content Understanding | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/document/elements |
| Interpret Content Understanding document Markdown output | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/document/markdown |
| Configure classification and routing in Content Understanding Studio | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/how-to/classification-content-understanding-studio |
| Copy Content Understanding custom analyzers across resources | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/how-to/copy-analyzers |
| Configure audiovisual analysis for audio and video inputs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/video/elements |
| Interpret audiovisual Markdown output from Content Understanding | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/video/markdown |
| Configure diagnostic logging for Foundry resources | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/diagnostic-logging |
| Recover or purge deleted Foundry resources | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/recover-purge-resources |

### Integrations & Coding Patterns
| Topic | URL |
|-------|-----|
| Reference for Azure Content Moderator REST APIs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-moderator/api-reference |
| Call Content Moderator image moderation APIs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-moderator/image-moderation-api |
| Use custom term lists with Content Moderator .NET SDK | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-moderator/term-lists-quickstart-dotnet |
| Use Content Moderator text moderation APIs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-moderator/text-moderation-api |
| Integrate Content Moderator video scanning in .NET | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-moderator/video-moderation-api |
| Call Content Understanding REST APIs for multimodal data | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/quickstart/use-rest-api |
| Create custom Content Understanding analyzers via REST | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/content-understanding/tutorial/create-custom-analyzer |

### Deployment
| Topic | URL |
|-------|-----|
| Run Foundry Tools using Azure AI containers | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/cognitive-services-container-support |
| Deploy Foundry containers to Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/containers/azure-container-instance-recipe |
| Run Foundry containers in disconnected environments | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/containers/disconnected-containers |
| Deploy multiple Azure AI containers with Docker Compose | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/containers/docker-compose-recipe |
| Deploy Foundry resources using ARM templates | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/create-account-resource-manager-template |