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

Property	Details
Primary Tool	Azure CLI (az quota) - USE THIS FIRST, ALWAYS
Extension Required	az extension add --name quota (MUST install first)
Key Commands	az quota list, az quota show, az quota usage list, az quota usage show
Complete CLI Reference	commands.md
Azure Portal	My quotas - Use only as fallback
REST API	Microsoft.Quota provider - Unreliable, do NOT use first
MCP Server	azure-quota MCP server — NEVER use this. It is unreliable. Always use az quota CLI instead.
Required Permission	Reader (view) or Quota Request Operator (manage)

⚠️ ALWAYS USE CLI FIRST

REST API and Portal can show misleading "No Limit" values — this does not mean unlimited capacity. It means the quota API doesn't support that resource type. Always start with az quota commands; fall back to Azure service limits docs if CLI returns BadRequest.

For complete CLI reference, see commands.md.

Quota Types

Type	Adjustability	Approval	Examples
Adjustable	Can increase via Portal/CLI/API	Usually auto-approved	VM vCPUs, Public IPs, Storage accounts
Non-adjustable	Fixed limits	Cannot be changed	Subscription-wide hard limits

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.

Example Mappings

ARM Resource Type	Quota Resource Name
Microsoft.App/managedEnvironments	ManagedEnvironmentCount
Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines	standardDSv3Family, cores, virtualMachines
Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses	PublicIPAddresses, IPv4StandardSkuPublicIpAddresses

Discovery Workflow

Never assume the quota resource name from the ARM type. Always use this workflow:

1. List all quotas for the resource provider:

   az quota list --scope /subscriptions/<id>/providers/<ProviderNamespace>/locations/<region>
   

2. Match by localizedValue (human-readable description) to find the relevant quota

3. Use the name field (not ARM resource type) in subsequent commands:

   az quota show --resource-name ManagedEnvironmentCount --scope ...
   az quota usage show --resource-name ManagedEnvironmentCount --scope ...
   

📖 Detailed mapping examples and workflow: See commands.md - Resource Name Mapping

Scripts

Pre-built scripts handle quota extension installation, usage queries, and capacity calculation. Use these instead of constructing commands manually. A single call returns limits, usage, and available capacity.

Script	Purpose	Usage
scripts/check-quota.ps1	Returns limit, usage, and available capacity for all quotas (or a single quota when resource name is provided)	Primary script for quota checks
scripts/check-quota.sh	Same as above (bash)	Primary script for quota checks

Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Check Quota for a Specific Resource

Scenario: Verify quota limits and current usage before deployment

Run the script with the resource provider and region. It returns a table of all quotas with their limit, current usage, and available capacity in a single call:

.\scripts\check-quota.ps1 -ResourceProvider <provider> -Region <region>

./scripts/check-quota.sh <provider> <region>

To check a single resource, add the resource name:

.\scripts\check-quota.ps1 -ResourceProvider <provider> -Region <region> -ResourceName <resource-name>

./scripts/check-quota.sh <provider> <region> <resource-name>

Example:

.\scripts\check-quota.ps1 -ResourceProvider Microsoft.Compute -Region eastus

Example Output:

Resource	Region	Limit	Usage	Available
cores	eastus	100	50	50
standardDSv3Family	eastus	350	50	300
virtualMachines	eastus	25000	5	24995
...	...	...	...	...

📖 See also: az quota show, az quota usage show

Workflow 2: Compare Quotas Across Regions

Scenario: Find the best region for deployment based on available capacity

# Define candidate regions
REGIONS=("eastus" "eastus2" "westus2" "centralus")
VM_FAMILY="standardDSv3Family"
SUBSCRIPTION_ID="<subscription-id>"

# Check quota availability across regions
for region in "${REGIONS[@]}"; do
  echo "=== Checking $region ==="
  
  # Get limit
  LIMIT=$(az quota show \
    --resource-name $VM_FAMILY \
    --scope "/subscriptions/$SUBSCRIPTION_ID/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/$region" \
    --query "properties.limit.value" -o tsv)
  
  # Get current usage
  USAGE=$(az quota usage show \
    --resource-name $VM_FAMILY \
    --scope "/subscriptions/$SUBSCRIPTION_ID/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/$region" \
    --query "properties.usages.value" -o tsv)
  
  # Calculate available
  AVAILABLE=$((LIMIT - USAGE))
  
  echo "Region: $region | Limit: $LIMIT | Usage: $USAGE | Available: $AVAILABLE"
done

📖 See also: commands.md for full scripted multi-region loop patterns

Workflow 3: Request Quota Increase

Scenario: Current quota is insufficient for deployment

# Request increase for VM quota
az quota update \
  --resource-name standardDSv3Family \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus \
  --limit-object value=500 \
  --resource-type dedicated

# Check request status
az quota request status list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus

Approval Process:

• Most adjustable quotas are auto-approved within minutes
• Some requests require manual review (hours to days)
• Non-adjustable quotas require Azure Support ticket

📖 See also: az quota update, az quota request status

Workflow 4: List All Quotas for Planning

Scenario: Understand all quotas for a resource provider in a region

# List all compute quotas in East US (table format)
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/eastus \
  --output table

# List all network quotas
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.Network/locations/eastus \
  --output table

# List all Container Apps quotas
az quota list \
  --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/providers/Microsoft.App/locations/eastus \
  --output table

📖 See also: az quota list

Troubleshooting

Common Errors

Error	Cause	Solution
REST API "No Limit"	Misleading — not unlimited	Use CLI instead; see warning in Quick Reference
ExtensionNotFound	Quota extension not installed	az extension add --name quota
BadRequest	Resource provider not supported by quota API	Check service limits docs
MissingRegistration	Microsoft.Quota provider not registered	az provider register --namespace Microsoft.Quota
QuotaExceeded	Deployment would exceed quota	Request increase or choose different region
InvalidScope	Incorrect scope format	Use pattern: /subscriptions/<id>/providers/<namespace>/locations/<region>
CLI commands fail entirely	Auth, extension, or environment issue	Verify Azure CLI login (az account show), reinstall quota extension, check network. Do NOT use the azure-quota MCP server — it is unreliable.

Unsupported Resource Providers

Known unsupported providers:

• ❌ Microsoft.DocumentDB (Cosmos DB) - Use Portal or Cosmos DB limits docs

Confirmed working providers:

• ✅ Microsoft.Compute (VMs, disks, cores)
• ✅ Microsoft.Network (VNets, IPs, load balancers)
• ✅ Microsoft.App (Container Apps)
• ✅ Microsoft.Storage (storage accounts)
• ✅ Microsoft.MachineLearningServices (ML compute)

📖 See also: Troubleshooting Guide

Additional Resources

Resource	Link
CLI Commands Reference	commands.md - Complete syntax, parameters, examples
Azure Quotas Overview	Microsoft Learn
Service Limits Documentation	Azure subscription limits
Azure Portal - My Quotas	Portal Link
Request Quota Increases	How to request increases

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. ✅ Monitor usage trends - Set up alerts at 80% threshold (via Portal)