skill

azure-ai — Claude Code skill for Azure AI Search, Speech and OCR

Q: How do I install azure-ai in Claude?

Run `npx skills add microsoft/skills --skill azure-ai -a claude-code`. The skill file lands at `~/.claude/skills/azure-ai/SKILL.md`.

Q: Does azure-ai need Azure MCP?

Yes, that is the preferred path: the `azure__search` and `azure__speech` tools only appear when Azure MCP is enabled. In Claude and Copilot CLI you turn it on with `/mcp`.

Wires Azure services into your agent: index queries, speech recognition and synthesis, OCR. Useful when the project already runs on Azure.

Install into Claude Code · Skills CLI (Vercel) All methods and platforms ↓

npx skills add microsoft/skills --skill azure-ai -a claude-code

Open on GitHub

What azure-ai does

The skill covers four Azure services and the tools that reach them. AI Search handles full-text, vector and hybrid search, plus enrichment like entity extraction, OCR and sentiment. Speech does real-time and batch transcription, neural text-to-speech with SSML, speaker diarization and custom domain vocabulary. OpenAI brings GPT models, embeddings and DALL-E, while Document Intelligence takes on form extraction and OCR.

The preferred route is Azure MCP. With it enabled the agent gets azure__search with search_index_list, search_index_get and search_query, and azure__speech with speech_transcribe and speech_synthesize. If Azure MCP is off, ask the user to run /mcp in Copilot CLI or Claude and enable it; other hosts need it turned on through their own MCP configuration. Skip that step and the skill is just a reference page.

Inside are condensed SDK guides for Python, TypeScript, .NET and Java: search, OpenAI, Vision, transcription, translation, Document Intelligence, Content Safety. The CLI side lists az search and az cognitiveservices. The skill does not provision anything in Azure, so resources and credentials have to exist first — otherwise tool calls land on an empty index list.

What it helps with

list indexes and run a query against one
combine keyword and vector results in hybrid search
transcribe audio in batch or live
synthesize speech with neural voices and SSML
pull fields out of scanned forms via OCR

Example prompts for the agent

list the search indexes in Azure AI Search
query the index for documents about refunds
transcribe this meeting recording to text

How to install azure-ai

1Skills CLI (Vercel)

npx skills add microsoft/skills --skill azure-ai -a claude-code

2Manually: put the files in place

~/.claude/skills/azure-ai/SKILL.md

Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/azure-ai/

Manually: put the files in place

.agents/skills/azure-ai/SKILL.md

For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

Manually: put the files in place

.cursor/skills/azure-ai/SKILL.md

Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

1GitHub CLI

gh skill install microsoft/skills azure-ai

2Manually: put the files in place

.github/skills/azure-ai/SKILL.md

Platform CLI

gemini skills install https://github.com/microsoft/skills --path .github/plugins/azure-skills/skills/azure-ai

Manually: put the files in place

.devin/skills/azure-ai/SKILL.md

The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to install skills in Claude Code: five ways

Questions about azure-ai

How do I install azure-ai in Claude?

Run npx skills add microsoft/skills --skill azure-ai -a claude-code. The skill file lands at ~/.claude/skills/azure-ai/SKILL.md.

What does azure-ai do?

It gives the agent access to Azure AI Search, Speech, OpenAI and Document Intelligence: index queries, speech-to-text and text-to-speech, OCR, form extraction. It also ships condensed SDK guides for Python, TypeScript, .NET and Java.

Does azure-ai need Azure MCP?

Yes, that is the preferred path: the azure__search and azure__speech tools only appear when Azure MCP is enabled. In Claude and Copilot CLI you turn it on with /mcp.

Source text

SKILL.md · MIT

---
name: azure-ai
description: "Use for Azure AI: Search, Speech, OpenAI, Document Intelligence. Helps with search, vector/hybrid search, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, transcription, OCR. WHEN: AI Search, query search, vector search, hybrid search, semantic search, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, transcribe, OCR, convert text to speech."
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: Microsoft
  version: "1.2.2"
---

# Azure AI Services

## Services

| Service | Use When | MCP Tools | CLI |
|---------|----------|-----------|-----|
| AI Search | Full-text, vector, hybrid search | `azure__search` | `az search` |
| Speech | Speech-to-text, text-to-speech | `azure__speech` | - |
| OpenAI | GPT models, embeddings, DALL-E | - | `az cognitiveservices` |
| Document Intelligence | Form extraction, OCR | - | - |

## MCP Server (Preferred)

When Azure MCP is enabled:

### AI Search
- `azure__search` with command `search_index_list` - List search indexes
- `azure__search` with command `search_index_get` - Get index details
- `azure__search` with command `search_query` - Query search index

### Speech
- `azure__speech` with command `speech_transcribe` - Speech to text
- `azure__speech` with command `speech_synthesize` - Text to speech

**If Azure MCP is not enabled:** In Copilot CLI or Claude Code, ask the user to run `/mcp` and enable Azure MCP; in other hosts, ask the user to enable Azure MCP through the host's MCP configuration.

## AI Search Capabilities

| Feature | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| Full-text search | Linguistic analysis, stemming |
| Vector search | Semantic similarity with embeddings |
| Hybrid search | Combined keyword + vector |
| AI enrichment | Entity extraction, OCR, sentiment |

## Speech Capabilities

| Feature | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| Speech-to-text | Real-time and batch transcription |
| Text-to-speech | Neural voices, SSML support |
| Speaker diarization | Identify who spoke when |
| Custom models | Domain-specific vocabulary |

## SDK Quick References

For programmatic access to these services, see the condensed SDK guides:

- **AI Search**: [Python](references/sdk/azure-search-documents-py.md) | [TypeScript](references/sdk/azure-search-documents-ts.md) | [.NET](references/sdk/azure-search-documents-dotnet.md)
- **OpenAI**: [.NET](references/sdk/azure-ai-openai-dotnet.md)
- **Vision**: [Python](references/sdk/azure-ai-vision-imageanalysis-py.md) | [Java](references/sdk/azure-ai-vision-imageanalysis-java.md)
- **Transcription**: [Python](references/sdk/azure-ai-transcription-py.md)
- **Translation**: [Python](references/sdk/azure-ai-translation-text-py.md) | [TypeScript](references/sdk/azure-ai-translation-ts.md)
- **Document Intelligence**: [.NET](references/sdk/azure-ai-document-intelligence-dotnet.md) | [TypeScript](references/sdk/azure-ai-document-intelligence-ts.md)
- **Content Safety**: [Python](references/sdk/azure-ai-contentsafety-py.md) | [TypeScript](references/sdk/azure-ai-contentsafety-ts.md) | [Java](references/sdk/azure-ai-contentsafety-java.md)

## Service Details

For deep documentation on specific services:

- AI Search indexing and queries -> [Azure AI Search documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/search/search-what-is-azure-search)
- Speech transcription patterns -> [Azure AI Speech documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-services/speech-service/overview)

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