Azure Region Advisor

An AI-powered toolkit for making informed Azure region selection decisions by combining network latency testing and pricing analysis. Designed to work with GitHub Copilot (with Claude) and Claude Desktop through MCP (Model Context Protocol) and Claude Skills.

Overview

Choosing the right Azure region involves balancing two key factors:

Factor	Tool	Purpose
Latency	MCP Server	Measures actual TCP connection latency from your location to Azure regions
Cost	Claude Skill	Queries Azure Retail Prices API for VM pricing across regions

When used together with an AI assistant, these tools provide comprehensive region recommendations that consider both performance and cost implications.

Features

🌐 Latency Testing (MCP Server)

• Tests TCP connection latency to Azure blob storage endpoints
• Creates temporary storage accounts for regions without public endpoints
• Parallel execution for speed
• Automatic cleanup of temporary resources
• Supports cancellation with graceful resource cleanup

💰 Pricing Analysis (Claude Skill)

• Queries Azure Retail Prices API for any VM SKU
• Compares pricing across all Azure regions
• Shows consumption, spot, and reserved instance pricing
• Calculates annual costs and potential savings
• Supports multiple currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, TRY, etc.)

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+ Download & Install Python
• Azure CLI - For authentication Download and Installation Instructions
• VS Code Insider with GitHub Copilot - For the integrated experience Download here.

  IMPORTANT NOTE: Please use only VS Code Insider as of January 2026 as the Agent Skills is only supported on Insiders edition as of Jan 2026.

Quick Start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/azure-region-advisor.git
cd azure-region-advisor

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Authenticate with Azure
az login

# You are done! start the VSCODE insider, enable Github Copilot agent and start chatting:)

Usage

Everything is preconfigured once you installed requirements and enabled copilot for VSCode Insider you are good to go!

Recommended: AI-Assisted Region Selection

Ask your AI assistant questions like:

"Help me choose an Azure region for deploying a Standard_D8as_v6 VM. I need good latency from Turkey and want to optimize costs."

The assistant will:

1. Discuss your requirements and confirm the VM SKU
2. Run latency tests to candidate regions using the MCP server
3. Query pricing data using the Claude skill
4. Combine results into a comprehensive recommendation

Example Conversation

You: I need to deploy an 8-core VM with 32GB RAM for a web application serving users in Turkey. Help me choose the best region.

Assistant: For your requirements, I recommend the Standard_D8as_v6 SKU (AMD-based, 8 vCPU, 32GB RAM). Let me analyze the best regions...

[Runs latency tests and pricing queries]

Output:

Bölge	Linux/Saat	Yıllık Maliyet	Latency
uksouth 🏆	$0.0506	~$443/yıl	52.4 ms
swedencentral	$0.0717	~$628/yıl	57.4 ms
germanywestcentral	$0.0811	~$710/yıl	39.6 ms ⚡
polandcentral	$0.0813	~$712/yıl	45.2 ms

🎯 Recommendations:

• Option 1: Lowest Cost - UK South ($1,918/yr total)
• Option 2: Lowest Latency - Germany West Central (39.6ms)
• Option 3: Balanced - Poland Central (good price/performance)

Direct Tool Usage

Query VM Pricing

# Basic pricing query
python .claude/skills/azure-pricing/scripts/query_vm_pricing.py --sku Standard_D8as_v6

# With specific currency
python .claude/skills/azure-pricing/scripts/query_vm_pricing.py --sku Standard_D48as_v6 --currency EUR

# Filter to specific regions
python .claude/skills/azure-pricing/scripts/query_vm_pricing.py --sku Standard_D8as_v6 \
  --regions westeurope,northeurope,uksouth,germanywestcentral

Test Latency via MCP

Ask your AI assistant:

"Test latency to westeurope, northeurope, uksouth, germanywestcentral, and polandcentral"

Or use the MCP Inspector:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector python -m azure_latency_mcp.server

Configuration

VS Code + GitHub Copilot

The repository includes pre-configured VS Code settings. After cloning:

1. Open the repository folder in VS Code
2. The MCP server configuration is in .vscode/mcp.json
3. Copilot instructions are in .github/copilot-instructions.md
4. The Claude skill is automatically available in .claude/skills/azure-pricing/

MCP Server Configuration (.vscode/mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "azure-latency": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "azure_latency_mcp.server"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration:

Linux/Mac: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "azure-latency": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--with", "azure-latency-mcp", "azure-latency-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

MCP Tools Reference

azure_list_subscriptions

Lists all available Azure subscriptions accessible with current credentials.

Parameters: None

Returns:

{
  "subscriptions": [
    {"id": "xxxx-xxxx-xxxx", "name": "My Subscription", "state": "Enabled"}
  ],
  "current": "xxxx-xxxx-xxxx"
}

azure_test_latency

Tests network latency to specified Azure regions.

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
regions	list[str]	Yes	-	Azure region names (e.g., ["westeurope", "eastus"])
request_count	int	No	10	TCP connection attempts per region (3-20)
subscription_id	str	No	First available	Azure subscription ID to use
log_file	str	No	./azure-latency-test.log	Path to log file

Returns:

{
  "success": true,
  "latency_results": {
    "best_region": "germanywestcentral",
    "best_latency_ms": 39.6,
    "regions_tested": 5,
    "results": [
      {"region": "germanywestcentral", "avg_ms": 39.6, "min_ms": 38.2, "max_ms": 42.1},
      {"region": "polandcentral", "avg_ms": 45.2, "min_ms": 43.1, "max_ms": 48.3}
    ]
  },
  "infrastructure": {
    "status": "All resources cleaned up successfully",
    "created_accounts": [],
    "deleted_accounts": []
  }
}

Claude Skill Reference

Azure Pricing Skill

Location: .claude/skills/azure-pricing/

Purpose: Query Azure retail prices for VM SKUs across all regions.

Script: scripts/query_vm_pricing.py

Option	Description
--sku	VM SKU name (required, e.g., Standard_D8as_v6)
--currency	Currency code (default: USD)
--regions	Comma-separated list of regions (optional)

Output Sections:

1. Summary Table - All regions sorted by Linux hourly price
2. Cost Analysis - Cheapest vs most expensive with annual savings

Supported Price Types:

• Linux consumption (pay-as-you-go)
• Windows consumption
• Windows with Azure Hybrid Benefit (same as Linux)
• Spot instances
• 1-year reserved instances
• 3-year reserved instances

Project Structure

azure-region-advisor/
├── .claude/
│   └── skills/
│       └── azure-pricing/              # Claude skill for pricing
│           ├── SKILL.md                # Skill instructions
│           ├── scripts/
│           │   └── query_vm_pricing.py # Pricing query script
│           └── references/
│               └── service-mapping.md  # Service name mappings
├── .github/
│   └── copilot-instructions.md         # GitHub Copilot instructions
├── .vscode/
│   ├── mcp.json                        # MCP server configuration
│   └── settings.json                   # VS Code settings
├── src/
│   └── azure_latency_mcp/              # MCP server package
│       ├── __init__.py
│       ├── server.py                   # MCP server and tools
│       ├── latency_tester.py           # Core latency testing
│       └── models.py                   # Data models
├── pyproject.toml                      # Package configuration
├── requirements.txt                    # Python dependencies
├── LICENSE                             # MIT License
└── README.md                           # This file

How It Works

Latency Testing Flow

┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│  Phase 1: DNS   │────▶│ Phase 2: Create │────▶│ Phase 3: Test   │
│  Resolution     │     │ Storage Accounts│     │ TCP Latency     │
└─────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘
                                                         │
                                                         ▼
                                               ┌─────────────────┐
                                               │ Phase 4: Cleanup│
                                               │ Resources       │
                                               └─────────────────┘

1. DNS Check - Checks if {region}.blob.core.windows.net resolves
2. Storage Creation - Creates temporary accounts for unresolved regions
3. Latency Test - TCP connections to port 443, measures connection time
4. Cleanup - Deletes temporary storage accounts and resource groups

Pricing Query Flow

1. Parse SKU - Normalizes name (e.g., D8as_v6 → Standard_D8as_v6)
2. API Query - Fetches from Azure Retail Prices API with pagination
3. Organize - Groups by region and price type
4. Output - Summary table + cost analysis

Regional Recommendations by Location

Users in Turkey / Middle East

germanywestcentral, polandcentral, swedencentral, 
northeurope, westeurope, uksouth, francecentral, italynorth

Users in Western Europe

westeurope, northeurope, uksouth, francecentral, 
germanywestcentral, swedencentral

Users in North America

eastus, eastus2, centralus, westus2, westus3, canadacentral

Users in Asia Pacific

southeastasia, eastasia, japaneast, australiaeast, koreacentral

Troubleshooting

"No Azure subscriptions found"

az login

"Failed to create resource group"

Ensure your Azure account has permissions to create:

• Resource groups
• Storage accounts (Standard_LRS)

Cleanup Failed

Check the response for infrastructure.action_message. Manual cleanup:

az group delete --name latency-test-mcp-YYYYMMDDHHMMSS --yes

Pricing Script Returns No Data

• Verify the SKU name is correct (use Standard_ prefix)
• Check if the SKU is available in Azure (newer SKUs may have limited regions)

Slow Latency Tests

• Reduce request_count to 3-5 for faster tests
• Test fewer regions at once
• Check your network connection

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

MIT License - Copyright (c) 2026 Emre Guclu

See LICENSE for details.