# Research Components

After architecture planning, research each selected component to gather best practices before generating artifacts.

## Process

1. **Identify Components** — List all Azure services from architecture plan
2. **Load Service References** — For each service, load `services/<service>/README.md` first, then specific references as needed
3. **Check Resource Naming Rules** — For each resource type, check [resource naming rules](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/resource-name-rules) for valid characters, length limits, and uniqueness scopes
4. **Load Recipe References** — Load the selected recipe's guide (e.g., [AZD](recipes/azd/README.md)) and its IAC rules, MCP best practices, and schema tools listed in its "Before Generation" table
5. **Check Region Availability** — Verify all selected services are available in the target region per [region-availability.md](region-availability.md)
6. **Check Provisioning Limits** — Invoke **azure-quotas** skill to validate that the selected subscription and region have sufficient quota/capacity for all planned resources. Complete [Step 6 of the plan template](plan-template.md#6-provisioning-limit-checklist) in two phases: (1) prepare resource inventory with deployment quantities, (2) fetch quotas and validate capacity using azure-quotas skill
7. **Load Runtime References** — For containerized apps, load language-specific production settings (e.g., [Node.js](runtimes/nodejs.md))
8. **Invoke Related Skills** — For deeper guidance, invoke mapped skills from the table below
9. **Document Findings** — Record key insights in `.azure/deployment-plan.md`

## Service-to-Reference Mapping

| Azure Service | Reference | Related Skills |
|---------------|-----------|----------------|
| **Hosting** | | |
| Container Apps | [Container Apps](services/container-apps/README.md) | `azure-diagnostics`, `azure-observability`, `azure-nodejs-production` |
| App Service | [App Service](services/app-service/README.md) | `azure-diagnostics`, `azure-observability`, `azure-nodejs-production` |
| Azure Functions | [Functions](services/functions/README.md) | — |
| Static Web Apps | [Static Web Apps](services/static-web-apps/README.md) | — |
| AKS | [AKS](services/aks/README.md) | `azure-networking` |
| **Data** | | |
| Azure SQL | [SQL Database](services/sql-database/README.md) | — |
| Cosmos DB | [Cosmos DB](services/cosmos-db/README.md) | — |
| PostgreSQL | — | — |
| Storage (Blob/Files) | [Storage](services/storage/README.md) | `azure-storage` |
| **Messaging** | | |
| Service Bus | [Service Bus](services/service-bus/README.md) | — |
| Event Grid | [Event Grid](services/event-grid/README.md) | — |
| Event Hubs | — | — |
| **Integration** | | |
| API Management | [APIM](apim.md) | `azure-aigateway` (invoke for AI Gateway policies) |
| Logic Apps | [Logic Apps](services/logic-apps/README.md) | — |
| **Workflow & Orchestration** | | |
| Durable Functions | [Durable Functions](services/functions/durable.md), [Durable Task Scheduler](services/durable-task-scheduler/README.md) | — |
| Durable Task Scheduler | [Durable Task Scheduler](services/durable-task-scheduler/README.md) | — |
| **Security & Identity** | | |
| Key Vault | [Key Vault](services/key-vault/README.md) | `azure-keyvault-expiration-audit` |
| Managed Identity | — | `entra-app-registration` |
| **Observability** | | |
| Application Insights | [App Insights](services/app-insights/README.md) | `appinsights-instrumentation` (invoke for instrumentation) |
| Log Analytics | — | `azure-observability`, `azure-kusto` |
| **AI Services** | | |
| Azure OpenAI | [Foundry](services/foundry/README.md) | `microsoft-foundry` (invoke for AI patterns and model guidance) |
| AI Search | — | `azure-ai` (invoke for search configuration) |

## Research Instructions

### Step 1: Load Internal References (Progressive Loading)

For each selected service, load the README.md first, then load specific files as needed:

```
Selected: Container Apps, Cosmos DB, Key Vault

→ Load: services/container-apps/README.md (overview)
  → If need Bicep: services/container-apps/bicep.md
  → If need Terraform: services/container-apps/terraform.md
  → If need scaling: services/container-apps/scaling.md
  → If need health probes: services/container-apps/health-probes.md

→ Load: services/cosmos-db/README.md (overview)
  → If need partitioning: services/cosmos-db/partitioning.md
  → If need SDK: services/cosmos-db/sdk.md

→ Load: services/key-vault/README.md (overview)
  → If need SDK: services/key-vault/sdk.md
```

### Step 2: Invoke Related Skills (When Deeper Guidance Needed)

Invoke related skills for specialized scenarios:

| Scenario | Action |
|----------|--------|
| **Using GitHub Copilot SDK** | **Invoke `azure-hosted-copilot-sdk`** (scaffold + config, then resume azure-prepare) |
| Using Azure Functions | Stay in **azure-prepare** — load [selection.md](services/functions/templates/selection.md) → Follow [composition.md](services/functions/templates/recipes/composition.md) algorithm |
| PostgreSQL with passwordless auth | Handle directly without a separate skill |
| Need detailed security hardening | Handle directly with service-specific security guidance and platform best practices |
| Setting up App Insights instrumentation | `appinsights-instrumentation` |
| Building AI applications | `microsoft-foundry` |
| Cost-sensitive deployment | `azure-cost` |

**Skill/Reference Invocation Pattern:**

For **Azure Functions**:
1. Load: [selection.md](services/functions/templates/selection.md) (decision tree)
2. Follow: [composition.md](services/functions/templates/recipes/composition.md) (algorithm)
3. Result: Base template + recipe composition (never synthesize IaC)

For **PostgreSQL**:
1. Handle passwordless auth patterns directly without a separate skill

### Step 3: Document in Plan

Add research findings to `.azure/deployment-plan.md` under a `## Research Summary` section with source references and key insights per component.

## Common Research Patterns

### Web Application + API + Database (Cosmos DB)

1. Load: [services/container-apps/README.md](services/container-apps/README.md) → [bicep.md](services/container-apps/bicep.md) or [terraform.md](services/container-apps/terraform.md), [scaling.md](services/container-apps/scaling.md)
2. Load: [services/cosmos-db/README.md](services/cosmos-db/README.md) → [partitioning.md](services/cosmos-db/partitioning.md)
3. Load: [services/key-vault/README.md](services/key-vault/README.md)
4. Invoke: `azure-observability` (monitoring setup)
5. Review service-specific security guidance directly before generation

### Container Apps + API + SQL Database

1. Load: [services/container-apps/README.md](services/container-apps/README.md) → [bicep.md](services/container-apps/bicep.md) or [terraform.md](services/container-apps/terraform.md), [scaling.md](services/container-apps/scaling.md)
2. Load: [services/sql-database/README.md](services/sql-database/README.md) → [bicep.md](services/sql-database/bicep.md), [auth.md](services/sql-database/auth.md)
3. Load: [services/key-vault/README.md](services/key-vault/README.md)
4. Review [auth.md](services/sql-database/auth.md) directly for Entra-only auth configuration

### App Service + API + SQL Database

1. Load: [services/app-service/README.md](services/app-service/README.md) → [bicep.md](services/app-service/bicep.md)
2. Load: [services/sql-database/README.md](services/sql-database/README.md) → [bicep.md](services/sql-database/bicep.md), [auth.md](services/sql-database/auth.md)
3. Load: [services/key-vault/README.md](services/key-vault/README.md)
4. Review [auth.md](services/sql-database/auth.md) directly for Entra-only auth configuration

### Serverless Event-Driven

1. Load: [services/functions/README.md](services/functions/README.md) (contains mandatory composition workflow)
2. Load: [services/event-grid/README.md](services/event-grid/README.md) or [services/service-bus/README.md](services/service-bus/README.md) (if using messaging)
3. Load: [services/storage/README.md](services/storage/README.md) (if using queues/blobs)
4. Invoke: `azure-observability` (distributed tracing)

### AI Application

1. Invoke: `microsoft-foundry` (AI patterns and best practices)
2. Load: [services/container-apps/README.md](services/container-apps/README.md) → [bicep.md](services/container-apps/bicep.md) or [terraform.md](services/container-apps/terraform.md)
3. Load: [services/cosmos-db/README.md](services/cosmos-db/README.md) → [partitioning.md](services/cosmos-db/partitioning.md) (vector storage)
4. Review Key Vault and Foundry references directly for API key management

### GitHub Copilot SDK Application

1. Invoke: `azure-hosted-copilot-sdk` skill (scaffold, infra, model config)
2. After it completes, resume azure-prepare workflow (validate → deploy)

## After Research

Proceed to **Generate Artifacts** step with research findings applied.