--- title: Azure Cosmos DB Shell is now available in the Azure portal description: Azure Cosmos DB now offers a built-in shell accessible directly from Data Explorer in the Azure portal, eliminating the need to copy connection strings into a... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/azure-cosmos-db-shell-is-now-available-in-the-azure-portal-ecvjhofcw twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Azure Cosmos DB Shell is now available in the Azure portal | daily.dev og:description: Azure Cosmos DB now offers a built-in shell accessible directly from Data Explorer in the Azure portal, eliminating the need to copy connection strings into a... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/azure-cosmos-db-shell-is-now-available-in-the-azure-portal-ecvjhofcw og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/eCVJHoFCW.png og:image:alt: Azure Cosmos DB Shell is now available in the Azure portal og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Azure Cosmos DB Shell is now available in the Azure portal **[DevBlogs](https://daily.dev/sources/devblogs)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Azure Cosmos DB now offers a built-in shell accessible directly from Data Explorer in the Azure portal, eliminating the need to copy connection strings into a separate terminal. The shell supports familiar command-line navigation (ls, cd, pwd), NoSQL queries, item CRUD operations, schema inference, credential checks, and indexing/throughput inspection. It also supports variables, pipelines, loops, functions, and scripts for repeatable workflows. The same commands work in the standalone Cosmos DB Shell, so portal-based investigations can evolve into automated scripts. The feature is currently in preview, with commands and behavior subject to change before general availability. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I open the Cosmos DB Shell directly from the Azure portal? Open an Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL account in the Azure portal, go to Data Explorer, and select Open Cosmos DB Shell from the toolbar. The shell opens in a new tab already connected to the account you're viewing, so there's no need to copy an endpoint or connection string into a separate terminal. _daily.dev surfaces updates like this for engineers keeping Cosmos DB workflows current._ ### What commands are available in the Azure Cosmos DB Shell? The shell supports ls, cd, and pwd for navigation, plus NoSQL query execution, info for configuration inspection, schema for inferring document fields and types, whoami and can-i for credential checks, and full item create/replace/patch/delete operations. It also supports variables, pipelines, loops, functions, and scripts for repeatable workflows, with a help command listing everything available. _Developers scripting database workflows can track tooling changes like this on daily.dev._ ### Is the Azure Cosmos DB Shell generally available or still in preview? Azure Cosmos DB Shell is currently in preview, meaning commands, output, and behavior may change before reaching general availability. The same commands work identically in both the portal-embedded shell and the standalone Azure Cosmos DB Shell, so scripts built now can carry over later. _Teams evaluating preview database tooling can follow Cosmos DB updates on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Azure Cosmos DB Playground: Learn and experiment with queries in your browser](https://daily.dev/posts/azure-cosmos-db-playground-learn-and-experiment-with-queries-in-your-browser-mnjctd4uj) · ITNEXT · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Azure Cosmos DB Extension for VS Code Now Generally Available](https://daily.dev/posts/azure-cosmos-db-extension-for-vs-code-now-generally-available-e9rfxqza7) · DevBlogs · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Azure Cosmos DB in the Agentic Era: Data Tools for Developers and AI Agents](https://daily.dev/posts/azure-cosmos-db-in-the-agentic-era-data-tools-for-developers-and-ai-agents-s5rffvemu) · DevBlogs · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [How To Use the MongoDB Shell](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-use-the-mongodb-shell-ryqw7snmb) · DigitalOcean Community · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#azure](https://daily.dev/tags/azure), [#backend](https://daily.dev/tags/backend), [#nosql](https://daily.dev/tags/nosql), [#azure-cosmos-db](https://daily.dev/tags/azure-cosmos-db) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/azure-cosmos-db-shell-is-now-available-in-the-azure-portal-ecvjhofcw) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Azure Cosmos DB Shell is now available in the Azure portal","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/azure-cosmos-db-shell-is-now-available-in-the-azure-portal-ecvjhofcw","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/azure-cosmos-db-shell-is-now-available-in-the-azure-portal-ecvjhofcw"},"datePublished":"2026-10-01T15:23:15.997Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T15:23:36.087Z","description":"Azure Cosmos DB now offers a built-in shell accessible directly from Data Explorer in the Azure portal, eliminating the need to copy connection strings into a...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/9490ff1f5910fa3b1da7308140aade39?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/9490ff1f5910fa3b1da7308140aade39?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"DevBlogs","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DevBlogs","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/8f68b453325f482ebeb73fb780092713","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/devblogs"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/azure-cosmos-db-shell-is-now-available-in-the-azure-portal-ecvjhofcw","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"azure,backend,nosql,azure-cosmos-db","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"DevBlogs","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/devblogs"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Azure Cosmos DB Shell is now available in the Azure portal"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/azure-cosmos-db-shell-is-now-available-in-the-azure-portal-ecvjhofcw#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I open the Cosmos DB Shell directly from the Azure portal?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Open an Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL account in the Azure portal, go to Data Explorer, and select Open Cosmos DB Shell from the toolbar. 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