RunCommandsClient

Name: RunCommandsClient API
Brand: RunCommandsClient
Availability: InStock

★ Only Publicly Available OpenAPI DocumentCloud InfrastructureComputeoauth24 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Run scripts on Azure virtual machines and Virtual Machine Scale Set instances and list the catalogue of available run commands per region.

Connect the RunCommandsClient to your agent

Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the RunCommandsClient, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.

Install Jentic One Beta (Self-Hosted)

Jentic One Host machine

# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh

Agent machine

# 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 instance

Jentic 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.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with RunCommandsClient API.

Execute a run command on a single virtual machine in a resource group

Execute a run command on a specific Virtual Machine Scale Set instance

List the catalogue of run commands available in a given Azure region

Retrieve the schema and input parameters for a specific run command id

GET STARTED

Start building with RunCommandsClient API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI document for RunCommandsClient, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for RunCommandsClient, keeping it validated and agent-ready. The Azure Compute Run Commands API lets agents execute scripts on Azure virtual machines and Virtual Machine Scale Set instances without opening RDP, SSH, or installing additional agents. It exposes the catalogue of supported commands per region and triggers script execution against a specific VM or VMSS instance, returning a long-running operation handle for polling. This is the standard mechanism for ad-hoc remote execution on Azure VMs.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use RunCommandsClient API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Emergency Remote Execution Without SSH

When a VM has lost network connectivity or its SSH service has stopped, operators still need to run diagnostic or recovery scripts. The Run Commands API executes scripts via the Azure platform agent rather than the network, so it works even when inbound SSH or RDP is blocked. The POST endpoint accepts a command id and parameters and returns a long-running operation that streams stdout and stderr back through Azure Resource Manager.

POST /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{rg}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/{vmName}/runCommand with commandId RunShellScript and a script body, then poll the long-running operation until it completes

Bulk Configuration Across a Scale Set Instance

When a single instance of a Virtual Machine Scale Set drifts out of compliance, operators can target that one instance with a run command rather than redeploying the whole scale set. The instance-scoped endpoint accepts the same command catalogue as standalone VMs and returns the same long-running operation contract. Output is captured per call so subsequent automation can decide whether to scale the instance out.

POST runCommand on virtualMachineScaleSets/{vmssName}/virtualmachines/{instanceId} with commandId RunShellScript and parameters that restart the failing service

Run Command Catalogue Discovery

Before executing a remote script, agents need to confirm the target region supports the desired command id and understand what parameters it accepts. The list endpoint returns every command id available in a region with its description, and the GET-by-id endpoint returns the full input schema. Pairing these two calls lets an agent build a parameterised script invocation without consulting external documentation.

GET runCommands for location westus2, find the command with id RunPowerShellScript, then GET runCommands/RunPowerShellScript to fetch its input schema

Agent-Driven VM Remediation via Jentic

Through Jentic, an SRE agent can search for run script on azure vm, load the input schema for the runCommand POST, populate it with the target script, and execute the call with a managed Azure OAuth token. The same flow handles VMSS instances by selecting the matching operation. The agent never holds a service principal secret directly.

Search Jentic for run script on azure vm, load the runCommand POST schema, execute it for vm web-01 with a shell script that flushes the local cache, and return the captured stdout

Key Endpoints

4 endpoints — jentic publishes the only available openapi specification for runcommandsclient, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/{location}/runCommands

List run commands in a region

GET

/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/{location}/runCommands/{commandId}

Get input schema for a command

POST

/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/{vmName}/runCommand

Run a command on a VM

POST

/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachineScaleSets/{vmScaleSetName}/virtualmachines/{instanceId}/runCommand

Run a command on a VMSS instance

GET

/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/{location}/runCommands

List run commands in a region

GET

/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/{location}/runCommands/{commandId}

Get input schema for a command

POST

/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/{vmName}/runCommand

Run a command on a VM

POST

/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachineScaleSets/{vmScaleSetName}/virtualmachines/{instanceId}/runCommand

Run a command on a VMSS instance

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

Azure service principal credentials are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault. Agents receive scoped OAuth tokens for the management.azure.com audience only — the underlying client secret never enters the agent context.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search by intent such as run script on azure vm or execute powershell on vmss, and Jentic returns the matching RunCommands operation with its full input schema for either standalone VM or VMSS instance scope.

Time to first call

Direct integration: 1-2 days to wire MSAL, the long-running operation polling loop, and per-target path branching. Through Jentic: under an hour to search, load, and execute a run command.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Complementary

Azure ComputeManagementClient

Manages the lifecycle of the VMs and scale sets you run commands on

Use to create, start, stop, or resize the VMs that RunCommands will execute scripts against

Alternative

Azure RemediationsClient

Policy-driven ARM remediation rather than imperative VM scripts

Choose when fixes should be expressed as policy effects rather than scripts inside the VM

Alternative

Azure AutomationManagementClient

Scheduled and orchestrated runbooks for repeatable VM operations

Choose for scheduled or multi-step orchestration rather than one-off ad hoc execution

FAQs

Specific to using RunCommandsClient API through Jentic.

Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for RunCommandsClient?

Microsoft Azure does not publish a unified OpenAPI specification covering the Compute Run Commands API. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call RunCommands via structured tooling. It is validated against the live Azure Resource Manager API and kept up to date. Get started at https://app.jentic.com/sign-up.

What authentication does the RunCommandsClient API use?

It uses Azure Active Directory OAuth 2.0 via the azure_auth flow defined in the spec. Acquire a bearer token for https://management.azure.com/.default and pass it as Authorization: Bearer. Through Jentic, the underlying service principal lives in the vault and the agent only sees a scoped token.

Can I run a PowerShell script on an Azure VM through this API?

Yes. POST to .../virtualMachines/{vmName}/runCommand with commandId RunPowerShellScript and a script body in the parameters. The same pattern works for shell scripts via RunShellScript. The available command ids in a region come from the list endpoint.

Does RunCommandsClient work on VM Scale Set instances?

Yes. POST to .../virtualMachineScaleSets/{vmScaleSetName}/virtualmachines/{instanceId}/runCommand with the same body shape as a standalone VM. This lets you target one drifted instance instead of redeploying the entire scale set.

What are the rate limits for the RunCommandsClient API?

Calls count against Azure Resource Manager subscription throttling, roughly 1,200 writes per hour per subscription. Each run command is a long-running async operation, so completion time depends on script duration rather than API throughput. Throttled requests return HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header.

How do I trigger a remote script through Jentic?

Search Jentic for run script on azure vm, call client.load on the runCommand POST operation to receive its input schema, then call client.execute with subscriptionId, resourceGroupName, vmName, commandId, and parameters. Jentic injects the OAuth token and returns the long-running operation handle.