freundcloud

Querying Dictionary Results with Azure CLI

Azure CLI supports powerful querying and formatting using JMESPath. This enables you to extract, filter, and format data directly from CLI commands—ideal for automation, scripting, and DevOps workflows.

Output Formats

az account show
az account show --output json   # JSON is the default format
az account show --output yaml   # YAML output
az account show --output table  # Human-readable table

Querying and Formatting Single and Nested Values

az account show --query name                # Single value
az account show --query name -o tsv         # Removes quotes
az account show --query user.name           # Nested value
az account show --query user.name -o tsv    # Nested value, no quotes

Querying Properties from Arrays

az account list --query "[].{subscription_id:id, name:name, isDefault:isDefault}" -o table

Querying and Formatting Multiple Values (Including Nested)

az account show --query [name,id,user.name]                # Multiple values
az account show --query [name,id,user.name] -o table       # As table

Renaming Properties in a Query

az account show --query "{SubscriptionName: name, SubscriptionId: id, UserName: user.name}"
az account show --query "{SubscriptionName: name, SubscriptionId: id, UserName: user.name}" -o table

Querying Boolean Values and Filtering

az account list --query "[?isDefault]" -o table
az account list --query "[?isDefault].[name,id]" -o table
az account list --query "[?isDefault].{SubscriptionName: name, SubscriptionId: id}" -o table
az account list --query "[?isDefault == `false`].name" -o table
az account list --query "[?isDefault].id" -o tsv
subscriptionId="$(az account list --query '[?isDefault].id' -o tsv)"
az account set -s $subscriptionId

Advanced Filtering Examples

az account list --query "[? contains(name, 'Test')].id" -o tsv
subscriptionId="$(az account list --query '[? contains(name, `Test`)].id' -o tsv)"
az account set -s $subscriptionId

Working with Spaces and Quotation Marks in Bash

resourceGroup="msdocs-learn-bash-$RANDOM"
location="East US"
az group create --name "$resourceGroup" --location "$location"

Tip: Always quote variables with spaces to avoid command errors.

Real-Life DevOps Example: Automate Subscription Switching in CI/CD

- name: Get Default Subscription ID
  run: |
    export SUBSCRIPTION_ID=$(az account list --query '[?isDefault].id' -o tsv)
    echo "Using subscription: $SUBSCRIPTION_ID"
- name: Set Subscription
  run: az account set -s $SUBSCRIPTION_ID

Best Practices

  • Use -o tsv for scripting to avoid extra quotes.
  • Use JMESPath queries to filter and format output for automation.
  • Always quote variables with spaces in Bash.
  • Validate your queries with az ... --query ... before using in scripts.

References

Azure CLI Joke: Why did the DevOps engineer use JMESPath with Azure CLI? Because they wanted to query their way to cloud nine!