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Understand Microsoft technologies by querying official documentation. Use whenever the user asks how something works, wants tutorials, needs configuration options, limits, quotas, or best practices for any Microsoft technology (Azure, .NET, M365, Windows, Power Platform, etc.)—even if they don't mention "docs." If the question is about understanding a concept rather than writing code, this is the right skill.

Published by microsoft ↗microsoft/skills

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Understand Cosmos DB partition keys

Start a fresh conversation.

Use microsoft-docs to explain how Cosmos DB partitioning works and summarize the official partition key design best practices. Keep the explanation concise and cite the Microsoft documentation used.

Required inputs

Access to the Microsoft Learn MCP Server, or the documented mslearn CLI fallback.
Optional workload context to make the partition-key guidance more specific.

Previously published starter task based on a pinned source version; check the source and required inputs before running. Task evidence ↗

SKILL.md

name: microsoft-docsdescription: Understand Microsoft technologies by querying official documentation. Use whenever the user asks how something works, wants tutorials, needs configuration options, limits, quotas, or best practices for any Microsoft technology (Azure, .NET, M365, Windows, Power Platform, etc.)—even if they don't mention "docs." If the question is about understanding a concept rather than writing code, this is the right skill.context: forkcompatibility: Primarily uses the Microsoft Learn MCP Server (https://learn.microsoft.com/api/mcp); if that is unavailable, fall back to the mslearn CLI (`npx @microsoft/learn-cli`).

Microsoft Docs

Tools

Tool	Use For
`microsoft_docs_search`	Find documentation—concepts, guides, tutorials, configuration
`microsoft_docs_fetch`	Get full page content (when search excerpts aren't enough)

When to Use

Understanding concepts — "How does Cosmos DB partitioning work?"
Learning a service — "Azure Functions overview", "Container Apps architecture"
Finding tutorials — "quickstart", "getting started", "step-by-step"
Configuration options — "App Service configuration settings"
Limits & quotas — "Azure OpenAI rate limits", "Service Bus quotas"
Best practices — "Azure security best practices"

Query Effectiveness

Good queries are specific:

# ❌ Too broad
"Azure Functions"

# ✅ Specific
"Azure Functions Python v2 programming model"
"Cosmos DB partition key design best practices"
"Container Apps scaling rules KEDA"

Include context:

Version when relevant (.NET 8, EF Core 8)
Task intent (quickstart, tutorial, overview, limits)
Platform for multi-platform docs (Linux, Windows)

When to Fetch Full Page

Fetch after search when:

Tutorials — need complete step-by-step instructions
Configuration guides — need all options listed
Deep dives — user wants comprehensive coverage
Search excerpt is cut off — full context needed

Why Use This

Accuracy — live docs, not training data that may be outdated
Completeness — tutorials have all steps, not fragments
Authority — official Microsoft documentation

CLI Alternative

If the Learn MCP server is not available, use the mslearn CLI from the command line instead:

# Run directly (no install needed)
npx @microsoft/learn-cli search "azure functions timeout"

# Or install globally, then run
npm install -g @microsoft/learn-cli
mslearn search "azure functions timeout"

MCP Tool	CLI Command
`microsoft_docs_search(query: "...")`	`mslearn search "..."`
`microsoft_docs_fetch(url: "...")`	`mslearn fetch "..."`

The fetch command also supports --section <heading> to extract a single section and --max-chars <number> to truncate output.