mcpbeat

Microsoft Code Reference

github/microsoft-code-reference

Look up Microsoft API references, find working code samples, and verify SDK code is correct. Use when working with Azure SDKs, .NET libraries, or Microsoft APIs—to find the right method, check parameters, get working examples, or troubleshoot errors. Catches hallucinated methods, wrong signatures, and deprecated patterns by querying official docs.

1k tokens
context cost
the whole folder, loaded on every use
1
files
instructions only
0
copies elsewhere
how many repositories repackaged it
37394
stars on the repo
on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository
npx skills add https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot --skill microsoft-code-reference

The instruction itself

8 sections, as written by the author

Microsoft Code Reference

Tools

| Need | Tool | Example |

|------|------|---------|

| API method/class lookup | microsoft_docs_search | "BlobClient UploadAsync Azure.Storage.Blobs" |

| Working code sample | microsoft_code_sample_search | query: "upload blob managed identity", language: "python" |

| Full API reference | microsoft_docs_fetch | Fetch URL from microsoft_docs_search (for overloads, full signatures) |

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:

| Error Type | Query |

|------------|-------|

| Method not found | "[ClassName] methods [Namespace]" |

| Type not found | "[TypeName] NuGet package namespace" |

| Wrong signature | "[ClassName] [MethodName] overloads" → fetch full page |

| Deprecated warning | "[OldType] migration v12" |

| Auth failure | "DefaultAzureCredential troubleshooting" |

| 403 Forbidden | "[ServiceName] RBAC permissions" |

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:

  • Confirm method or package existsmicrosoft_docs_search(query: "[ClassName] [MethodName] [Namespace]")
  • Fetch full details (for overloads/complex params) — microsoft_docs_fetch(url: "...")
  • Find working samplemicrosoft_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 from a terminal or shell (for example, Bash, PowerShell, or cmd) 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"

| MCP Tool | CLI Command |

|----------|-------------|

| microsoft_docs_search(query: "...") | mslearn search "..." |

| microsoft_code_sample_search(query: "...", language: "...") | mslearn code-search "..." --language ... |

| microsoft_docs_fetch(url: "...") | mslearn fetch "..." |

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

How to use it

Copy the folder

Take github/microsoft-code-reference from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.

Check the name does not clash

The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.

Install what it needs

The instructions reference npm, npx. Without those the skill loads but fails at the first command.