Category Filtering¶

Overview¶

The -Category parameter allows you to limit an AZSC inventory run to specific Azure resource categories. This is especially useful when you need a targeted scan rather than a full-tenant inventory.

Tip

Category filtering can reduce run time by 70-90% for large tenants when you only need data from a specific service area.

Supported Categories¶

`-Category` Value	Azure Portal Label	Key Resource Types
`AI`	AI + Machine Learning	Cognitive Services, OpenAI, ML Workspaces, Bot Services, AI Foundry
`Analytics`	Analytics	Synapse, Databricks, Data Factory, Event Hub, Purview
`Compute`	Compute	Virtual Machines, VMSS, Managed Disks, AVD, Cloud Services
`Containers`	Containers	AKS, ARO, Container Apps, Container Registry
`Databases`	Databases	SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Cosmos DB, Redis Cache
`Hybrid`	Hybrid + multicloud	Arc Servers, Arc Kubernetes, Azure Local Clusters, Arc Gateways
`Identity`	Identity	Users, Groups, App Registrations, PIM, Conditional Access
`Integration`	Integration	API Management, Service Bus, Event Hubs, Logic Apps
`IoT`	Internet of Things	IoT Hub, IoT DPS
`Management`	Management and governance	Subscriptions, Policy, Backup, Automation, Recovery Vault
`Monitor`	Monitor	App Insights, DCRs, Action Groups, Alert Rules, Log Analytics
`Networking`	Networking	VNets, NSGs, Load Balancers, VPN Gateways, Azure Firewall, Front Door
`Security`	Security	Defender Assessments, Alerts, Secure Score, Key Vault
`Storage`	Storage	Storage Accounts, Azure NetApp Files
`Web`	Web & Mobile	App Service Plans, App Services, Function Apps

Alias Support¶

Long-form names displayed in the Azure portal are automatically normalized to their short equivalents:

# These are equivalent:
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID $tid -Category 'IoT'
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID $tid -Category 'Internet of Things'

Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID $tid -Category 'Monitor'
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID $tid -Category 'Monitoring'

Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID $tid -Category 'Management'
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID $tid -Category 'Management and governance'

Usage Examples¶

Single Category¶

# Inventory only Virtual Machines and related Compute resources
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID <tenant-id> -Category Compute

Multiple Categories¶

# Inventory Compute and Networking together (common combination for network topology reviews)
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID <tenant-id> -Category Compute,Networking

# Security audit: inventory Security + Identity
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID <tenant-id> -Category Security,Identity

# Data platform review
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID <tenant-id> -Category Databases,Analytics,AI

Combine with Output Format¶

# Targeted scan with JSON output only (fastest)
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID <tenant-id> -Category Networking -OutputFormat Json

# Generate Markdown report for Compute only
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID <tenant-id> -Category Compute -OutputFormat Markdown

Full Inventory (Default)¶

# -Category defaults to 'All' — all categories included
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID <tenant-id>

# Explicit equivalent
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID <tenant-id> -Category All

How Category Filtering Works¶

Note

Category filtering is applied at the module discovery stage, before any Azure API calls are made. Only the selected category folders are loaded, which means Resource Graph queries are also restricted to the resource types defined in those modules.

Execution flow with -Category Compute:

graph TD
    A[Invoke-AzureScout] --> B{Category specified?}
    B -- Yes --> C[Normalize aliases]
    C --> D[Load only Compute/*.ps1 modules]
    D --> E[Execute Processing blocks]
    E --> F[Azure Resource Graph query - Compute types only]
    F --> G[Execute Reporting blocks]
    G --> H[Write Excel / JSON / Markdown]
    B -- No / All --> I[Load ALL category modules]
    I --> E

Adding New Categories¶

To add a new category to AZSC:

Create a folder under Modules/Public/InventoryModules/<CategoryName>/
Add the folder name to the [ValidateSet] for -Category in Invoke-AzureScout.ps1
Optionally add alias entries to $_categoryAliasMap for common name variants
Update Category Structure with the new mapping
Create one or more .ps1 module files using the module template in Modules/Public/InventoryModules/