Getting started with Microsoft Foundry just became easier. Traditionally, setting up a Foundry development environment involved installing and configuring multiple separate tools—command line interfaces, IDE extensions, and agent frameworks—often with fragmented steps. Microsoft’s new Foundry Dev Pack consolidates this setup into a single installer tailored to your OS and existing tools.

Foundry Dev Pack prepares your machine with everything you need to scaffold, deploy, evaluate, and automate Foundry applications, whether you work primarily in the terminal, Visual Studio Code, or leverage intelligent coding agents. By detecting installed components like VS Code or the GitHub Copilot App, it delivers a customized setup experience supporting your preferred development workflow.

In this post, we’ll explore the key technical points that make Foundry Dev Pack convenient and walk through how you can use it to jumpstart building and deploying Foundry agents with minimal friction.

Key Technical Observations

• Cross-Platform Install Experience — The Dev Pack supports Windows via winget, macOS via Homebrew, and Linux via a shell installation script, offering native install commands per platform.

• Conditional Component Installation — It detects presence of VS Code or GitHub Copilot apps to install the corresponding Foundry Toolkit or Canvas preview only when relevant.

• Unified Command Line Tools Integration — Bundles Azure CLI (az), Azure Developer CLI (azd), and the Microsoft Foundry Extension for azd, enabling terminal workflows.

• Coding Agent Skill Embedding — Provides a reusable Foundry skill enabling coding agents to generate and manage hosted agents.

• Seamless IDE Support — The Foundry Toolkit for VS Code integrates templates and agent lifecycle management into the editor.

• Preview of Foundry Canvas — Introduces a graphical interface for designing and deploying hosted agents, installed only if GitHub Copilot App is present.

How It Works

Installation Across Environments

For each major OS, Foundry Dev Pack installation is a one-liner:

• Windows: Run this in PowerShell or Command Prompt to install via winget:

winget install Microsoft.FoundryDevPack

• macOS: Use Homebrew cask to install and then activate the setup:

brew install --cask microsoft/foundry/devpack && foundry-devpack install

• Linux: Download and run the installer with curl and bash:

curl -fsSL https://aka.ms/foundry-devpack-install.sh | bash

The installer detects your existing environment and installs the components you need.

Setting Up Your Development Tools

Once installed, the Dev Pack includes:

• Foundry CLI Tools: Core utilities such as az, azd, plus the Foundry extension for azd enabling agent scaffolding, deployment, and evaluation from the terminal.

• Foundry Toolkit for VS Code: Installed only if VS Code is present, integrating templates and agent lifecycle management into the editor.

• Foundry Skill for Coding Agents: A reusable skill allowing AI-based coding assistants to understand and execute Foundry workflows.

• Foundry Canvas (Preview): Installed only if GitHub Copilot App is detected, enabling visual design and deployment of hosted agents.

Creating Your First Agent

You can jumpstart agent development in three ways:

• CLI: Run the command below to initialize an agent from a template.

azd ai agent init

• VS Code: Open the Foundry extension on the left Activity Bar to explore templates or craft a custom agent.

• Coding Agent: Prompt your AI-assisted coding agent using the Foundry skill:

Create my Foundry hosted agent end to end.

These options give developers flexibility to build in their tool of choice while supported by the Dev Pack.

Quick Tips & Tricks

1. Start with CLI for Quick Iteration — Using azd ai agent init gets a template agent set up fast, ideal for rapid prototyping.

2. Leverage Environment Detection — Make sure VS Code or GitHub Copilot are installed to unlock the full potential of the Toolkit or Canvas features.

3. Use Foundry Skill with AI Assistants — Integrate AI coding agents early to assist with agent creation and deployment.

4. Keep Dev Pack Updated Regularly — Updating ensures you get the latest CLI improvements and new features.

5. Explore Visual Agent Design in Canvas Preview — Use Canvas for visual modeling of hosted agents.

6. Combine Terminal and IDE Workflows — Use CLI tools for automation and VS Code Toolkit for day-to-day development.

Conclusion

Microsoft’s Foundry Dev Pack simplifies setting up a Foundry development environment across platforms and workflows. By uniting tooling for CLI, VS Code, and AI coding agents under one installer, it helps developers focus on building hosted agents rather than managing dependencies.

This approach accelerates onboarding and productivity, making Foundry development more accessible and scalable.

References

1. Introducing Foundry Dev Pack: One Command to Start Building on Microsoft Foundry — Official Microsoft Foundry Blog announcement and installation guide.