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Contributing

Thank you for your interest in contributing to Azure Architecture Practical Guide!

Quick Start

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Clone: git clone https://github.com/yeongseon/azure-architecture-practical-guide.git
  3. Install dependencies: pip install mkdocs-material mkdocs-minify-plugin
  4. Start local preview: mkdocs serve
  5. Open http://127.0.0.1:8000 in your browser
  6. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/your-change
  7. Make changes and validate: mkdocs build --strict
  8. Submit a Pull Request

Repository Structure

.
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/              # GitHub Pages deployment
├── docs/
│   ├── architecture-reviews/   # Review methodology, decision trees, anti-patterns
│   │   ├── playbooks/          # Review guides for common workload archetypes
│   │   ├── anti-patterns/      # Architecture failure modes and corrective patterns
│   │   └── migration-playbooks/ # Stepwise modernization and transition guides
│   ├── assets/                 # Images, icons
│   ├── design-labs/            # Guided design exercises
│   ├── operations/             # ADRs, IaC, governance, observability, FinOps
│   ├── patterns/               # Architecture patterns
│   ├── platform/               # Azure architecture foundations
│   ├── reference/              # Decision matrices, cheatsheets, glossary
│   ├── start-here/             # Entry points
│   ├── waf/                    # Well-Architected Framework guidance
│   └── workload-guides/        # Practical blueprints
├── infra/
│   └── bicep/                  # Bicep templates for architecture baselines
├── labs/                       # Architecture validation exercises
├── scripts/                    # Validation and quality scripts
└── mkdocs.yml                  # MkDocs Material configuration

Content Categories

Section Purpose
Start Here Entry points, learning paths, repository map
Platform Azure architecture foundations — landing zones, identity, networking, compute, data, resilience
Well-Architected Framework Reliability, Security, Cost Optimization, Operational Excellence, and Performance Efficiency guidance
Architecture Patterns Proven decomposition, integration, data, resilience, networking, security, and deployment patterns
Workload Guides Practical blueprints for public web, internal apps, integration, serverless, microservices, data, and AI workloads
Operations ADRs, IaC, governance guardrails, observability, FinOps, and continuity practices
Architecture Reviews Decision tree, evidence map, first-60-minutes reviews, anti-patterns, and migration playbooks
Design Labs Guided design exercises for common Azure workload scenarios
Reference Decision matrices, service selection cheatsheets, mappings, glossary, and validation status

Document Templates

Every document must follow the template for its section. Do not invent new structures.

Platform docs

# Title
Brief introduction (1-2 sentences)
## Main Content
### Subsections
## See Also
## Sources

Best Practices docs

# Title
Brief introduction
## Why This Matters
## Recommended Practices
## Common Mistakes / Anti-Patterns
## Validation Checklist
## See Also
## Sources

Operations docs

# Title
Brief introduction
## Prerequisites
## When to Use
## Procedure
## Verification
## Rollback / Troubleshooting
## See Also
## Sources

Troubleshooting docs

# Title
## Symptom
## Possible Causes
## Diagnosis Steps
## Resolution
## Prevention
## See Also
## Sources

Reference docs

# Title
Brief introduction
## Topic/Command Groups
## Usage Notes
## See Also
## Sources

Writing Standards

CLI Commands

# ALWAYS use long flags for readability
az group create --name $RG --location $LOCATION
Command Purpose
az group create --name $RG --location $LOCATION Creates a resource group using readable long flags.
--name $RG Names the resource group to create.
--location $LOCATION Sets the Azure region for the resource group. 
# NEVER use short flags in documentation
az group create -n $RG -l $LOCATION  # ❌ Don't do this

Variables

Variable Description Example
$RG Resource group name rg-architecture-demo
$LOCATION Azure region koreacentral
$SUBSCRIPTION_ID Subscription identifier placeholder <subscription-id>

Mermaid Diagrams

All architectural diagrams use Mermaid. Every documentation page should include at least one diagram.

Nested Lists

All nested list items MUST use 4-space indent (Python-Markdown standard).

Admonitions

For MkDocs admonitions, indent body content by 4 spaces:

!!! warning "Title"
    Body text here.

Tail Sections

Every document ends with these sections in order:

  1. ## See Also — internal cross-links within this guide
  2. ## Sources — external references (Microsoft Learn URLs)

Content Source Policy

All content must be traceable to official Microsoft Learn documentation.

Source Type Description Allowed?
mslearn Directly from Microsoft Learn Required for platform content
mslearn-adapted Adapted from Microsoft Learn Yes, with source URL
self-generated Original content Requires justification

PII Rules

NEVER include real Azure identifiers in documentation or examples:

  • Subscription IDs: use <subscription-id>
  • Tenant IDs: use <tenant-id>
  • Emails: use user@example.com
  • Secrets, tokens, connection strings: NEVER include

Build and Validate

# Install dependencies
pip install mkdocs-material mkdocs-minify-plugin

# Validate (must pass before submitting PR)
mkdocs build --strict

# Local preview
mkdocs serve

Git Commit Style

type: short description

Allowed types: feat, fix, docs, chore, refactor

Review Process

  1. Automated CI checks (MkDocs build)
  2. Maintainer review for accuracy and completeness
  3. Merge to main triggers GitHub Pages deployment

Code of Conduct

Please read our Code of Conduct before contributing.

See Also

Sources

  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/
  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/