Quickstart: Create and manage workflows with Azure CLI in Azure Logic Apps

Article
08/21/2024

Applies to: Azure Logic Apps (Consumption)

This quickstart shows how to create and manage automated workflows that run in Azure Logic Apps by using the Azure CLI Logic Apps extension (az logic). From the command line, you can create a Consumption logic app in multitenant Azure Logic Apps by using the JSON file for a logic app workflow definition. You can then manage your logic app by running operations such as list, show (get), update, and delete from the command line.

Warning

The Azure CLI Logic Apps extension is currently experimental and not covered by customer support. Use this CLI extension with caution, especially if you choose to use the extension in production environments.

This quickstart currently applies only to Consumption logic app workflows that run in multitenant Azure Logic Apps. Azure CLI is currently unavailable for Standard logic app workflows that run in single-tenant Azure Logic Apps. For more information, review Resource type and host differences in Azure Logic Apps.

If you're new to Azure Logic Apps, learn how to create your first Consumption logic app workflow through the Azure portal, in Visual Studio, and in Visual Studio Code.

Prerequisites

An Azure account with an active subscription. If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a Trial.
The Azure CLI installed on your local computer.
The Azure Logic Apps CLI extension installed on your computer. To install this extension, use this command: az extension add --name logic
An Azure resource group in which to create your logic app.

Prerequisites check

Before you start, validate your environment:

Sign in to the Azure portal and check that your subscription is active by running az login.
Check your version of the Azure CLI in a terminal or command window by running az --version. For the latest version, see the latest release notes.

If you don't have the latest version, update your installation by following the installation guide for your operating system or platform.

Example - Create resource group

If you don't already have a resource group for your logic app, create the group with the command az group create. For example, the following command creates a resource group named testResourceGroup in the location chinanorth.

az group create --name testResourceGroup --location chinanorth

The output shows the provisioningState as Succeeded when your resource group is successfully created:

<...>
  "name": "testResourceGroup",
  "properties": {
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
  },
<...>

Workflow definition

Before you create a new logic app or update an existing logic app by using the Azure CLI, you need a workflow definition for your logic app. In the Azure portal, you can view your logic app's underlying workflow definition in JSON format by switching from Designer view to Code view.

When you run the commands to create or update your logic app, your workflow definition is uploaded as a required parameter (--definition). You must create your workflow definition as a JSON file that follows the Workflow Definition Language schema.

Create logic apps from CLI

To create a logic app workflow from the Azure CLI, use the command az logic workflow create with a JSON file for the definition.

az logic workflow create --definition
                         --location
                         --name
                         --resource-group
                         [--access-control]
                         [--endpoints-configuration]
                         [--integration-account]
                         [--state {Completed, Deleted, Disabled, Enabled, NotSpecified, Suspended}]
                         [--tags]

Your command must include the following required parameters:

Parameter	Value	Description
Workflow definition	`--definition`	A JSON file with your logic app's workflow definition.
Location	`--location -l`	The Azure region in which your logic app is located.
Name	`--name -n`	The name of your logic app. The name can contain only letters, numbers, hyphens (`-`), underscores (`_`), parentheses (`()`), and periods (`.`). The name must also be unique across regions.
Resource group name	`--resource-group -g`	The Azure resource group in which you want to create your logic app. Create a resource group before you begin if you don't already have one for your logic app.

You can also include additional optional parameters to configure your logic app's access controls, endpoints, integration account, state, and resource tags.

Example - Create logic app

In this example, a workflow named testLogicApp is created in the resource group testResourceGroup in the location chinanorth. The JSON file testDefinition.json contains the workflow definition.

az logic workflow create --resource-group "testResourceGroup" --location "chinanorth" --name "testLogicApp" --definition "testDefinition.json"

When your workflow is successfully created, the CLI shows your new workflow definition's JSON code. If your workflow creation fails, see the list of possible errors.

Update logic apps from CLI

To update a logic app's workflow from the Azure CLI, use the command az logic workflow create.

Your command must include the same required parameters as when you create a logic app. You can also add the same optional parameters as when creating a logic app.

az logic workflow create --definition
                         --location
                         --name
                         --resource-group
                         [--access-control]
                         [--endpoints-configuration]
                         [--integration-account]
                         [--integration-service-environment]
                         [--state {Completed, Deleted, Disabled, Enabled, NotSpecified, Suspended}]
                         [--tags]

Example - Update logic app

In this example, the sample workflow created in the previous section is updated to use a different JSON definition file, newTestDefinition.json, and add two resource tags, testTag1 and testTag2 with description values.

az logic workflow create --resource-group "testResourceGroup" --location "chinanorth" --name "testLogicApp" --definition "newTestDefinition.json" --tags "testTag1=testTagValue1" "testTag2=testTagValue"

When your workflow is successfully updated, the CLI shows your logic app's updated workflow definition. If your update fails, see the list of possible errors.

Delete logic apps from CLI

To delete a logic app's workflow from the Azure CLI, use the command az logic workflow delete.

Your command must include the following required parameters:

Parameter	Value	Description
Name	`--name -n`	The name of your logic app.
Resource group name	`-resource-group -g`	The resource group in which your logic app is located.

You can also include an optional parameter to skip confirmation prompts, --yes -y.

az logic workflow delete --name
                         --resource-group
                         [--yes]

The CLI then prompts you to confirm the deletion of your logic app. You can skip the confirmation prompt by using the optional parameter --yes -y with your command.

Are you sure you want to perform this operation? (y/n):

To confirm a logic app's deletion, list your logic apps in the CLI, or view your logic apps in the Azure portal.

Example - Delete logic app

In this example, the sample workflow created in a previous section is deleted.

az logic workflow delete --resource-group "testResourceGroup" --name "testLogicApp"

After you respond to the confirmation prompt with y, the logic app is deleted.

Considerations - Delete logic app

Deleting a logic app affects workflow instances in the following ways:

Azure Logic Apps makes a best effort to cancel any in-progress and pending runs.

Even with a large volume or backlog, most runs are canceled before they finish or start. However, the cancellation process might take time to complete. Meanwhile, some runs might get picked up for execution while the runtime works through the cancellation process.
Azure Logic Apps doesn't create or run new workflow instances.
If you delete a workflow and then recreate the same workflow, the recreated workflow won't have the same metadata as the deleted workflow. You have to resave any workflow that called the deleted workflow. That way, the caller gets the correct information for the recreated workflow. Otherwise, calls to the recreated workflow fail with an Unauthorized error. This behavior also applies to workflows that use artifacts in integration accounts and workflows that call Azure functions.

Show logic apps in CLI

To get a specific logic app workflow, use the command az logic workflow show.

az logic workflow show --name
                       --resource-group

Your command must include the following required parameters

Parameter	Value	Description
Name	`--name -n`	The name of your logic app.
Resource group name	`--resource-group -g`	The name of the resource group in which your logic app is located.

Example - Get logic app

In this example, the logic app testLogicApp in the resource group testResourceGroup is returned with full logs for debugging.

az logic workflow show --resource-group "testResourceGroup" --name "testLogicApp" --debug

List logic apps in CLI

To list your logic apps by subscription, use the command az logic workflow list. This command returns the JSON code for your logic app workflows.

You can filter your results by the following optional parameters:

Parameter	Value	Description
Resource group name	`--resource-group -g`	The name of the resource group by which you want to filter your results.
Number of items	`--top`	The number of items that are included in your results.
Filter	`--filter`	The type of filter that you're using on your list. You can filter by state (`State`), trigger (`Trigger`), and the identifier of the referenced resource (`ReferencedResourceId`).

az logic workflow list [--filter]
                       [--resource-group]
                       [--top]

Example - List logic apps

In this example, all enabled workflows in the resource group testResourceGroup are returned in an ASCII table format.

az logic workflow list --resource-group "testResourceGroup" --filter "(State eq 'Enabled')" --output "table"

Errors

The following error indicates that the Azure Logic Apps CLI extension isn't installed. Follow the steps in the prerequisites to install the Logic Apps extension on your computer.

az: 'logic' is not in the 'az' command group. See 'az --help'. If the command is from an extension, please make sure the corresponding extension is installed. To learn more about extensions, please visit https://learn.microsoft.com/cli/azure/azure-cli-extensions-overview

The following error might indicate that the file path for uploading your workflow definition is incorrect.

Expecting value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)

Global parameters

You can use the following optional global Azure CLI parameters with your az logic commands:

Parameter	Value	Description
Output format	`--output -o`	Change the output format from the default JSON.
Only show errors	`--only-show-errors`	Suppress warnings and only show errors.
Verbose	`--verbose`	Show verbose logs.
Debug	`--debug`	Shows all debug logs.
Help message	`--help -h`	Show help dialog.
Query	`--query`	Set a JMESPath query string for JSON output.

Next steps

For more information on the Azure CLI, see the Azure CLI documentation.

You can find additional Azure Logic Apps CLI script samples in Microsoft's code samples browser.

Next, you can create an example app logic through the Azure CLI using a sample script and workflow definition.

Create logic app using sample script.