◆ Microsoft Azure

Perform maintenance cleanup tasks

This is real work, not a feature someone invented — it comes from real job ads and real questions people asked. Below are four ready AI prompts: get it done, make it easy for the next person to say yes to, work out the right move when you are stuck, and stop it coming back.

4prompts

The same task, four prompts

today's deadline · the next reviewer · the stuck moment · the pattern
AExecute — do the immediate taskRun the 'Cleanup Old Artifacts' script for the 'ProductCatalog' project, targeting artifacts…+
Run the 'Cleanup Old Artifacts' script for the 'ProductCatalog' project, targeting artifacts older than 90 days, and confirm the space saved.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
BImprove — make it easier to acceptBefore I schedule the monthly 'Stale Resource Cleanup' for the 'Development' subscription,…+
Before I schedule the monthly 'Stale Resource Cleanup' for the 'Development' subscription, analyze the resource utilization for all VMs and databases that haven't been accessed in the last 60 days. Flag any that are still tagged as 'critical' or 'do-not-delete' by engineering leads, so I don't accidentally take down someone's active work.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
CDecide — diagnose the stuck momentOur monthly cost report shows unexpected spikes in storage for the 'Analytics' resource group,…+
Our monthly cost report shows unexpected spikes in storage for the 'Analytics' resource group.
Our monthly cost report shows unexpected spikes in storage for the 'Analytics' resource group, and Sarah from finance is asking for an explanation before Friday. I suspect it's unmanaged logs or temporary files, but I don't know which specific services are the culprits or if there's an automated cleanup failing. What's the fastest way to pinpoint the source of the storage bloat and identify what can be safely removed without impacting data integrity?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
DBecome — change the patternI keep finding orphaned resources after project decommissionings, leading to unnecessary cloud…+
I keep finding orphaned resources after project decommissionings.
I keep finding orphaned resources after project decommissionings, leading to unnecessary cloud costs and security vulnerabilities. These often get missed in the rush to launch new initiatives. What habit should I change to ensure a systematic and auditable process for identifying and removing all associated resources when a project or environment is retired, so nothing is left behind?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Questions people actually ask

honest answers, no sign-up

Every task here was seen in the real world. Someone doing the job named it, a real job ad asked for it, or a lot of people asked about it online.

If nothing real showed a task, it is not on the page. That is the whole rule.

They are the same job approached four ways, because what you need depends on where you are.

Get it done today. Make it easy for the next person to say yes to. Work out the right move when you are stuck. Learn the pattern so the job stops coming back.

For most of these jobs it can carry the heavy thinking - draft it, sort it, check it, rehearse it with you.

It cannot sit in your chair, take the blame when a number is wrong, or notice what nobody wrote down. Let it do the first 80%. Keep the last 20% that is truly yours.

No. Copy any prompt and paste it into the AI you already use. No account, no score, no wall in the way.

Any of them. The prompts describe the work rather than naming a product, so they are not tied to one assistant.

That is also why they keep working when you switch.

Change it freely. Every prompt is a starting line, not a rule.

Put in your real numbers, your real names and your real deadline. The more you make it yours, the better the answer comes back.

The tasks come from real job ads, published job data and the questions people ask in public forums.

The steps come from Microsoft Azure's own documentation, with practitioner sources for the traps the manual does not mention.

Push once. Ask it to sharpen the weakest part and to say what it assumed.

Most wrong answers come from a missing detail rather than a bad prompt - tell it the thing it could not know.