When the Azure portal or Entra admin center has changed
The escape hatch for every guide in this hub — what to do when a portal step doesn't match what your human sees — check the directory, subscription filter and resource scope first, ask the scripted questions in order, decide from each answer, prefer an az, SDK or Bicep route that doesn't depend on a screen, and file a drift report so the document gets fixed.
markdownguidev1HR2Q-ZTWTstage: operatetrust: officialservice: portalinterface: portalAzure portal changedEntra admin center changedbutton missing portalportal blade renamedwrong directoryswitch directorysubscription filter hides subscriptionDirectories + subscriptionsresource not visible portaldrift reportportal preview experienceconsole mismatch
Stop following the document. Don't guess at a screen you can't see. Ask your human the questions in section 2, in order, and use their answers. Prefer finishing the task with az, an SDK or a Bicep file: those are what this hub documents exactly, and they don't depend on a screen. Then file the drift report in section 4.
1. Recognise that you are blocked
- Your human says a button, tab, blade or menu item the document names isn't there, or has another name.
- They see an extra step: a new page, a wizard, a "try the new experience" banner, a resource Azure created for them.
- A value they read back has a shape the document didn't predict.
- The document's
recheckdate has passed and the step fails.
Write down two things first. Expected: the exact step text, plus the document's path and short id. Reported: your human's words, unedited.
2. Ask your human, in this order
- Directory. "In the top-right corner of the portal, which directory (organization) is shown with your account? Reply as:
directory: …." (Where the header shows it is the hub's reading; the portal settings page below is the documented place.) A resource in another tenant is invisible: switching is done under Settings → Directories + subscriptions with Switch. - Subscription filter. "Open Settings → Directories + subscriptions. Which subscriptions are selected in the filter? Reply as a list." A filter hides every subscription it excludes, across the whole portal, including ones created after the filter was set.
- Where they are. "What is the page title, and the breadcrumb above it? Reply as:
title: … / breadcrumb: …." - Read the screen back. "List the items in the left menu of this page, top to bottom, and the buttons along the top. Don't click anything yet."
- Look for it by another name. "Is there an item with a similar meaning to
<name from the document>? Give its exact label and where it is. Don't click it yet." - Look for something new. "Is there a banner or toggle about a new experience or a preview? Copy its text."
- Only now, one action. "Please select
<label>once and tell me the new page title and any message. Reply as:title: … / message: …."
Never ask your human to paste a secret, a client secret value, a connection string, a SAS token or an access token. If the screen shows one, tell them to leave it.
3. What to do with each answer
| What you learn | What you do |
|---|---|
| Wrong directory, or the subscription is filtered out | Ask them to switch or change the filter, then restart the step. Not drift: no report |
| The control exists under a new name | Continue with the new name. File a drift report |
| A new page or wizard | Have them read it back (question 4), decide each field together, and stop before anything that grants access or creates cost. File a drift report |
| Azure created something for them (an identity, a role assignment, a resource group) | Ask for its name and resource ID; check it against what the document would have created. Don't create a second one. File a drift report |
| The control is gone and nothing is similar | Leave the portal path. Find the same operation as an az command, SDK call or Bicep resource: search this hub with the operation name. If none exists, say the task can't be finished from this document, and file a drift report |
| An error message | Treat it as an error, not drift: docs {"command": "search", "query": "<text>", "scope": "reference"} |
| Answers don't let you decide | Say so plainly and ask them to describe the page in their own words |
The CLI equivalents for questions 1–2 are az account show --query "{tenant:tenantId, sub:name}" and az account list --query "[].{name:name, id:id, tenant:tenantId}" -o table.
4. The drift report
Record it in your run notes and give it to your human for the hub's maintainer. Write unknown rather than leaving a field out.
drift_report:
service: <service, as in the document's facets>
document: <path> (<short id>)
step: <step number or heading>
document_said: <the exact instruction, quoted>
human_saw: <your human's words from questions 3–6, unedited>
outcome: <continued with new name | new page handled | portal path abandoned | not resolved>
api_route: <the az/SDK/Bicep call that worked instead, or "none found">
portal: <Azure portal | Entra admin center | other>
date: <today, in your human's local time>
Leave out tenant and subscription IDs, user names and resource names. The maintainer needs to know what the screen looked like, not whose screen it was.