copilotkit--copilotkit/examples/showcases/microsoft-kanban/DEPLOY.md

Azure Container Apps Deployment Guide

This guide covers deploying the Kanban application (C# backend agent + Next.js frontend) to Azure Container Apps.

Prerequisites

1. Azure CLI

Install the Azure CLI:

• macOS: brew install azure-cli
• Windows: Download from Microsoft Docs
• Linux: Follow instructions at Microsoft Docs

After installation, verify:

az --version

2. Azure Subscription

You need an active Azure subscription. Sign up for a free account at azure.microsoft.com.

3. GitHub Personal Access Token

The backend agent requires a GitHub token to access GitHub Models API.

Get your token:

# If you have GitHub CLI installed
gh auth token

# Or create manually:
# 1. Go to https://github.com/settings/tokens
# 2. Click "Generate new token (classic)"
# 3. Select scopes: repo (full control)
# 4. Generate and copy the token

Set the token as an environment variable:

export GITHUB_TOKEN="your_token_here"

4. Login to Azure

az login

This will open a browser window for authentication.

Quick Deployment

1. Run the Deployment Script

From the project root:

./scripts/deploy-azure.sh

The script will:

1. Prompt for configuration (or use defaults)
2. Create Azure resource group
3. Create Azure Container Registry (ACR)
4. Build and push Docker images
5. Create Container Apps environment
6. Deploy backend container app
7. Deploy frontend container app
8. Output URLs for both applications

2. Access Your Application

After deployment completes, you'll see:

Frontend URL: https://kanban-ui.xxx.azurecontainerapps.io
Backend URL:  https://kanban-agent.xxx.azurecontainerapps.io

Open the frontend URL in your browser to use the Kanban board.

Configuration Options

When running the deployment script, you can customize:

Option	Default	Description
Resource Group	kanban-demo-rg	Azure resource group name
Location	eastus	Azure region
ACR Name	kanbandemoacr	Container registry name (must be globally unique)
Backend App	kanban-agent	Backend container app name
Frontend App	kanban-ui	Frontend container app name

Manual Deployment Steps

If you prefer to deploy manually or customize the process:

1. Create Resource Group

az group create \
  --name kanban-demo-rg \
  --location eastus

2. Create Container Registry

az acr create \
  --name kanbandemoacr \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --sku Basic \
  --admin-enabled true

3. Build and Push Images

Backend:

az acr build \
  --registry kanbandemoacr \
  --image kanban-agent:latest \
  --file agent/Dockerfile \
  --context .

Frontend:

az acr build \
  --registry kanbandemoacr \
  --image kanban-ui:latest \
  --file Dockerfile \
  --context .

4. Create Container Apps Environment

az containerapp env create \
  --name kanban-env \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --location eastus

5. Deploy Backend

Get ACR credentials:

ACR_USERNAME=$(az acr credential show --name kanbandemoacr --query username -o tsv)
ACR_PASSWORD=$(az acr credential show --name kanbandemoacr --query passwords[0].value -o tsv)

Deploy backend:

az containerapp create \
  --name kanban-agent \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --environment kanban-env \
  --image kanbandemoacr.azurecr.io/kanban-agent:latest \
  --target-port 8000 \
  --ingress external \
  --registry-server kanbandemoacr.azurecr.io \
  --registry-username "$ACR_USERNAME" \
  --registry-password "$ACR_PASSWORD" \
  --secrets github-token="$GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  --env-vars GitHubToken=secretref:github-token

Get backend URL:

BACKEND_URL=$(az containerapp show \
  --name kanban-agent \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --query properties.configuration.ingress.fqdn \
  -o tsv)

6. Deploy Frontend

az containerapp create \
  --name kanban-ui \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --environment kanban-env \
  --image kanbandemoacr.azurecr.io/kanban-ui:latest \
  --target-port 3000 \
  --ingress external \
  --registry-server kanbandemoacr.azurecr.io \
  --registry-username "$ACR_USERNAME" \
  --registry-password "$ACR_PASSWORD" \
  --env-vars NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_URL="https://$BACKEND_URL"

Updating Deployed Applications

Update Backend

After making code changes:

# Rebuild and push
az acr build \
  --registry kanbandemoacr \
  --image kanban-agent:latest \
  --file agent/Dockerfile \
  --context .

# Update container app
az containerapp update \
  --name kanban-agent \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --image kanbandemoacr.azurecr.io/kanban-agent:latest

Update Frontend

# Rebuild and push
az acr build \
  --registry kanbandemoacr \
  --image kanban-ui:latest \
  --file Dockerfile \
  --context .

# Update container app
az containerapp update \
  --name kanban-ui \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --image kanbandemoacr.azurecr.io/kanban-ui:latest

Viewing Logs

Backend Logs

az containerapp logs show \
  --name kanban-agent \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --follow

Frontend Logs

az containerapp logs show \
  --name kanban-ui \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --follow

Log Analytics

Access detailed logs via Azure Portal:

1. Navigate to your Container App
2. Click "Log stream" in the left menu
3. Or use "Logs" for advanced querying with KQL

Scaling

Container Apps auto-scale based on HTTP traffic. To configure:

az containerapp update \
  --name kanban-ui \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --min-replicas 1 \
  --max-replicas 5

Cost Estimation

Azure Container Apps pricing (as of 2024):

Resource	Cost	Notes
Container Apps	Free tier: 180,000 vCPU-seconds/month	Should cover demo usage
Container Apps (beyond free)	~$0.000012/vCPU-second	After free tier
Azure Container Registry (Basic)	~$5/month	10 GB storage included
Estimated total	~$5-10/month	For demo with minimal traffic

Cost Optimization Tips

1. Delete when not in use: Run az group delete --name kanban-demo-rg after demos
2. Use free tier: Keep replicas at 1 to stay within free limits
3. Monitor usage: Check Azure Cost Management dashboard

Teardown

Delete all resources:

az group delete \
  --name kanban-demo-rg \
  --yes \
  --no-wait

This removes:

• Container Apps environment
• Both container apps (frontend + backend)
• Container registry
• All associated resources

Note: Deletion takes 5-10 minutes. Use --no-wait to run in background.

Troubleshooting

Issue: ACR name already exists

Error: The registry DNS name 'kanbandemoacr' is already in use.

Solution: ACR names must be globally unique. Try a different name:

ACR_NAME="kanbandemoacr$(date +%s)"

Issue: Backend fails to start

Check logs:

az containerapp logs show --name kanban-agent --resource-group kanban-demo-rg --tail 50

Common causes:

• Missing or invalid GitHub token
• Port misconfiguration
• Dependencies not copied (check Dockerfile)

Issue: Frontend can't connect to backend

Verify backend URL:

az containerapp show \
  --name kanban-agent \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --query properties.configuration.ingress.fqdn

Update frontend:

az containerapp update \
  --name kanban-ui \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg \
  --set-env-vars NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_URL="https://<backend-fqdn>"

Issue: Container build fails

Check Docker locally:

# Test backend build
docker build -t kanban-agent -f agent/Dockerfile .

# Test frontend build
docker build -t kanban-ui -f Dockerfile .

Common causes:

• Missing dependencies in package.json
• Incorrect COPY paths in Dockerfile
• .dockerignore excluding required files

Issue: "az: command not found"

Install Azure CLI (see Prerequisites section).

Issue: Authentication errors

Re-authenticate:

az logout
az login

Additional Resources

• Azure Container Apps Documentation
• Next.js Deployment Guide
• .NET Container Images
• GitHub Models API

Security Considerations

Secrets Management

• GitHub token is stored as a Container App secret (encrypted at rest)
• Never commit tokens to version control
• Rotate tokens regularly

Network Security

• Both apps use HTTPS by default
• Consider using Azure Virtual Network for production
• Enable Azure AD authentication for production deployments

Access Control

Restrict access to Azure resources:

az role assignment create \
  --assignee user@example.com \
  --role Contributor \
  --resource-group kanban-demo-rg

Support

For issues specific to:

• Azure Container Apps: Check Microsoft Docs
• CopilotKit: Visit CopilotKit Docs
• Microsoft Agent Framework: See GitHub Repository