Sidecars on Azure App Service let you run helper containers (telemetry, OTEL/monitoring agents, lightweight APIs, caches, AI helpers) alongside your main app—same app, shared lifecycle, localhost networking—without changing your core code. We’ve published ready-to-use templates for both GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines (VSTS) so you can pick your CI/CD flavor and ship.
Pick your CI/CD
- GitHub Actions: Two sample workflows—one for built-in runtimes (code-based apps) and one for containerized apps—to attach one or more sidecars via App Service’s sitecontainers configuration.
- Azure Pipelines (VSTS): Two YAML templates—AzureWebApp@1 for code-based apps and AzureWebAppContainer@1 for containerized apps—that build and deploy your app and declare sidecars in a single run (mark one container isMain: true, others as sidecars).
When to use which
- Code-based app on built-in Linux runtime (Python/Node/.NET/Java/PHP, etc.)
Use the “blessed/built-in runtime” template; your app keeps running on the App Service runtime, sidecars run next to it. - Custom container (Web App for Containers)
Use the “containers” template to build/push multiple images and deploy them together.
Quick start (both options)
- Add the template to your repo (workflow for GitHub; YAML for VSTS).
- Wire up auth (OIDC or service connection) and set app name, resource group, registry, and sidecar images/ports.
- Run the pipeline; in the Azure portal you’ll see your main app plus defined sidecars.
Links
- GitHub Actions samples (code-based & container) — GitHub Actions samples: add sidecars to Azure App Service for Linux.
- Azure Pipelines samples (code-based & container) — Azure Pipeline samples: add sidecars to Azure App Service for Linux.
Drop in a template, describe your sidecars, and ship—same App Service, more capability.
Published Oct 30, 2025
Version 1.0TulikaC
Microsoft
Joined December 21, 2022
Apps on Azure Blog
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