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
Containers	Containers	AKS, ARO, Container Apps, Container Registry
Databases	Databases	SQL Server, PostgreSQL flexible server, MySQL, Cosmos DB, Redis Cache
DevOps	DevOps	Chaos Studio, Dev Box, Dev centers, DevTest Labs, Load Testing, App Configuration
General	General	Support tickets, reservations and recommendations, VM quotas
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
Migration	Migration	Azure Migrate projects/assessments, Database Migration Service, Data Box, Azure Stack Edge
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

Compute/CloudServices (classic/ASM cloud services) and Storage/DataLakeStoreGen1 were retired 2026-07-31 — both targeted resource types Azure no longer has. Databases/POSTGRE (PostgreSQL Single Server) was retired the same day; only the flexible-server type remains, and it is already covered above.

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 the self-contained React report for Compute only
Invoke-AzureScout -TenantID <tenant-id> -Category Compute -OutputFormat React

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

INFO

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 React report / JSON data]
    B -- No / All --> I[Load ALL category modules]
    I --> E

Adding New Categories

To add a new category to AZSC:

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

See Also

• Category Structure reference
• Full Coverage Table
• AzureScout Documentation Home