Scenario Router¶

Use this page when you have a specific situation and want to jump straight to the page that answers it. This is a breadth-first index across four lifecycle phases — Plan, Deploy, Operate, Troubleshoot — that complements the depth-first Learning Paths and the symptom-first Decision Tree.

Start with Learning Paths if you're new to ACS

This page assumes you already know what you're trying to do. If you're still deciding what to learn first, start with Learning Paths — it sequences a role-based tour of the guide. Use this Scenario Router when you have a specific question and want to jump to the exact page that answers it.

How to Use This Router¶

Pick the table for the lifecycle phase you're in — Plan, Deploy, Operate, or Troubleshoot.
Scan the left column for the situation that matches yours; open the destination on the right.
If two rows fit, prefer the row from the phase you're actually in — the same platform concept often appears in more than one phase.
If your situation spans two phases (a channel design choice today that will become a delivery incident later), check Cross-Phase Scenarios first.
Rows are frequently channel-specific — SMS, Email, Voice/Video, Chat, and Teams Interop behave differently and need different destinations.
Every destination is a real page in this guide, not an external link and not an aspirational page.
Rows are intentionally short. Follow the link for the depth; this table is a switchboard, not a summary.
If your situation is missing, open an issue — the router is meant to grow.

Lifecycle Overview¶

flowchart LR
    A[Plan] --> B[Deploy]
    B --> C[Operate]
    C --> D[Troubleshoot]
    D -.-> A

I'm Planning¶

Situation	Where to go
I'm choosing which learning path to follow	Learning Paths — role-based reading paths
I want to understand how ACS works end-to-end	How ACS Works — platform architecture
I'm choosing between SMS, Email, Voice/Video, Chat, or Teams Interop	Messaging Channels — channel selection and fit
I'm designing the ACS resource model and connection strings	Resource Types — resource lifecycle
I'm designing identity, tokens, and access	Platform Authentication — user tokens and expiry
I'm designing network topology and egress	Platform Networking — inbound and outbound topology
I'm designing end-to-end security architecture	Security Architecture — trust boundaries and controls
I'm designing the production baseline (limits, SLA, security)	Production Baseline — hardening checklist
I want to avoid common ACS anti-patterns	Common Anti-Patterns — what to not do and why

I'm Deploying¶

Situation	Where to go
I want the quickest possible first integration	SDK Guides Hub — pick Python, JavaScript, Java, or .NET
I'm provisioning a new ACS resource	Provisioning — CLI and portal flows
I'm setting up an Email Communication Service and domain	Email Provisioning — domain verification and sender configuration
I'm wiring Event Grid webhooks (SMS delivery reports, incoming call events)	Event Handling — Event Grid integration
I'm choosing a deployment strategy	Deployment Hub — CI/CD and IaC options
I'm authoring Bicep or Terraform for ACS	Bicep / Terraform — IaC templates
I'm wiring GitHub Actions CI/CD	GitHub Actions Deployment — federated identity and pipeline templates

I'm Operating in Production¶

Situation	Where to go
I need day-2 operational procedures	Operations Hub — production runbooks
I want to follow production best practices	Best Practices Hub — hardening and design guidance
I need to wire diagnostic logs, metrics, and alerts	Operations: Monitoring — logs, metrics, and alerts
I need to plan for health checks and failure recovery	Health and Recovery — recovery patterns per channel
I'm hardening operational security	Operations: Security — identity, secrets, and network
I need to control cost across a portfolio	Cost Optimization — cost drivers per channel
I'm planning scale for a channel (SMS throughput, calling concurrency)	Scaling Best Practices — per-channel scale patterns
I need to design for reliability (retry, backoff, DLQ)	Reliability Best Practices — reliability patterns
I'm applying networking best practices (private links, TLS)	Networking Best Practices — network hardening

I'm Troubleshooting¶

Situation	Where to go
I need to systematically diagnose an issue	Decision Tree — hypothesis-driven triage flow
I need to know what evidence to collect	Evidence Map — question → KQL + CLI artifact index
I need the mental model of how a failure propagates	Mental Model — request path and failure boundaries
I need a first-principles method for a novel symptom	Troubleshooting Method — competing hypotheses framework
An incident just started and I have 10 minutes	First 10 Minutes Hub — ordered triage checklists
Email is not being delivered	First 10 Minutes: Email Delivery — sender, domain, and spam checks
SMS is not being delivered	First 10 Minutes: SMS Delivery — number, carrier, and opt-out checks
Calling audio or video quality is degraded	First 10 Minutes: Calling Quality — network, media, and codec checks
Chat clients cannot connect or send messages	First 10 Minutes: Chat Connectivity — token, endpoint, and delivery checks
I need channel-specific KQL queries	KQL Query Packs Hub — per-channel diagnostic queries

Cross-Phase Scenarios¶

Some situations straddle two phases — the channel design choice you make while planning determines the delivery failure you eventually debug. These rows link the two together so you can see the pattern and the drill in one place. If you're only in one phase today, still skim this table: it's the cheapest way to preview which channel decisions will hurt later.

Situation	Where to go
I'm designing an email sender and want to preview the domain-verification failure mode	Email Provisioning then Email Domain Verification — plan + drill
I'm planning SMS throughput and want to see the rate-limit failure mode	Scaling Best Practices then SMS Rate Limiting — plan + incident
I'm designing voice quality baselines and want to see the quality-degradation failure mode	Reliability Best Practices then Voice/Video Call Quality — plan + drill
I'm designing chat notifications and want to see the notification-delivery failure mode	Messaging Channels then Chat Real-Time Notifications — plan + incident

When This Router Isn't the Right Entry Point¶

You're brand new to ACS → start with Learning Paths instead.
You already have a symptom (email not delivered, SMS blocked, call dropped, chat disconnected) and don't know which lifecycle phase you're in → jump to Decision Tree or the channel-specific First 10 Minutes runbook.
You're picking an SDK for a brand-new app → use SDK Guides Hub.