Azure Identity Py

Azure Identity SDK for Python

Authentication library for Azure SDK clients using Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD).

Installation

pip install azure-identity

Environment Variables

# Service Principal (for production/CI)
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<your-tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<your-client-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=<your-client-secret>

# User-assigned Managed Identity (optional)
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<managed-identity-client-id>

DefaultAzureCredential

The recommended credential for most scenarios. Tries multiple authentication methods in order:

from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
from azure.storage.blob import BlobServiceClient

# Works in local dev AND production without code changes
credential = DefaultAzureCredential()

client = BlobServiceClient(
    account_url="https://<account>.blob.core.windows.net",
    credential=credential
)

Credential Chain Order

Customizing DefaultAzureCredential

# Exclude credentials you don't need
credential = DefaultAzureCredential(
    exclude_environment_credential=True,
    exclude_shared_token_cache_credential=True,
    managed_identity_client_id="<user-assigned-mi-client-id>"  # For user-assigned MI
)

# Enable interactive browser (disabled by default)
credential = DefaultAzureCredential(
    exclude_interactive_browser_credential=False
)

Specific Credential Types

ManagedIdentityCredential

For Azure-hosted resources (VMs, App Service, Functions, AKS):

from azure.identity import ManagedIdentityCredential

# System-assigned managed identity
credential = ManagedIdentityCredential()

# User-assigned managed identity
credential = ManagedIdentityCredential(
    client_id="<user-assigned-mi-client-id>"
)

ClientSecretCredential

For service principal with secret:

from azure.identity import ClientSecretCredential

credential = ClientSecretCredential(
    tenant_id=os.environ["AZURE_TENANT_ID"],
    client_id=os.environ["AZURE_CLIENT_ID"],
    client_secret=os.environ["AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET"]
)

AzureCliCredential

Uses the account from az login:

from azure.identity import AzureCliCredential

credential = AzureCliCredential()

ChainedTokenCredential

Custom credential chain:

from azure.identity import (
    ChainedTokenCredential,
    ManagedIdentityCredential,
    AzureCliCredential
)

# Try managed identity first, fall back to CLI
credential = ChainedTokenCredential(
    ManagedIdentityCredential(client_id="<user-assigned-mi-client-id>"),
    AzureCliCredential()
)

Credential Types Table

Getting Tokens Directly

from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential

credential = DefaultAzureCredential()

# Get token for a specific scope
token = credential.get_token("https://management.azure.com/.default")
print(f"Token expires: {token.expires_on}")

# For Azure Database for PostgreSQL
token = credential.get_token("https://ossrdbms-aad.database.windows.net/.default")

Async Client

from azure.identity.aio import DefaultAzureCredential
from azure.storage.blob.aio import BlobServiceClient

async def main():
    credential = DefaultAzureCredential()
    
    async with BlobServiceClient(
        account_url="https://<account>.blob.core.windows.net",
        credential=credential
    ) as client:
        # ... async operations
        pass
    
    await credential.close()

Best Practices

1. Use DefaultAzureCredential for code that runs locally and in Azure
2. Never hardcode credentials — use environment variables or managed identity
3. Prefer managed identity in production Azure deployments
4. Use ChainedTokenCredential when you need a custom credential order
5. Close async credentials explicitly or use context managers
6. Set AZURE_CLIENT_ID for user-assigned managed identities
7. Exclude unused credentials to speed up authentication

When to Use

This skill is applicable to execute the workflow or actions described in the overview.

AGI Framework Integration

Adapted for @techwavedev/agi-agent-kit Original source: antigravity-awesome-skills

Memory-First Protocol

Retrieve prior deployment configurations, rollback procedures, and incident post-mortems. Avoid re-discovering infrastructure patterns.

# Check for prior infrastructure context before starting
python3 execution/memory_manager.py auto --query "deployment configuration and patterns for Azure Identity Py"

Storing Results

After completing work, store infrastructure decisions for future sessions:

python3 execution/memory_manager.py store \
  --content "Deployment pipeline: configured blue-green deployment with health checks on port 8080" \
  --type technical --project <project> \
  --tags azure-identity-py devops

Multi-Agent Collaboration

Broadcast deployment changes so frontend and backend agents update their configurations accordingly.

python3 execution/cross_agent_context.py store \
  --agent "<your-agent>" \
  --action "Deployed infrastructure changes — updated CI/CD pipeline with new health check endpoints" \
  --project <project>

Playbook Integration

Use the ship-saas-mvp or full-stack-deploy playbook to sequence this skill with testing, documentation, and deployment verification.