Agent skill

azure-identity-dotnet

Azure Identity library for .NET. Authentication library for Azure SDK clients using Microsoft Entra ID. Use for DefaultAzureCredential, managed identity, service principals, and developer credentials. Triggers: "Azure Identity", "DefaultAzureCredential", "ManagedIdentityCredential", "ClientSecretCredential", "authentication .NET", "Azure auth", "credential chain".

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SKILL.md

Azure Identity library for .NET

Authentication library for Azure SDK clients using Microsoft Entra ID.

Installation

bash
dotnet add package Azure.Identity

# For ASP.NET Core integration
dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Azure

# For brokered authentication and Visual Studio Code credential support
dotnet add package Azure.Identity.Broker

Environment Variables

Service Principal with Secret

bash
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<application-client-id>
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<directory-tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=<client-secret-value>

Service Principal with Certificate

bash
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<application-client-id>
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<directory-tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_PATH=<path-to-pfx-or-pem>
AZURE_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD=<certificate-password>  # Optional

Managed Identity

bash
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<user-assigned-managed-identity-client-id>  # Only for user-assigned

DefaultAzureCredential

The recommended credential for most scenarios. Tries multiple authentication methods in order. See DefaultAzureCredential overview for the current credential chain order and defaults.

Basic Usage

csharp
using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Storage.Blobs;

var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
var blobClient = new BlobServiceClient(
    new Uri("https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net"),
    credential);

ASP.NET Core with Dependency Injection

csharp
using Azure.Identity;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Azure;

builder.Services.AddAzureClients(clientBuilder =>
{
    clientBuilder.AddBlobServiceClient(
        new Uri("https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net"));
    clientBuilder.AddSecretClient(
        new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"));
    
    // Uses DefaultAzureCredential by default
    clientBuilder.UseCredential(new DefaultAzureCredential());
});

Customizing DefaultAzureCredential

csharp
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
    new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions
    {
        ExcludeEnvironmentCredential = true,
        ExcludeManagedIdentityCredential = false,
        ExcludeVisualStudioCredential = false,
        ExcludeAzureCliCredential = false,
        ExcludeInteractiveBrowserCredential = false, // Enable interactive
        TenantId = "<tenant-id>",
        ManagedIdentityClientId = "<user-assigned-mi-client-id>"
    });

Credential Types

ManagedIdentityCredential (Production)

csharp
// System-assigned managed identity
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(ManagedIdentityId.SystemAssigned);

// User-assigned by client ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId("<client-id>"));

// User-assigned by resource ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedResourceId("<resource-id>"));

// User-assigned by object ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedObjectId("<object-id>"));

ClientSecretCredential

csharp
var credential = new ClientSecretCredential(
    tenantId: "<tenant-id>",
    clientId: "<client-id>",
    clientSecret: "<client-secret>");

var client = new SecretClient(
    new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
    credential);

ClientCertificateCredential

csharp
var certificate = X509CertificateLoader.LoadCertificateFromFile("MyCertificate.pfx");
var credential = new ClientCertificateCredential(
    tenantId: "<tenant-id>",
    clientId: "<client-id>",
    certificate);

ChainedTokenCredential (Custom Chain)

csharp
var credential = new ChainedTokenCredential(
    new ManagedIdentityCredential(),
    new AzureCliCredential());

var client = new SecretClient(
    new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
    credential);

Developer Credentials

csharp
// Azure CLI
var credential = new AzureCliCredential();

// Azure PowerShell
var credential = new AzurePowerShellCredential();

// Azure Developer CLI (azd)
var credential = new AzureDeveloperCliCredential();

// Visual Studio
var credential = new VisualStudioCredential();

// Interactive Browser
var credential = new InteractiveBrowserCredential();

Environment-Based Configuration

csharp
// Production vs Development
TokenCredential credential = builder.Environment.IsProduction()
    ? new ManagedIdentityCredential("<client-id>")
    : new DefaultAzureCredential();

Sovereign Clouds

csharp
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
    new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions
    {
        AuthorityHost = AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureGovernment
    });

// Available authority hosts:
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzurePublicCloud (default)
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureGovernment
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureChina

Credential Types Reference

Category Credential Purpose
Chains DefaultAzureCredential Preconfigured chain for dev-to-prod
ChainedTokenCredential Custom credential chain
Azure-Hosted ManagedIdentityCredential Azure managed identity
WorkloadIdentityCredential Kubernetes workload identity
EnvironmentCredential Environment variables
Service Principal ClientSecretCredential Client ID + secret
ClientCertificateCredential Client ID + certificate
ClientAssertionCredential Signed client assertion
User InteractiveBrowserCredential Browser-based auth
DeviceCodeCredential Device code flow
OnBehalfOfCredential Delegated identity
Developer AzureCliCredential Azure CLI
AzurePowerShellCredential Azure PowerShell
AzureDeveloperCliCredential Azure Developer CLI
VisualStudioCredential Visual Studio

Best Practices

1. Use Deterministic Credentials in Production

csharp
// Development
var devCredential = new DefaultAzureCredential();

// Production - use specific credential
var prodCredential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId("<client-id>"));

2. Reuse Credential Instances

csharp
// Good: Single credential instance shared across clients
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
var blobClient = new BlobServiceClient(blobUri, credential);
var secretClient = new SecretClient(vaultUri, credential);

3. Configure Retry Policies

csharp
var options = new ManagedIdentityCredentialOptions(
    ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId(clientId))
{
    Retry =
    {
        MaxRetries = 3,
        Delay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0.5),
    }
};
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(options);

4. Enable Logging for Debugging

csharp
using Azure.Core.Diagnostics;

using AzureEventSourceListener listener = new((args, message) =>
{
    if (args is { EventSource.Name: "Azure-Identity" })
    {
        Console.WriteLine(message);
    }
}, EventLevel.LogAlways);

Error Handling

csharp
using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Security.KeyVault.Secrets;

var client = new SecretClient(
    new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
    new DefaultAzureCredential());

try
{
    KeyVaultSecret secret = await client.GetSecretAsync("secret1");
}
catch (AuthenticationFailedException e)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Authentication Failed: {e.Message}");
}
catch (CredentialUnavailableException e)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Credential Unavailable: {e.Message}");
}

Key Exceptions

Exception Description
AuthenticationFailedException Base exception for authentication errors
CredentialUnavailableException Credential cannot authenticate in current environment
AuthenticationRequiredException Interactive authentication is required

Managed Identity Support

Supported Azure services:

  • Azure App Service and Azure Functions
  • Azure Arc
  • Azure Cloud Shell
  • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
  • Azure Service Fabric
  • Azure Virtual Machines
  • Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets

Thread Safety

All credential implementations are thread-safe. A single credential instance can be safely shared across multiple clients and threads.

Related packages

Package Purpose Install
Azure.Identity Authentication (this library) dotnet add package Azure.Identity
Microsoft.Extensions.Azure DI integration dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Azure
Azure.Identity.Broker Brokered auth dotnet add package Azure.Identity.Broker

Reference Links

Resource URL
NuGet Package https://www.nuget.org/packages/Azure.Identity
API Reference https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/azure.identity
Credential Chains https://aka.ms/azsdk/net/identity/credential-chains
Best Practices https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/azure/sdk/authentication/best-practices
GitHub Source https://github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-net/tree/main/sdk/identity/Azure.Identity

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