Microsoft Code Reference

Microsoft Code Reference

Verify SDK code against official Microsoft documentation. Catches hallucinated methods, wrong signatures, and deprecated patterns by querying live docs.

Tools

Finding Code Samples

Use microsoft_code_sample_search to get official, working examples:

microsoft_code_sample_search(query: "upload file to blob storage", language: "csharp")
microsoft_code_sample_search(query: "authenticate with managed identity", language: "python")
microsoft_code_sample_search(query: "send message service bus", language: "javascript")

When to use:

• Before writing code — find a working pattern to follow
• After errors — compare your code against a known-good sample
• Unsure of initialization/setup — samples show complete context

API Lookups

# Verify method exists (include namespace for precision)
"BlobClient UploadAsync Azure.Storage.Blobs"
"GraphServiceClient Users Microsoft.Graph"

# Find class/interface
"DefaultAzureCredential class Azure.Identity"

# Find correct package
"Azure Blob Storage NuGet package"
"azure-storage-blob pip package"

Fetch full page when method has multiple overloads or you need complete parameter details.

Error Troubleshooting

Use microsoft_code_sample_search to find working code samples and compare with your implementation. For specific errors, use microsoft_docs_search and microsoft_docs_fetch:

When to Verify

Always verify when:

• Method name seems "too convenient" (UploadFile vs actual Upload)
• Mixing SDK versions (v11 CloudBlobClient vs v12 BlobServiceClient)
• Package name doesn't follow conventions (Azure.* for .NET, azure-* for Python)
• Using an API for the first time

Validation Workflow

Before generating code using Microsoft SDKs, verify it's correct:

1. Confirm method or package exists — microsoft_docs_search(query: "[ClassName] [MethodName] [Namespace]")
2. Fetch full details (for overloads/complex params) — microsoft_docs_fetch(url: "...")
3. Find working sample — microsoft_code_sample_search(query: "[task]", language: "[lang]")

For simple lookups, step 1 alone may suffice. For complex API usage, complete all three steps.

CLI Alternative

If the Learn MCP server is not available, use the mslearn CLI via Bash instead:

# Run directly (no install needed)
npx @microsoft/learn-cli search "BlobClient UploadAsync Azure.Storage.Blobs"

# Or install globally, then run
npm install -g @microsoft/learn-cli
mslearn search "BlobClient UploadAsync Azure.Storage.Blobs"

Pass --json to search or code-search to get raw JSON output for further processing.