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Azure Containerregistry Py Agent Skill

| Azure Container Registry SDK for Python. Use for managing container images, artifacts, and repositories.

3k tokens
context cost
the whole folder, loaded on every use
3
files
instructions only
0
copies elsewhere
how many repositories repackaged it
64 d ago
last touched
this folder, not the whole repository

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository
npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/skills --skill azure-containerregistry-py

What comes with it

4 332 bytes besides the instruction
references/capabilities.md
references/non-hero-scenarios.md

The instruction itself

27 sections, as written by the author

Azure Container Registry SDK for Python

Manage container images, artifacts, and repositories in Azure Container Registry.

Installation

pip install azure-containerregistry

Environment Variables

AZURE_CONTAINERREGISTRY_ENDPOINT=https://<registry-name>.azurecr.io  # Required for all auth methods
AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod # Required only if DefaultAzureCredential is used in production

Authentication & Lifecycle

> 🔑 Two rules apply to every code sample below:

>

> 1. Prefer DefaultAzureCredential. It works locally (Azure CLI / VS Code / Developer CLI) and in Azure (managed identity, workload identity) with no code change. Avoid connection strings, account/API keys — they bypass Entra audit and rotation.

> - Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential works as-is.

> - Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod (or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>) to constrain the credential chain to production-safe credentials.

> 2. Wrap every client in a context manager so HTTP transports, sockets, and token caches are released deterministically:

> - Sync: with <Client>(...) as client:

> - Async: async with <Client>(...) as client: and async with DefaultAzureCredential() as credential: (from azure.identity.aio)

>

> Snippets may abbreviate this setup, but production code should always follow both rules.

import os
from azure.containerregistry import ContainerRegistryClient
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential, ManagedIdentityCredential

# Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential. Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>
credential = DefaultAzureCredential(require_envvar=True)
# Or use a specific credential directly in production:
# See https://learn.microsoft.com/python/api/overview/azure/identity-readme?view=azure-python#credential-classes
# credential = ManagedIdentityCredential()

with ContainerRegistryClient(
    endpoint=os.environ["AZURE_CONTAINERREGISTRY_ENDPOINT"],
    credential=credential
) as client:
    # Use client here (see following sections for operations)
    ...

Anonymous Access (Public Registry)

from azure.containerregistry import ContainerRegistryClient

with ContainerRegistryClient(
    endpoint="https://mcr.microsoft.com",
    credential=None,
    audience="https://mcr.microsoft.com"
) as client:
    # Use client here (see following sections for operations)
    ...

List Repositories

with ContainerRegistryClient(endpoint, DefaultAzureCredential()) as client:
    for repository in client.list_repository_names():
        print(repository)

Repository Operations

Get Repository Properties

properties = client.get_repository_properties("my-image")
print(f"Created: {properties.created_on}")
print(f"Modified: {properties.last_updated_on}")
print(f"Manifests: {properties.manifest_count}")
print(f"Tags: {properties.tag_count}")

Update Repository Properties

from azure.containerregistry import RepositoryProperties

client.update_repository_properties(
    "my-image",
    properties=RepositoryProperties(
        can_delete=False,
        can_write=False
    )
)

Delete Repository

client.delete_repository("my-image")

List Tags

for tag in client.list_tag_properties("my-image"):
    print(f"{tag.name}: {tag.created_on}")

Filter by Order

from azure.containerregistry import ArtifactTagOrder

# Most recent first
for tag in client.list_tag_properties(
    "my-image",
    order_by=ArtifactTagOrder.LAST_UPDATED_ON_DESCENDING
):
    print(f"{tag.name}: {tag.last_updated_on}")

Manifest Operations

List Manifests

from azure.containerregistry import ArtifactManifestOrder

for manifest in client.list_manifest_properties(
    "my-image",
    order_by=ArtifactManifestOrder.LAST_UPDATED_ON_DESCENDING
):
    print(f"Digest: {manifest.digest}")
    print(f"Tags: {manifest.tags}")
    print(f"Size: {manifest.size_in_bytes}")

Get Manifest Properties

manifest = client.get_manifest_properties("my-image", "latest")
print(f"Digest: {manifest.digest}")
print(f"Architecture: {manifest.architecture}")
print(f"OS: {manifest.operating_system}")

Update Manifest Properties

from azure.containerregistry import ArtifactManifestProperties

client.update_manifest_properties(
    "my-image",
    "latest",
    properties=ArtifactManifestProperties(
        can_delete=False,
        can_write=False
    )
)

Delete Manifest

# Delete by digest
client.delete_manifest("my-image", "sha256:abc123...")

# Delete by tag
manifest = client.get_manifest_properties("my-image", "old-tag")
client.delete_manifest("my-image", manifest.digest)

Tag Operations

Get Tag Properties

tag = client.get_tag_properties("my-image", "latest")
print(f"Digest: {tag.digest}")
print(f"Created: {tag.created_on}")

Delete Tag

client.delete_tag("my-image", "old-tag")

Upload and Download Artifacts

from azure.containerregistry import ContainerRegistryClient

with ContainerRegistryClient(endpoint, DefaultAzureCredential()) as client:
    # Download manifest
    manifest = client.download_manifest("my-image", "latest")
    print(f"Media type: {manifest.media_type}")
    print(f"Digest: {manifest.digest}")

    # Download blob
    blob = client.download_blob("my-image", "sha256:abc123...")
    with open("layer.tar.gz", "wb") as f:
        for chunk in blob:
            f.write(chunk)

Async Client

from azure.containerregistry.aio import ContainerRegistryClient
from azure.identity.aio import DefaultAzureCredential

async def list_repos():
    async with DefaultAzureCredential() as credential:
        async with ContainerRegistryClient(endpoint, credential) as client:
            async for repo in client.list_repository_names():
                print(repo)

Clean Up Old Images

from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone

cutoff = datetime.now(timezone.utc) - timedelta(days=30)

for manifest in client.list_manifest_properties("my-image"):
    if manifest.last_updated_on < cutoff and not manifest.tags:
        print(f"Deleting {manifest.digest}")
        client.delete_manifest("my-image", manifest.digest)

Client Operations

| Operation | Description |

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

| list_repository_names | List all repositories |

| get_repository_properties | Get repository metadata |

| delete_repository | Delete repository and all images |

| list_tag_properties | List tags in repository |

| get_tag_properties | Get tag metadata |

| delete_tag | Delete specific tag |

| list_manifest_properties | List manifests in repository |

| get_manifest_properties | Get manifest metadata |

| delete_manifest | Delete manifest by digest |

| download_manifest | Download manifest content |

| download_blob | Download layer blob |

Best Practices

  • Pick sync OR async and stay consistent. Do not mix azure.xxx sync clients with azure.xxx.aio async clients in the same call path. Choose one mode per module.
  • Always use context managers for clients and async credentials. Wrap every client in with Client(...) as client: (sync) or async with Client(...) as client: (async). For async DefaultAzureCredential from azure.identity.aio, also use async with credential: so tokens and transports are cleaned up.
  • Use Microsoft Entra ID for authentication in production
  • Delete by digest not tag to avoid orphaned images
  • Lock production images with can_delete=False
  • Clean up untagged manifests regularly
  • Use async client for high-throughput operations
  • Order by last_updated to find recent/old images
  • Check manifest.tags before deleting to avoid removing tagged images

Reference Files

| File | Contents |

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

| references/capabilities.md | Additional non-hero capabilities, operation-group coverage, and production checklists. |

| references/non-hero-scenarios.md | Dedicated non-hero examples for secondary/advanced scenarios. |

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How to use it

Copy the folder

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Install what it needs

The instructions reference pip. Without those the skill loads but fails at the first command.