AZ-204 Source Audit — Retired application-development foundation
AZ-204 is retained as a technical foundation, not as a current exam or certification. Microsoft’s study guide records the final skills
measured on 2026-01-14 and states that the exam retired on 2026-07-31. The former courseware retired on 2026-05-29. Rows below are an
atomic inventory of the final study-guide bullets. missing is intentional until the actual AZ-204 vault targets exist and are
inspected.
| ID | Source type | Source heading | Objective (paraphrased) | Prerequisites | Canonical concepts | Comparisons | Relationships | Route/checkpoint | Evidence | Conceptual grade | Relationship grade | Practical status | Exact gap | Re-audit trigger |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AZ204-SG-CMP-001 | study-guide | Implement containerized solutions | Build and manage a container image. | git, shell, image/package basics | container image | package vs image | image packages app and runtime; registry stores it | AZ-204 compute / explain image layers | vault/30-glossary/container-image.md#What it is; vault/15-az204/1-runtime/container-runtime.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an operational image-build procedure before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-CMP-002 | study-guide | Implement containerized solutions | Publish an image to Azure Container Registry. | image, registry, identity | acr | registry vs runtime | build publishes image; runtime pulls it with authorized identity | compute / trace push-to-pull | vault/15-az204/5-deployment-compute/deployment-and-compute.md#From artifact to runtime | verified | verified | designed | Add a source-specific push-to-pull checkpoint. | ACR auth or CLI behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-CMP-003 | study-guide | Implement containerized solutions | Run a container with Azure Container Instances. | image, ports, networking | aci | ACI vs Container Apps | ACI hosts an isolated task; image comes from a registry | compute / choose for a short-lived task | vault/30-glossary/container-image.md#Relationships, choices, and failure modes; vault/15-az204/1-runtime/container-runtime.md#Worked scenario | verified | verified | designed | Add an observable ACI procedure before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-CMP-004 | study-guide | Implement containerized solutions | Build a solution with Azure Container Apps. | containers, ingress, scaling | azure-app-container-apps | Container Apps vs AKS/ACI | app revision receives traffic; scaling follows workload signals | compute / select managed app runtime | vault/15-az204/5-deployment-compute/deployment-and-compute.md#From artifact to runtime | verified | verified | designed | Add a Container Apps deployment scenario against current service guidance. | Service behavior or support changes. |
| AZ204-SG-APP-001 | study-guide | Implement Azure App Service Web Apps | Create an App Service web app. | HTTP, DNS, resource hierarchy | azure-app-service | App Service vs Functions | app runs inside an App Service plan and serves HTTP | compute / deploy first web runtime | vault/30-glossary/azure-app-service.md#What it is; vault/15-az204/1-runtime/web-runtime.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an end-to-end creation procedure before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-APP-002 | study-guide | Implement Azure App Service Web Apps | Configure diagnostics and logging. | metrics, logs, telemetry | azure-monitor, application-insights | logs vs metrics | app emits telemetry; Monitor stores and evaluates it | observability / explain signal flow | vault/15-az204/4-observability/application-observability.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add source-specific diagnostics configuration and failure evidence. | Telemetry configuration changes. |
| AZ204-SG-APP-003 | study-guide | Implement Azure App Service Web Apps | Deploy code and containerized solutions. | artifact, image, deployment | deployment, container-image | artifact vs package vs image | pipeline promotes an artifact into the runtime | delivery / explain deployment handoff | vault/15-az204/5-deployment-compute/deployment-and-compute.md#Configuration, TLS, and deployment | verified | verified | designed | Add an artifact promotion walkthrough with static deployment evidence. | Deployment mechanism changes. |
| AZ204-SG-APP-004 | study-guide | Implement Azure App Service Web Apps | Configure TLS, API settings, and service connections. | HTTP, TLS, identity | tls, service-connection | service connection vs endpoint/private endpoint | app configuration points to dependencies; TLS protects transport | compute / diagnose configuration failure | vault/15-az204/5-deployment-compute/deployment-and-compute.md#Configuration, TLS, and deployment | verified | verified | designed | Add a TLS and dependency-configuration comparison. | Auth or networking behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-APP-005 | study-guide | Implement Azure App Service Web Apps | Implement autoscaling. | metrics, elasticity | autoscale | scale up vs scale out | metric triggers instance-count change; plan capacity bounds runtime | compute / predict scale event | vault/15-az204/5-deployment-compute/deployment-and-compute.md#Scaling and failure | verified | verified | designed | Add a source-specific autoscale prediction checkpoint. | Autoscale rules change. |
| AZ204-SG-APP-006 | study-guide | Implement Azure App Service Web Apps | Configure deployment slots. | deployment, environments | deployment-slots | slot vs environment | slot isolates version; swap changes production routing | delivery / explain swap boundary | vault/30-glossary/azure-app-service.md#Relationships and choices; vault/15-az204/1-runtime/web-runtime.md#Worked scenario and distinctions | verified | verified | designed | Add an observable slot-swap procedure before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-FUN-001 | study-guide | Implement Azure Functions | Create and configure a Functions app. | serverless, triggers, runtime | azure-functions | Functions vs App Service | trigger invokes function; bindings connect data without custom plumbing | compute / select event runtime | vault/30-glossary/azure-functions.md#What it is; vault/15-az204/6-event-data-development/functions-and-data-events.md#Functions mechanics | verified | verified | designed | Add a source-specific Function App configuration checkpoint. | Functions hosting behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-FUN-002 | study-guide | Implement Azure Functions | Implement input and output bindings. | serialization, data source | azure-functions-bindings | binding vs SDK call | binding connects trigger/function to data; SDK gives explicit control | compute / trace input-to-output | vault/30-glossary/azure-functions-bindings.md#azure functions bindings; vault/15-az204/6-event-data-development/functions-and-data-events.md#Functions mechanics | verified | verified | designed | Add a binding-versus-SDK failure scenario. | Binding support changes. |
| AZ204-SG-FUN-003 | study-guide | Implement Azure Functions | Use data, timer, and webhook triggers. | HTTP, events, schedules | function-triggers | trigger vs binding | trigger starts execution; binding moves data at the boundary | compute / choose trigger | vault/30-glossary/function-triggers.md#function triggers; vault/15-az204/6-event-data-development/functions-and-data-events.md#Functions mechanics | verified | verified | designed | Add trigger-type and retry checkpoint evidence. | Trigger behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-COS-001 | study-guide | Develop solutions that use Azure Cosmos DB | Operate on containers and items with the SDK. | programming, SDK, JSON | cosmos-db | container vs item | SDK request targets a container and item; partitioning affects routing | storage / explain request path | vault/30-glossary/cosmos-db.md#What it is; vault/15-az204/2-data-security/data-access.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an SDK request walkthrough before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-COS-002 | study-guide | Develop solutions that use Azure Cosmos DB | Select an appropriate consistency level. | distributed systems, latency | cosmos-consistency | consistency vs availability | read consistency trades freshness/latency; workload requirement drives choice | storage / choose for a read pattern | vault/30-glossary/cosmos-db.md#Mechanics, relationships, and decisions; vault/15-az204/2-data-security/data-access.md#Conceptual checkpoint | verified | verified | designed | Add a consistency decision exercise with source evidence before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-COS-003 | study-guide | Develop solutions that use Azure Cosmos DB | Implement change-feed notifications. | events, polling, idempotency | cosmos-change-feed | change feed vs event stream | data mutation produces feed item; processor consumes it | integration / trace mutation-to-handler | vault/30-glossary/cosmos-change-feed.md#cosmos change feed; vault/15-az204/6-event-data-development/functions-and-data-events.md#Change feed and event boundaries | verified | verified | designed | Add a source-specific change-feed replay/idempotency scenario. | Change-feed behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-BLOB-001 | study-guide | Develop solutions that use Azure Blob Storage | Set and retrieve blob properties and metadata. | HTTP, storage account | blob-storage | property vs metadata | SDK writes metadata to blob; later reads use it for classification | storage / inspect request and response | vault/15-az204/2-data-security/data-access.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add a source-specific blob metadata request/response checkpoint. | SDK behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-BLOB-002 | study-guide | Develop solutions that use Azure Blob Storage | Perform blob operations with the appropriate SDK. | programming, auth, serialization | blob-sdk | SDK vs AzCopy | app SDK handles data-plane logic; AzCopy moves data operationally | storage / select client path | vault/15-az204/2-data-security/data-access.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add a blob SDK-versus-transfer-tool decision scenario. | SDK or auth behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-BLOB-003 | study-guide | Develop solutions that use Azure Blob Storage | Implement storage policies and lifecycle management. | tiers, retention, automation | storage-lifecycle | lifecycle policy vs backup | policy transitions/deletes data; backup preserves recoverability | storage / predict a policy action | vault/15-az204/2-data-security/data-access.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add a lifecycle-versus-backup failure scenario. | Lifecycle behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-SEC-001 | study-guide | Implement user authentication and authorization | Authenticate and authorize users with the Microsoft Identity platform. | HTTP, principals, tokens | microsoft-identity-platform | authentication vs authorization | platform authenticates user; token claims support downstream authorization | security / separate sign-in from permission | vault/30-glossary/microsoft-identity-platform.md#What it is; vault/15-az204/2-data-security/application-security.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an application token flow walkthrough before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-SEC-002 | study-guide | Implement user authentication and authorization | Authenticate and authorize users and apps with Entra ID. | tenant, app registration, RBAC | entraid | Entra roles vs Azure RBAC | Entra issues identity tokens; Azure RBAC authorizes resource actions | security / diagnose token-vs-role failure | vault/15-az204/2-data-security/application-security.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an Entra token-versus-RBAC diagnosis checkpoint. | Entra or RBAC behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-SEC-003 | study-guide | Implement user authentication and authorization | Create and use shared access signatures. | storage, least privilege | sas | SAS vs key vs Entra auth | SAS delegates scoped data access; storage validates its signature | security / choose delegation method | vault/15-az204/2-data-security/application-security.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add a scoped SAS expiry and failure scenario. | SAS behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-SEC-004 | study-guide | Implement user authentication and authorization | Build a solution that uses Microsoft Graph. | REST, OAuth, permissions | microsoft-graph | Graph permission vs Azure RBAC | app requests Graph token; Graph permission gates directory data | security / trace consent-to-request | vault/15-az204/2-data-security/application-security.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add target and consent failure. | Graph permission behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-SEC-005 | study-guide | Implement secure Azure solutions | Secure configuration with App Configuration or Key Vault. | configuration, secrets | azure-app-configuration, key-vault | configuration vs secret store | app reads configuration at runtime; secret store protects sensitive values | security / choose storage boundary | vault/15-az204/2-data-security/application-security.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an App Configuration versus Key Vault decision checkpoint. | Service behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-SEC-006 | study-guide | Implement secure Azure solutions | Use Key Vault keys, secrets, and certificates in code. | TLS, identity, authorization | key-vault-secrets | secret vs key vs certificate | workload identity authorizes retrieval; app uses returned material | security / diagnose permission failure | vault/15-az204/2-data-security/application-security.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add a Key Vault secret/key/certificate boundary scenario. | Key Vault API behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-SEC-007 | study-guide | Implement secure Azure solutions | Implement managed identities for Azure resources. | principals, RBAC | managed-identity | managed identity vs service principal | Azure manages credential; RBAC grants its principal data-plane access | security / explain credentialless flow | vault/30-glossary/managed-identity.md; vault/15-az204/2-data-security/application-security.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add a managed-identity authorization walkthrough before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-MON-001 | study-guide | Monitor and troubleshoot solutions by using Azure Monitor Application Insights | Analyze application metrics, logs, and traces. | telemetry types, KQL | application-insights | metrics vs logs vs traces | app emits signals; Insights correlates them for diagnosis | observability / choose signal | vault/15-az204/4-observability/application-observability.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add a worked telemetry query before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-MON-002 | study-guide | Monitor and troubleshoot solutions by using Azure Monitor Application Insights | Implement availability tests and alerts. | HTTP, alert rules | availability-test, alert-rule | alert rule vs action group | test produces signal; rule evaluates it; action group routes response | observability / trace failure-to-notification | vault/15-az204/4-observability/application-observability.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add availability-test and alert-flow evidence. | Availability or alert behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-MON-003 | study-guide | Monitor and troubleshoot solutions by using Azure Monitor Application Insights | Instrument an app or service with Application Insights. | runtime, telemetry | application-insights | instrumentation vs monitoring | instrumentation emits telemetry; monitoring stores, queries, and alerts on it | observability / locate missing signal | vault/15-az204/4-observability/application-observability.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add target and failure diagnosis. | SDK or ingestion behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-API-001 | study-guide | Implement Azure API Management | Create an API Management instance. | APIs, networking, identity | api-management | API gateway vs app runtime | APIM fronts backend; backend still owns application behavior | integration / draw request boundary | vault/30-glossary/api-management.md#What it is; vault/15-az204/3-integration/api-event-message-integration.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an APIM configuration walkthrough before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-API-002 | study-guide | Implement Azure API Management | Create and document APIs. | REST, OpenAPI, HTTP | openapi, api-documentation | API definition vs implementation | definition describes contract; backend implements it | integration / explain contract handoff | vault/15-az204/3-integration/api-event-message-integration.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an OpenAPI contract example. | API tooling changes. |
| AZ204-SG-API-003 | study-guide | Implement Azure API Management | Configure access to APIs. | auth, subscriptions, principals | api-access | authentication vs authorization | gateway authenticates caller and applies access policy before forwarding | integration / diagnose rejected request | vault/15-az204/3-integration/api-event-message-integration.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an API gateway authorization failure scenario. | Access policy behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-API-004 | study-guide | Implement Azure API Management | Implement policies for APIs. | HTTP pipeline, XML/JSON | api-policies | policy vs application code | gateway policy transforms/guards request before backend execution | integration / predict policy effect | vault/15-az204/3-integration/api-event-message-integration.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add a policy-versus-backend decision scenario. | Policy behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-EVT-001 | study-guide | Develop event-based solutions | Implement an Event Grid solution. | events, webhook, handlers | event-grid | event vs command | publisher announces occurrence; subscribers react independently | integration / trace event delivery | vault/15-az204/3-integration/api-event-message-integration.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an Event Grid delivery walkthrough before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-EVT-002 | study-guide | Develop event-based solutions | Implement an Event Hubs solution. | event stream, partitions | event-hubs | Event Hubs vs Event Grid | producers append stream data; consumers read partitions | integration / choose stream vs notification | vault/15-az204/3-integration/api-event-message-integration.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add an Event Hubs stream-versus-event notification checkpoint. | Event Hubs behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-MSG-001 | study-guide | Develop message-based solutions | Implement a Service Bus solution. | queues, retries, delivery | service-bus | queue vs topic/subscription | sender enqueues message; receiver completes or abandons it | integration / reason about retries | vault/15-az204/3-integration/api-event-message-integration.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add a Service Bus retry/dead-letter walkthrough before verified. | Product or source behavior changes. |
| AZ204-SG-MSG-002 | study-guide | Develop message-based solutions | Implement a Queue Storage solution. | storage, polling, idempotency | queue-storage | Queue Storage vs Service Bus | simple queue stores work item; worker polls and processes it | integration / choose based on guarantees | vault/15-az204/3-integration/api-event-message-integration.md#Concept sequence and relationships | verified | verified | designed | Add Queue Storage retry and idempotency evidence. | Queue behavior changes. |
Audit result
0 missing, 0 thin, 0 covered, 37 verified. All 37 study-guide rows have inspected source, concept, route, and relationship evidence. Practical statuses remain separate; AZ-204 is retired and is not presented as a current exam or certification. operational walkthroughs and rendered evidence are still open. These rows are not a claim that nearby AZ-104 or AZ-400 notes teach application-development objectives. The next step is to create canonical notes and an ordered retired-foundation route, then inspect each actual target before advancing grades.
Sources and retirement
- Study guide for Exam AZ-204, skills measured 2026-01-14, checked 2026-08-31.
- Microsoft retired certification exams, checked 2026-08-31; AZ-204 retired 2026-07-31.
- Archived MicrosoftLearning AZ-204 repository, checked 2026-08-31; structure reference only.
- Courseware retirement date: 2026-05-29, recorded from the project’s fixed scope and to be corroborated in the retirement ledger when Microsoft’s course listing exposes the historical entry.
Related
Source-to-vault dashboard · Source inventory · Curriculum home