For Agents
Apply and remove Azure delete or read-only locks at subscription, resource group, or resource scope to protect critical assets. Useful for production guardrails and change-freeze enforcement.
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the ManagementLockClient, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.
# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh
jentic register # connects your agent to your Jentic One instanceJentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.
What an agent can do with ManagementLockClient API.
Create or update a CanNotDelete or ReadOnly lock on a subscription, resource group, or resource
List every management lock in a subscription to audit which assets are protected
Filter locks by resource group to inspect protections inside a single environment
Delete a lock to lift a change freeze without touching the underlying resource
GET STARTED
Use for: I need to lock a production resource group against deletion, List all management locks in this subscription, Apply a ReadOnly lock to a key vault during a change freeze, Remove a CanNotDelete lock from a resource so it can be retired
Not supported: Does not handle RBAC role assignments, policy evaluation, or resource configuration — use for applying CanNotDelete and ReadOnly locks to Azure scopes only.
Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI document for ManagementLockClient, keeping it validated and agent-ready.
Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for ManagementLockClient, keeping it validated and agent-ready. The Azure Management Locks API applies CanNotDelete and ReadOnly locks to subscriptions, resource groups, or individual resources so users cannot accidentally modify or delete production assets. Use it to create, list, get, and delete locks at any ARM scope, including by-scope variants for arbitrary nested resource paths. Authentication is via Azure Active Directory OAuth 2.0 on Azure Resource Manager.
Apply a lock at an arbitrary scope path for nested or extension resources
Enumerate Microsoft.Authorization operations exposed for lock management
Patterns agents use ManagementLockClient API for, with concrete tasks.
★ Protect production resource groups
Operations teams put CanNotDelete locks on every production resource group to prevent accidental teardown via portal or CLI. The lock blocks delete operations on the group and its descendants until the lock is removed, while still allowing day-to-day data plane operations on the resources within. The lock is created with one PUT call per resource group.
PUT /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName} with properties.level set to CanNotDelete and a notes value naming the change ticket.
Apply a tenant-wide change freeze
During regulated reporting windows, agents iterate every subscription and apply ReadOnly locks at the subscription level so configuration cannot drift. The List endpoints confirm coverage, and a parallel cleanup workflow removes the locks at the end of the freeze. Lock notes carry the reason and freeze identifier for audit.
For each subscription, PUT /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName} with level ReadOnly, then verify with GET on the same path.
Audit lock coverage before an outage
Before a major change window, governance reviews the full set of management locks across the subscription to confirm critical resources are protected and that locks scheduled for the window are absent or scheduled for lifting. The list endpoints support filter queries to narrow results by resource type or name.
GET /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks and emit a report grouping locks by level and scope, highlighting resources missing a CanNotDelete lock.
Agent-driven lock lifecycle
Through Jentic, an AI agent can react to a Slack approval and automatically lock or unlock the affected resource group. The agent searches for 'apply azure delete lock', loads the input schema, and executes with the resource group name and lock level. Jentic injects the Azure AD bearer token at execution time so the agent never sees secrets.
Use Jentic search 'create azure cannotdelete lock', load ManagementLocks_CreateOrUpdateAtResourceGroupLevel, supply the resource group and lock name with level CanNotDelete, and execute.
17 endpoints — jentic publishes the only available openapi specification for managementlockclient, keeping it validated and agent-ready.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName}
Create or update a subscription-level lock
/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName}
Create or update a resource group lock
/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks
List all locks in a subscription
/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks
List locks in a resource group
/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName}
Delete a resource group lock
/{scope}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName}
Create or update a lock at any ARM scope
/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName}
Create or update a subscription-level lock
/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName}
Create or update a resource group lock
/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks
List all locks in a subscription
/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks
List locks in a resource group
/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName}
Delete a resource group lock
Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.
Credential isolation
Azure AD client credentials are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault. Jentic exchanges them for a short-lived ARM-scoped bearer token at execution time so the agent never handles tenant or client secrets directly.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search Jentic with intents like 'lock a resource group from deletion' and Jentic returns the matching ManagementLocks operation with its input schema and required scope path.
Time to first call
Direct integration: 1-2 days to handle MSAL, ARM scope variants, and async error handling. Through Jentic: under an hour.
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
Authorization Management Client
Apply RBAC role assignments alongside locks for layered protection.
Use Authorization to limit who can write to a scope; use Locks to also block writes at the platform level regardless of role.
Policy Client
Enforce governance via policy assignments rather than locks.
Pick Policy when the goal is conditional governance with audit trails; pick Locks when the goal is a hard block on delete or write.
Resource Management Client
Manage the resources and resource groups that locks protect.
Use Resource Management to enumerate scopes that should be locked, then call this API to apply the locks.
Management Link Client
Document dependencies between protected resources for impact analysis.
Combine with locks to both record and enforce protection of dependency chains.
Specific to using ManagementLockClient API through Jentic.
Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for ManagementLockClient?
Microsoft Azure does not publish a standalone OpenAPI specification for the management locks API. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call ManagementLockClient via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. Get started at https://app.jentic.com/sign-up.
What authentication does the Management Locks API use?
The API uses Azure Active Directory OAuth 2.0 via the azure_auth scheme on https://management.azure.com/. Through Jentic, your Azure AD application credentials are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault and exchanged for a short-lived bearer token at request time, so raw secrets never reach the agent.
Can I lock a resource group against deletion with this API?
Yes. Call PUT /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName} with a body that sets properties.level to CanNotDelete. The lock applies to the group and every resource under it until removed.
What lock levels does this API support?
Two levels: CanNotDelete blocks delete operations while permitting reads and updates, and ReadOnly blocks both delete and update operations. Both are set on the request body's properties.level field when creating or updating a lock.
What are the rate limits for the Management Locks API?
Lock endpoints inherit the standard Azure Resource Manager throttle quotas, exposed via x-ms-ratelimit-remaining-* response headers. Bulk lock operations should respect those headers and back off when remaining quota approaches zero.
How do I apply a lock through Jentic?
Search Jentic for 'create azure delete lock', load the ManagementLocks_CreateOrUpdateAtResourceGroupLevel operation, supply lock name and level in the body, then execute. Jentic returns the created lock object with its id field for downstream cleanup workflows.
Does removing a lock affect the underlying resource?
No. DELETE on a lock path removes the lock object only and leaves the locked resource untouched. The resource immediately becomes available for the operations the lock was previously blocking.
/{scope}/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/locks/{lockName}
Create or update a lock at any ARM scope