az-version

Show the current version of Azure CLI modules and extensions in JSON format

$ az version

$ az version [[-o|--output]] [json|table|tsv]

az version [--output {json,jsonc,table,tsv,yaml,none}] [--query JMESPath] [--verbose]

--output, -o
    Output format: json|jsonc|table|tsv|yaml|none. Default: json

--query
    JMESPath query string to filter output

--verbose
    Increase logging verbosity (use --debug for full logs)

The az version command is a utility within the Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI), Microsoft's cross-platform tool for managing Azure cloud resources via terminal. It outputs detailed version information for the Azure CLI installation, including the core CLI, key components like azure-cli-core, azure-cli-telemetry, and all installed extensions such as aks-preview or connectedk8s.

By default, results appear in JSON format, making it script-friendly for automation, CI/CD pipelines, or version checks before deployments. This helps users confirm compatibility, diagnose issues, or verify updates post-installation via package managers like apt, yum, or Homebrew.

Primarily used in development, operations, and troubleshooting workflows, it provides a quick snapshot without connecting to Azure services, ensuring local environment awareness. For human-readable output, pipe to tools like jq or use --output table. Regularly updated with Azure CLI releases, it reflects ongoing enhancements in cloud management capabilities.

Shows only locally installed versions; use az upgrade to check/update. JSON output may be verbose with many extensions.

az version --output table
Formats output as a readable table listing CLI and extension versions.

az version | jq '. "azure-cli"'
Extracts just the main azure-cli version using jq.

Introduced in Azure CLI 2.0 (2018), evolved with semantic versioning (e.g., 2.0 to 2.65+). Tracks Microsoft Azure ecosystem growth.

az(1), jq(1)