CLI CRUD and Operations

Use azd ai routine for imperative routine CRUD and operations. Every verb accepts --output json or --output table (default), and -p <endpoint> to override the resolved project endpoint.

Vocabulary: CLI aliases vs. manifest values

A routine is a trigger (when it fires) plus an action (what it does). There are two spellings for each type: the CLI flags accept a short alias, while a --file manifest (and azure.yaml) use the raw wire type: value. They mean the same thing.

Triggers

Fires on	--trigger alias	manifest type:	Key fields
A single moment (one-shot)	timer	timer	at (ISO 8601 UTC)
A recurring cron schedule	recurring	schedule	cron_expression, time_zone
A GitHub issue event	github-issue	github_issue	connection_id, owner, repository, issue_event
A custom external event	custom	custom	provider, event_name, parameters

Actions — both invoke the target agent; they differ only in which agent protocol is called and which field resumes prior context.

Invokes the agent using	--action alias	manifest type:	Resume field
the agent responses protocol	agent-response (default)	invoke_agent_responses_api	conversation
the agent invocations protocol	agent-invoke	invoke_agent_invocations_api	session_id

Create

Put the prompt or payload the routine sends to the agent in action.input. What it should contain depends on the action type you chose (the --action alias / action type: from the table above): when the action is agent-response (invoke_agent_responses_api), action.input is the natural-language prompt; when the action is agent-invoke (invoke_agent_invocations_api), it is the hosted agent's expected request payload. azd ai routine create has no --input flag, so any routine that needs action.input must be created from a manifest:

# routine.yaml — the type: fields take the manifest value from the table above
triggers:
  default:
    type: schedule
    cron_expression: "0 * * * *"
action:
  type: invoke_agent_responses_api
  agent_name: my-agent
  input: "Say hi."

azd ai routine create hourly-hello --file routine.yaml

Flag-only create works only when the target agent needs no stored input. --file and --trigger are mutually exclusive.

# One-shot timer -> agent
azd ai routine create nightly-report \
  --trigger timer --at <YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ> \
  --action agent-response --agent-name my-agent

# Recurring cron schedule
azd ai routine create daily-digest \
  --trigger recurring --cron "0 8 * * *" --time-zone America/New_York \
  --action agent-response --agent-name my-agent \
  --description "Daily 8am digest"

# GitHub issue event -> agent
azd ai routine create triage-on-open \
  --trigger github-issue \