Azure Migration Agent — VS Code extension
Migrate any application to Azure — directly from your editor.
10 custom agents (you only ever pick from three), 65 skills (35 workflow slash commands + 30 knowledge skills). Stack-agnostic. Discovery-first. Hard-stop user-decision gates.
What it does
Drops a .github/agents/Code-Migration-Modernization.agent.md and the full agent + skill + hook catalog into any VS Code workspace. The agent walks you through:
- Discovery — what is this app? (source, stack, workload, data, integrations)
- Plan — a migration plan + 18 major decisions you need to answer
- Execute — Phases 2-6: migrate code, generate infra, deploy, set up CI/CD, run ops
The agent never picks framework / database / hosting / IaC tool on your behalf. It surfaces options + tradeoffs and waits.
Not just .NET and Java. The agent handles any application in any of these stacks — each with a dedicated adapter covering framework detection, Azure hosting targets, effort sizing, and common blockers:
15 stack adapters (languages / frameworks):
.NET (Framework 2.x → 10 LTS) · Java (8/11 → 17/21 LTS + Spring Boot 3.x) · Python (2.x → 3.12+, Django/Flask/FastAPI) · Node.js (12/14/16 → 20/22 LTS, Express/NestJS/Next) · PHP (5.x/7.x → 8.3+, Laravel/Symfony) · Ruby (2.x → 3.3+, Rails) · Go (≤ 1.19 → 1.22+) · Perl · Rust · Scala/Kotlin · Oracle Forms (→ APEX / Spring Boot) · PowerBuilder · Delphi/VB6 · C++ Windows
Plus on-the-fly skill authoring: if you show up with a stack the 15 adapters don't cover (Elixir, F#, Julia, Clojure, ABAP, etc.), the built-in skill-creator meta-skill offers to research authoritative docs and author a new skill on the spot (~2-5 minutes).
10 source adapters (where the app runs today): On-premise · AWS · GCP · Oracle Database · VMware / RVTools · Kubernetes · container registries (ACR / ECR / Docker Hub) · GitHub repo · ZIP archive · escalation path for SaaS-embedded (Salesforce Apex, ServiceNow, SharePoint on-prem, Power Platform, SAP ABAP) and mainframe/midrange workloads
8 workload patterns: Web app · API service · Batch job · Event-driven · Serverless (Functions) · Data pipeline · Desktop / client-server · Packaged app
Adapter depth varies, by design. 18 of the 33 adapters are full depth with step-by-step modernization guidance; the other 15 (Go, Ruby, Rust, Perl, Scala/Kotlin, C++ Windows, Delphi/VB6, PowerBuilder, GCP, Oracle DB, VMware/RVTools and three workload patterns) are deliberately lighter — they classify, detect the sub-framework, pick an Azure target, size the effort and flag risks. skill-creator deepens any of them on demand.
Out of scope as a first-class family: mainframe / midrange code migration (z/OS, IBM i, COBOL / RPG / Natural). These route to a specialist-partner playbook instead of pretending we can migrate their code.
Where this extension fits alongside Microsoft's other migration options
Microsoft ships two first-party migration tools that are excellent when they cover your scenario. This extension complements them:
In-place .NET code upgrades. .NET Framework/Core → .NET 8/9/10, Web Forms → Blazor, Azure Functions in-process → isolated, SDK-style conversion, Newtonsoft → System.Text.Json, SqlClient migration, and more. If you have a .NET app and want an in-place upgrade, start there.
Infrastructure discovery + lift-and-shift. VMware/Hyper-V/physical servers → Azure VMs, SQL Server → Azure SQL (via Data Migration Assistant + Azure DMS), ASP.NET on VMware → App Service (via App Service Migration Assistant), business case analysis, dependency mapping. If you have on-prem VMs/databases to move as-is, start there.
🟢 What this extension does differently
| Capability |
This extension |
Copilot Upgrade |
Azure Migrate |
| Non-.NET stacks (Java, Python, Node.js, PHP, Ruby, Go, +8 more) |
✅ 15 stack adapters |
❌ .NET only |
⚠ IaaS lift only, no code changes |
| Universal source intake (GitHub repo, ZIP, "describe-only", any cloud) |
✅ 10 source adapters |
⚠ workspace only |
✅ VMware / Hyper-V / physical / other cloud |
| Decision Hardstop Protocol — 18 architecture Qs answered before code changes; never silently defaults framework, DB engine, hosting, IaC tool |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
| On-the-fly skill authoring — mid-migration, agent researches + writes a new skill for any novel stack |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
| Cross-session trace memory — canonical Action Log with per-action token accounting |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
| Portfolio 6Rs strategy report — CIO-ready HTML deck with Microsoft / Partner / Unknown execution ownership |
✅ |
❌ |
✅ (business case, different format) |
How to combine them:
- .NET app needing an in-place upgrade → GitHub Copilot Upgrade
- On-prem VMs / SQL / web apps to lift into Azure → Azure Migrate
- Java / Python / Node.js / PHP / Ruby / Go / other-stack modernization → this extension
- Mixed-stack portfolio needing a CIO plan → this extension for the 6Rs report, then hand off IaaS candidates to Azure Migrate and .NET candidates to GitHub Copilot Upgrade
Quick install
Ctrl+Shift+X in VS Code → search "Azure Migration Agent" → Install- Open the folder you want to migrate
- Accept the welcome notification → click Get started
- The extension copies content into
.github/ and MIGRATION-START-HERE.md
- In Copilot Chat (
Ctrl+Alt+I), pick an agent — there are only three:
Code Migration Modernization (start here — migrate an app), Discovery Intake (not sure what the app is yet), or Debug Migration (a migration broke). The seven specialists, including AWS account assessment and AWS-to-Azure migration, are dispatched for you automatically.
- Type
/assess-any-application
Full walkthrough: docs/vscode-quickstart.md
Open the rocket icon 🚀 in the Activity Bar:
🛑 DECISIONS REQUIRED ← pending architecture decisions (from reports/Decisions-Required.md)
AGENT ← the 10 agent definitions (3 selectable in the chat agent picker)
🟢 MAIN PATH (Assess + Phase 1-6) ← the 7-step migration flow
🔵 OPTIONAL ADD-ONS ← Intakes · Portfolio · Specialists · AWS assessment · AWS migration · Utility
The status bar (bottom-left) shows your current migration phase, or "⚠ AMA: N/M decisions pending" with a warning background when you have unanswered architecture decisions.
Standout features
- 📊 Evidence-backed portfolio reporting — source/worksheet manifests, persistent validation audits, per-pillar reconciliation, financial provenance, and resumable HTML generation. Optional bilingual decks and a bundled four-slide PPTX/XLSX execution package reuse the same classified data; Office files are reopened and verified.
- ☁ AWS account assessment — read-only multi-account/multi-region inventory, metadata and cost enrichment, dependency maps, findings and Azure readiness. Start with
/aws-assess-phase0-setup-and-scope.
- 🔀 AWS-to-Azure migration — service mapping, compatibility checks, SDK/config conversion, identity/network/observability migration, infrastructure, deployment and CI/CD. Start with
/aws2azure-phase1-plan.
- 🎯 Decision Hardstop Protocol — Phases 2-6 hard-stop until you answer 18 canonical architecture decisions. No silent defaults, no expert-mode bypass. Stay-as-is is always option 1.
- 🧠 On-the-fly skill authoring —
skill-creator writes new stack/source/workload skills mid-migration when it hits an unknown, inspired by Anthropic's skill-creator.
- 📜 Action Log (trace memory) — every meaningful action logs one line to
reports/Report-Status.md in a canonical format. New sessions recover from the last 5 log entries. Includes per-action turn count + best-effort token estimate.
- ✅ Universal, stack-agnostic wording — every workflow skill was swept to remove ".NET or Java only" phrasing. Default goal is minimum viable Azure compatibility, NOT rewriting to microservices.
Requirements
- VS Code ≥ 1.85 (Visual Studio Code, VS Code Insiders, VS Code Exploration, or Microsoft-signed Code - OSS builds)
- GitHub Copilot Chat extension — the extension offers to install it for you on first use
- Node.js is NOT required to run the extension (it bundles all content)
- Optional portfolio tools: Python 3.8+ for classified-data validation;
python-pptx and openpyxl only for the execution package, or Playwright only for PDF export. These are not required to activate the extension.
⚠ VS Code only. This extension is intentionally not supported on VS Code forks — VSCodium, Cursor, Windsurf, Positron, and Eclipse Theia-based IDEs. If you install the .vsix on one of those hosts, the extension will refuse to activate and show a message pointing you at the VS Code Marketplace listing. The extension is not published to the Open VSX Registry either.
Settings
Ctrl+, → search "Azure Migration":
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
azureMigrationSquad.autoInstallCopilot |
prompt |
prompt / auto / never — Copilot Chat install behavior |
azureMigrationSquad.statusBar.enabled |
true |
Show migration phase + pending decisions in the status bar |
How it works
The extension is self-contained:
- Bundles all migration content under
templates/ (built from the canonical .github/* at the repo root via scripts/sync-templates.mjs)
- On Initialize, copies
templates/ into the user's workspace under .github/
- All Copilot Chat slash commands are backed by the bundled
.github/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md files
- The agent definition at
.github/agents/Code-Migration-Modernization.agent.md orchestrates everything
- Session-lifecycle hooks read/write
reports/Report-Status.md so recovery works across sessions
No npm CLI or external Squad framework is required.
Native agent plugin alternative
Version 0.7.0 also introduces a native Copilot-format agent plugin in the source repository. Its root plugin.json reuses the same 65 skills and 10 agents, and .github/plugin/marketplace.json enables repository marketplace discovery. Use the extension for workspace initialization, executable workspace hooks, sidebar and status-bar UI; use the plugin for agent/skill discovery without copying the catalog into each project.
The plugin does not register hooks or MCP servers and does not install workspace-wide instructions. It is installed from the Git repository or a local clone, not from the VSIX. Avoid loading both copies of the catalog in the same workspace.
See the native plugin installation guide. Git-source installation requires the new manifests to be committed and pushed first.
Links
License
MIT
