canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/azure.com/automationmanagement

# Microsoft Azure AutomationManagement

AutomationManagement is the Azure Resource Manager API for managing Azure Automation accounts - the runbook execution and configuration management service. It covers automation account provisioning, key listing, account-level usage and statistics retrieval, and provider operations metadata. Use this client to set up the parent account that runbooks, DSC configurations, and update management workloads run inside.

## For AI agents

Provision and inspect Azure Automation accounts - the parent resources that host runbooks and configuration management workloads - from an AI agent.

## Scope

Does not author runbooks, manage DSC configurations, or run jobs - use for parent Automation account provisioning, key retrieval, and usage inspection only.

## Capabilities

- Provision Azure Automation accounts at the desired SKU
- Retrieve the agent registration keys for a hybrid worker setup
- Read account-level usage statistics for runbook execution and storage
- List automation accounts across a subscription or resource group
- Enumerate Microsoft.Automation provider operations for RBAC scoping

## Use cases

### Automation Account Provisioning

Platform teams adopting Azure Automation need to create the parent account before deploying runbooks or DSC configurations. The PUT call on the automationAccounts resource creates the account at the chosen SKU (Free or Basic), into a target resource group and region. The account is the boundary for runbook execution quotas and credential storage.

Example prompt: PUT /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts/{automationAccountName} with sku.name=Basic and the target location.

### Hybrid Worker Onboarding

Hybrid Runbook Workers running on-prem need the automation account's primary or secondary registration key to register against the cloud control plane. The listKeys endpoint returns the current keys, which are then supplied to the worker registration script. Rotating keys is a separate runbook concern but starts from the same listKeys data.

Example prompt: POST /automationAccounts/{automationAccountName}/listKeys to retrieve the primary registration key, then pass it to the hybrid worker installer.

### Capacity and Usage Monitoring

Operations teams running runbooks at scale need visibility into how much of the account's capacity is consumed. The statistics and usages endpoints return current run counts, job duration totals, and storage consumption - enough to drive an upgrade decision from Free to Basic SKU before quotas are hit.

Example prompt: GET /automationAccounts/{automationAccountName}/statistics and /usages, then alert if run count is above 80% of the SKU quota.

### Agent-Driven Account Management via Jentic

An AI infra agent setting up a new automation environment can use Jentic to provision the Automation account, retrieve its registration keys, and pass them to a hybrid worker installer - without holding the Azure subscription credentials at any step. Jentic returns the schemas, Azure ARM polls the long-running provisioning, and the keys are returned in the response payload.

Example prompt: Search Jentic for 'create an Azure Automation account', execute the PUT, then call listKeys and pass the returned key to the worker provisioning script.

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GET | /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts | List Automation accounts in the subscription |
| PUT | /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts/{automationAccountName} | Create or update an Automation account |
| POST | /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts/{automationAccountName}/listKeys | Retrieve agent registration keys |
| GET | /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts/{automationAccountName}/statistics | Get automation account statistics |
| GET | /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts/{automationAccountName}/usages | Get usage information for the account |

## Key resources

- **Automation accounts** — Provision and list parent accounts for runbooks and DSC
- **List keys** — Retrieve agent registration keys for hybrid worker setup
- **Statistics** — Read job and runbook execution statistics for an account
- **Usages** — Inspect resource usage against the account's SKU quotas
- **Operations** — List Microsoft.Automation provider operations for RBAC scoping

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring AutomationManagement by hand means registering an Azure AD app, exchanging OAuth 2.0 tokens for management.azure.com, and building the Azure Resource Manager plumbing that polls long-running account provisioning and backs off on throttling. Through Jentic you install once, import AutomationManagement from the API Directory, store the Azure AD credential once, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** This client puts the subscription, resource group, and automation account name in the URL path (for example /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts/{automationAccountName}), so a rule can pin your agent to a specific account. You choose the operations it may call, so ones like creating or deleting an account, or the listKeys call that returns registration keys, are not included unless you add them.
- **Credential handling:** Your Azure AD credential is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'create an Azure Automation account' or 'get hybrid worker registration keys', and Jentic returns the matching Automation account operation with its parameter schema and api-version so the agent does not navigate the automationAccounts resource hierarchy.

## Related APIs

- **Automation Management Client** — Manage runbook webhooks within an Automation account
- **Monitor Management Client** — Configure alerts and diagnostic settings on Automation account metrics
- **Authorization Management Client** — Grant RBAC roles on the Automation account resource

## FAQ

### What authentication does the AutomationManagement API use?

Azure Active Directory OAuth 2.0 bearer tokens scoped to https://management.azure.com/. Through Jentic the token is held in the encrypted vault and a short-lived scoped session is supplied to the agent at call time.

### Can I create an Automation account with this API?

Yes. PUT to /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts/{automationAccountName} with a body containing sku.name (Free or Basic) and the location. Provisioning is fast - the account is usable within a minute of creation.

### What are the rate limits for the AutomationManagement API?

Calls go through Azure Resource Manager and follow ARM throttling - generally 12,000 reads and 1,200 writes per hour per subscription. The listKeys POST is a write call; the statistics and usages endpoints are reads with very low cost.

### How do I retrieve hybrid worker registration keys via Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'get Azure Automation account keys'. Jentic returns the schema for POST /automationAccounts/{automationAccountName}/listKeys; execute it and the response contains keyName and value pairs you pass to the hybrid worker installer.

### Is Azure Automation free?

Azure Automation has a Free SKU with monthly job runtime quotas, and a Basic SKU billed per minute of job runtime above the included allowance. The management API itself does not have a per-call charge. See the Azure Automation pricing page for current minute rates.

### What is the difference between this API and AutomationManagementClient?

This client (automationmanagement) covers the parent automation account resource - provisioning, key listing, statistics, and usages. The sibling automationmanagementclient covers webhook management for runbooks. Use this client to create and inspect the account; use the sibling to wire runbook webhooks.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Azure Automation API?

Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which Automation account operations the agent can call and which Azure AD credential it uses. Since the subscription, resource group, and account name sit in the request path, you can pin the agent to a single automation account, and you choose exactly which operations are enabled, so sensitive calls like creating or deleting an account or the listKeys call that returns hybrid worker registration keys stay off unless you add them. This lets you allow, for example, read-only statistics and usages checks while keeping account provisioning and key retrieval out of the agent's reach.