Quick Start Guide

Quick Start Guide 🚀

Get the Azure Pricing MCP Server running in under 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+ (Download)
• VS Code with GitHub Copilot extension
  — OR —
• Claude Desktop app

Step 1: Clone & Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/msftnadavbh/AzurePricingMCP.git
cd AzurePricingMCP

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv .venv

# Activate virtual environment
source .venv/bin/activate    # Linux/Mac
.venv\Scripts\activate       # Windows

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

Or use the automated setup:

python scripts/install.py    # Cross-platform
.\scripts\setup.ps1          # Windows PowerShell

Step 2: Verify Installation

# Test the server starts without errors
python -m azure_pricing_mcp

Press Ctrl+C to stop. If it starts without errors, you're ready!

Step 3: Configure Your AI Assistant

Option A: VS Code + GitHub Copilot

Method 1: stdio with Python

1. Create .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace (or this repo):

{
  "servers": {
    "azure-pricing": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/AzurePricingMCP/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "azure_pricing_mcp"]
    }
  }
}

⚠️ Important: Use the absolute path to your Python executable!

Find your Python path:

# Linux/Mac
which python
# or after activating venv:
echo $VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/python

# Windows
where python
# or after activating venv:
echo %VIRTUAL_ENV%\Scripts\python.exe

Method 2: SSE with Docker 🐳

1. Build and run the Docker container:

# Build the image
docker build -t azure-pricing-mcp .

# Run with port mapping
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 --name azure-pricing azure-pricing-mcp

# Verify it's running
docker ps

2. Create .vscode/mcp.json or add to VS Code User settings:

{
  "servers": {
    "azure-pricing": {
      "type": "sse",
      "url": "http://localhost:8080/sse"
    }
  }
}

💡 Tip: SSE transport provides better isolation and allows multiple clients to connect to the same server instance.

2. Restart the MCP server:

   • Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
   • Run: MCP: List Servers
   • Click refresh/restart next to azure-pricing

3. Verify tools are loaded:

   • You should see 6 tools available

Option B: Claude Desktop

1. Find your config file:

   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
   • Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "azure-pricing": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "azure_pricing_mcp"],
      "cwd": "/absolute/path/to/AzurePricingMCP"
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop completely (quit and reopen)

Step 4: Test It Out! 🎉

Open Copilot Chat (VS Code) or Claude Desktop and try:

What's the price of a Standard_D4s_v3 VM in East US?

You should see the MCP tools being invoked and real Azure pricing data returned!

More Example Queries

Available Tools

Troubleshooting

Tools not appearing in VS Code

1. Check the path: Must be absolute, not relative
2. Check Python version: Needs 3.10+
3. Restart MCP: Command Palette → MCP: List Servers → Restart
4. Check for syntax errors: Run python -m azure_pricing_server manually

"No module named 'mcp'"

# Make sure you're in the virtual environment
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Server crashes on startup

Check for Python syntax errors:

python -c "import azure_pricing_mcp"

No results returned

• Service names are case-sensitive: use Virtual Machines not virtual machines
• Region names use Azure format: eastus, westeurope, eastus2
• Try broader searches first, then narrow down

Next Steps

• 📖 Read USAGE_EXAMPLES.md for detailed query patterns
• 🔧 Check README.md for full documentation
• 🤝 Contribute to the project!

Quick Reference

# Start server manually (for testing)
python -m azure_pricing_mcp

# Run tests
pytest tests/

# Check Python path (Linux/Mac)
echo $VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/python

# Check Python path (Windows)
echo %VIRTUAL_ENV%\Scripts\python.exe