Getting Started

What is chant?

Chant is a TypeScript-to-JSON compiler for Azure ARM templates. You write typed TypeScript declarations, and chant outputs deployment-ready ARM templates.

Install

npm install --save-dev @intentius/chant @intentius/chant-lexicon-azure

Your first ARM template

The fastest path is the StorageAccountSecure composite — one function call that produces a fully configured storage account:

src/main.ts

import { StorageAccountSecure } from "@intentius/chant-lexicon-azure";

const { storageAccount } = StorageAccountSecure({
  name: "myappstorage01",
  sku: "Standard_LRS",
  tags: { environment: "dev" },
});

export { storageAccount };

Build and deploy:

# Generate ARM template JSON
chant build --output dist/template.json

# Validate with Azure CLI (no changes applied)
az deployment group validate \
  --resource-group my-rg \
  --template-file dist/template.json

# Deploy for real
az deployment group create \
  --resource-group my-rg \
  --template-file dist/template.json

Using resource constructors

Composites are convenient, but you can also use the lower-level resource constructors directly:

import { StorageAccount, Azure } from "@intentius/chant-lexicon-azure";

export const storage = new StorageAccount({
  name: "mystorageaccount",
  location: Azure.ResourceGroupLocation,
  kind: "StorageV2",
  sku: { name: "Standard_LRS" },
  supportsHttpsTrafficOnly: true,
  minimumTlsVersion: "TLS1_2",
});

Default tags

Apply tags to every taggable resource in your project:

src/tags.ts

import { defaultTags } from "@intentius/chant-lexicon-azure";

export const tags = defaultTags([
  { key: "Project", value: "my-app" },
  { key: "Environment", value: "dev" },
  { key: "ManagedBy", value: "chant" },
]);

Init templates

Start a new project with a template:

# Default — basic storage account
chant init --lexicon azure

# Web app — App Service with managed identity
chant init --lexicon azure --template web-app

# AKS cluster — Kubernetes with VNet and ACR
chant init --lexicon azure --template aks-cluster

Next steps

• Resources — Learn about resource types and fields
• Composites — Use high-level composites
• Lint Rules — Understand security checks