Azure Identity SDK for Python

Authentication library for Azure SDK clients using Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD).

Installation

pip install azure-identity

Environment Variables

# Service Principal (for production/CI)
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<your-tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<your-client-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=<your-client-secret>

# User-assigned Managed Identity (optional)
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<managed-identity-client-id>

DefaultAzureCredential

The recommended credential for most scenarios. Tries multiple authentication methods in order:

from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
from azure.storage.blob import BlobServiceClient

# Works in local dev AND production without code changes
credential = DefaultAzureCredential()

client = BlobServiceClient(
    account_url="https://<account>.blob.core.windows.net",
    credential=credential
)

Credential Chain Order

Customizing DefaultAzureCredential

# Exclude credentials you don't need
credential = DefaultAzureCredential(
    exclude_environment_credential=True,
    exclude_shared_token_cache_credential=True,
    managed_identity_client_id="<user-assigned-mi-client-id>"  # For user-assigned MI
)

# Enable interactive browser (disabled by default)
credential = DefaultAzureCredential(
    exclude_interactive_browser_credential=False
)

Specific Credential Types

ManagedIdentityCredential

For Azure-hosted resources (VMs, App Service, Functions, AKS):

from azure.identity import ManagedIdentityCredential

# System-assigned managed identity
credential = ManagedIdentityCredential()

# User-assigned managed identity
credential = ManagedIdentityCredential(
    client_id="<user-assigned-mi-client-id>"
)

ClientSecretCredential

For service principal with secret:

from azure.identity import ClientSecretCredential

credential = ClientSecretCredential(
    tenant_id=os.environ["AZURE_TENANT_ID"],
    client_id=os.environ["AZURE_CLIENT_ID"],
    client_secret=os.environ["AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET"]
)

AzureCliCredential

Uses the account from az login:

from azure.identity import AzureCliCredential

credential = AzureCliCredential()

ChainedTokenCredential

Custom credential chain:

from azure.identity import (
    ChainedTokenCredential,
    ManagedIdentityCredential,
    AzureCliCredential
)