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.

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Created 21 Oct 2026 · Modified 23 Oct 2026 · 1 version

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 learnWhat you do
Wrong directory, or the subscription is filtered outAsk them to switch or change the filter, then restart the step. Not drift: no report
The control exists under a new nameContinue with the new name. File a drift report
A new page or wizardHave 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 similarLeave 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 messageTreat it as an error, not drift: docs {"command": "search", "query": "<text>", "scope": "reference"}
Answers don't let you decideSay 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.

Read this document as markdown — the same bytes an agent receives.