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# When the Azure portal or Entra admin center has changed

**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 `recheck` date 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

1. **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**.
2. **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.
3. **Where they are.** "What is the page title, and the breadcrumb above it? Reply as: `title: … / breadcrumb: …`."
4. **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."
5. **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."
6. **Look for something new.** "Is there a banner or toggle about a new experience or a preview? Copy its text."
7. **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.


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