Microsoft Foundry Dev Pack Makes AI Development Setup a One-Command Job

Microsoft has introduced Foundry Dev Pack, a new package designed to make setting up a Microsoft Foundry development environment much faster.

Instead of installing several Foundry tools separately, developers can now set up the main components with a single command.

Foundry Dev Pack works on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Microsoft supports Foundry Dev Pack across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Windows users can install it through WinGet:

winget install Microsoft.FoundryDevPack

On macOS, developers can use Homebrew:

brew install --cask microsoft/foundry/devpack && foundry-devpack install

The goal is to remove much of the initial setup work developers would otherwise need to handle manually before working with Microsoft Foundry.

Several Foundry tools install automatically

Foundry Dev Pack can install Microsoft’s Foundry Command Line Tools, including Azure CLI, Azure Developer CLI, and the Microsoft Foundry Extension for Azure Developer CLI.

These tools let developers deploy, evaluate, and automate AI agents directly from the terminal.

The package also includes Microsoft Foundry Skill, allowing developers to reuse Foundry-related guidance across different agents and workflows.

Visual Studio Code and Copilot users get extra tools

If Visual Studio Code is already installed, Foundry Dev Pack can also add the Microsoft Foundry Toolkit for Visual Studio Code.

The toolkit brings Foundry capabilities directly into the development environment, reducing the need to switch between separate tools while building AI applications.

Users who have the GitHub Copilot app installed can also get access to Foundry Canvas in preview.

Foundry Canvas offers a guided visual environment for designing and deploying AI agents.

Developers can still install Foundry tools separately

Microsoft is not replacing the individual installation options for Foundry components.

Developers can continue installing each tool separately if they want more control over their environment. Foundry Dev Pack instead gives users a quicker way to install the main components together and start building agents without configuring several tools manually.

The package also does not install or configure a programming language. Developers still need to set up the language, runtime, and other dependencies required by their applications.

In other Microsoft news, the company is preparing a major Surface event for October 7, while it is also pushing ahead with its Slough data center plans.

Microsoft has also warned organizations that Windows 11 23H2 Enterprise and Education support ends this November.