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Managing Cosmos DB in Azure

Use Nodinite to manage everyday Azure Cosmos DB operations without opening the Azure Portal. This page explains the Remote Actions available for Cosmos DB databases and containers, including document inspection, approved queries, container creation, throughput changes, and key management.

New 7.9.x This feature adds native Cosmos DB management in Nodinite, including document browsing, approved queries, throughput control, container creation, and key handling.

  • ✅ Inspect databases and containers from a single interface
  • ✅ Run approved read-only queries without exposing ad-hoc SQL
  • ✅ Create or delete containers with administrator-approved guardrails
  • ✅ Change RU/s or switch to autoscale without direct Azure access
  • ✅ Rotate account keys safely while keeping secrets masked

The management experience is available from the Remote Actions menu of the relevant Resources in Monitor Views. Depending on the action and the permissions granted by the administrator, support staff and operations Users work with Cosmos DB resources within the guardrails configured in Nodinite.

Start with Monitoring Cosmos DB if you want to understand how the Nodinite Azure Agent discovers, evaluates, and surfaces Cosmos DB databases and containers in the monitor view before using the management actions.

graph TD A["fa:fa-user User in Nodinite"] --> B["fa:fa-bolt Remote Action"] B --> C["fa:fa-database Cosmos DB Database"] B --> D["fa:fa-boxes Cosmos DB Container"] C --> E["fa:fa-circle-info Details"] C --> F["fa:fa-file-lines Query"] C --> G["fa:fa-gauge Throughput"] C --> H["fa:fa-key Keys"] C --> I["fa:fa-square-plus Create Container"] D --> J["fa:fa-circle-info Details"] D --> K["fa:fa-sign-out Post"] style E fill:#2678BD,color:#fff style F fill:#2678BD,color:#fff style J fill:#2678BD,color:#fff style G fill:#93d16d style H fill:#93d16d style I fill:#93d16d style K fill:#E47528,color:#fff

Diagram: The available Cosmos DB remote actions grouped by database and container context; blue actions view data, green actions change configuration, and orange actions write data.

Available Management Features

Cosmos DB Database

The Cosmos DB Category provides management for the database-level resources in a monitored Cosmos account.

Action Purpose Notes
Details Inspect the database and its containers Shows account, subscription, tenant, region, and container inventory
Query Run an administrator-approved read-only query Only approved queries are available and only for the selected container
Throughput View or change RU/s settings Supports manual or autoscale configuration when enabled
Keys View masked keys and connection strings Regeneration is available when the required Azure credentials are present
Create Container Add a new container Requires the appropriate administrator gate and available RU/s
Edit Update the friendly description of the monitored account Maintains a readable inventory in Nodinite

Cosmos DB - Container

The Cosmos DB - Container Category provides container-level management actions.

Action Purpose Notes
Details Inspect the container and browse documents Shows partition key details, TTL, RU/s, and a paged document list
Post Insert a JSON document Nodinite generates a missing document ID automatically

Details and Document Browsing

The Details action opens the resource context for the selected database or container. For containers, you can browse documents directly from Nodinite. The dialog shows the document list in pages of 25 items, with up to 500 documents available for browsing from the UI.

Support teams use document browsing to confirm whether a message or record actually reached Cosmos DB and what it looked like at the time of inspection. For end-to-end tracking of the business messages themselves, combine this with Nodinite Log Views.

Approved Queries

The Query action offers a list of administrator-approved read-only queries. The user cannot type arbitrary SQL. Instead, the user selects a named query and runs it against the selected container.

The action returns the result as a table plus raw JSON and is limited to 100 rows per execution. Recurring support questions become easy to answer safely, without exposing the full database to first-line staff.

Throughput and Cost Guardrails

The Throughput action lets an authorized user review the current database and container RU/s configuration and change it when enabled. The action can show:

  • Whether the database uses shared throughput
  • Whether the mode is manual or autoscale
  • The current RU/s values for the database and each container

Administrators can also configure minimum and maximum RU/s guardrails so employees can make changes within approved limits. These limits help prevent accidental overspend and keep cost control in place.

Keys and Secret Handling

The Keys action shows masked account keys and connection strings. The browser never receives the full secret. If the required Azure service-principal credentials are present, the user can also regenerate the primary or secondary read-write key.

If those credentials are not available, the action remains read-only and clearly informs the operator that Azure credentials are required for regeneration. The Azure rights in the Prerequisites and the least privileges page list the role the App Registration needs on the Cosmos DB account.

Create and Delete Containers

The Create Container action lets approved users add a container with a name, partition key, and either manual RU/s or autoscale maximum. The configured RU/s settings and the remaining available throughput for the account constrain the action.

The Delete container action is available from the details view and requires explicit confirmation, because it removes the container and all its data.

Built-in Safety Behaviour

Nodinite applies several protections by default:

  • Secrets stay masked – keys and connection strings are never shown in full.
  • Read-only queries only – the query action rejects anything that is not a read-only SELECT.
  • No ad-hoc SQL – the user picks from approved queries rather than writing arbitrary queries.
  • Delete confirmation – container deletion always requires an explicit confirmation step.
  • Bounded cost – document browsing is capped and query results are capped to prevent runaway RU usage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Use the Troubleshooting guide for known issues with the Azure Agent.

Who can use these actions?

The availability of each action depends on the permissions granted in Roles and the action gates the administrator enables in the Remote Configuration of the agent. Some actions are read-only by default, while throughput updates, container creation, and deletion require explicit enablement.

What if Azure credentials are missing?

The user can still inspect the resource and view masked connection details, but throughput changes and key regeneration require the Azure credentials configured for the subscription in the agent Configuration.

Next Steps