Azure Quotas - Service Limits & Capacity Management

AUTHORITATIVE GUIDANCE — Follow these instructions exactly for quota management and capacity validation.

Overview

What are Azure Quotas?

Azure quotas (also called service limits) are the maximum number of resources you can deploy in a subscription. Quotas:

• Prevent accidental over-provisioning
• Ensure fair resource distribution across Azure
• Represent available capacity in each region
• Can be increased (adjustable quotas) or are fixed (non-adjustable)

Key Concept: Quotas = Resource Availability

If you don't have quota, you cannot deploy resources. Always check quotas when planning deployments or selecting regions.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when:

• Planning a new deployment - Validate capacity before deployment
• Selecting an Azure region - Compare quota availability across regions
• Troubleshooting quota exceeded errors - Check current usage vs limits
• Requesting quota increases - Submit increase requests via CLI or Portal
• Comparing regional capacity - Find regions with available quota
• Validating provisioning limits - Ensure deployment won't exceed quotas

Quick Reference

⚠️ CRITICAL: ALWAYS USE CLI FIRST

Azure CLI (az quota) is the ONLY reliable method for checking quotas. Use CLI FIRST, always.

DO NOT use REST API or Portal as your first approach. They are unreliable and misleading.

Why you must use CLI first:

• REST API is unreliable and shows misleading results
• REST API "No Limit" or "Unlimited" values DO NOT mean unlimited capacity
• "No Limit" typically means the resource doesn't support quota API (not unlimited!)
• CLI provides clear BadRequest errors when providers aren't supported
• CLI has consistent output format and better error messages
• Portal may show incomplete or cached data

Mandatory workflow:

1. FIRST: Try az quota list / az quota show / az quota usage show
2. If CLI returns BadRequest: Then use Azure service limits docs
3. Never start with REST API or Portal - only use as last resort

If you see "No Limit" in REST API/Portal: This is NOT unlimited capacity. It means:

• The quota API doesn't support that resource type, OR
• The quota isn't enforced via the API, OR
• Service-specific limits still apply (check documentation)

For complete CLI command reference and examples, see commands.md.

Quota Types

Important: Requesting quota increases is free. You only pay for resources you actually use, not for quota allocation.

Understanding Resource Name Mapping

⚠️ CRITICAL: There is NO 1:1 mapping between ARM resource types and quota resource names. Never assume the quota resource name from the ARM type.

📋 Reference: Read references/resource-name-mapping.md for example mappings and the discovery workflow.

Core Workflows

📋 Reference: Read references/core-workflows.md for 4 detailed workflows with full bash scripts:

1. Check Quota for a Specific Resource — Verify limit and usage before deployment
2. Compare Quotas Across Regions — Find the best region based on available capacity
3. Request Quota Increase — Submit increase requests with approval process
4. List All Quotas for Planning — Inventory quotas for a provider in a region

Troubleshooting

📋 Reference: Read references/troubleshooting.md for common errors (ExtensionNotFound, BadRequest, QuotaExceeded, InvalidScope) and supported/unsupported resource providers.

Additional Resources

Best Practices

1. ✅ Always check quotas before deployment - Prevent quota exceeded errors
2. ✅ Run az quota list first - Discover correct quota resource names
3. ✅ Compare regions - Find regions with available capacity
4. ✅ Account for growth - Request 20% buffer above immediate needs
5. ✅ Use table output for overview - --output table for quick scanning
6. ✅ Document quota sources - Track whether from quota API or official docs
7. ✅ Monitor usage trends - Set up alerts at 80% threshold (via Portal)

Workflow Summary

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. Install quota extension             │
│     az extension add --name quota       │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  2. Discover quota resource names       │
│     az quota list --scope ...           │
│     (Match by localizedValue)           │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  3. Check current usage                 │
│     az quota usage show                 │
│     --resource-name <name>              │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  4. Check quota limit                   │
│     az quota show                       │
│     --resource-name <name>              │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  5. Validate capacity                   │
│     Available = Limit - (Usage + Need)  │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ▼
         ┌────────┴────────┐
         │                 │
    ✅ Sufficient     ❌ Insufficient
         │                 │
         ▼                 ▼
    Proceed          Request increase
                     or change region

Gotchas

• "No Limit" is misleading — REST API shows "No Limit" or "Unlimited" but service-specific hard limits still apply. Usually means the resource doesn't support the quota API.
• REST API data is unreliable — DO NOT use REST API or Portal as first approach. CLI (az quota) is the ONLY reliable method. REST API shows incomplete/cached/misleading data.
• No 1:1 ARM-to-quota mapping — ARM resource type name ≠ quota resource name. Never assume. MUST discover via az quota list each time.
• CLI-first workflow is mandatory — Try az quota list first → if BadRequest → then use docs. Never start with REST API/Portal.

Reference Index

Load these on demand — do NOT read all at once: