⚡ Azure Logic Apps

Comparative positioning note

This document is written from the perspective of Microsoft Azure, Cloud Scale Analytics, and CSA Loom. Any description of third-party or competing products, services, pricing, or capabilities is derived from publicly available documentation and sources believed accurate at the time of writing, and is provided for general comparison only. We do not claim expertise in, or authority over, any non-Microsoft product or service; the respective vendor's official documentation is the authoritative source for their offerings, which may change over time. Nothing here is intended to disparage any vendor — where a competing product has genuine advantages, we aim to note them honestly. Verify all third-party details against the vendor's current official documentation before making decisions.

Serverless workflow automation service for integrating apps, data, services, and systems across enterprises and organizations.

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🌟 Service Overview

Azure Logic Apps is a cloud-based platform for creating and running automated workflows with minimal code. It provides a visual designer to model and automate processes as a series of steps known as a workflow, with 300+ pre-built connectors for popular services.

🔥 Key Value Propositions

• Visual Designer: Drag-and-drop workflow creation
• 300+ Connectors: Pre-built connectors for popular services
• Serverless: No infrastructure management required
• Enterprise Integration: B2B scenarios with EDI and AS2
• Event-driven: Trigger-based workflow execution
• Scalable: Automatic scaling based on demand

---

🏗️ Architecture Overview

graph TB
    subgraph "Triggers"
        HTTP[HTTP Request]
        Schedule[Schedule]
        Event[Event Grid]
        Queue[Service Bus]
    end

    subgraph "Logic App Workflow"
        Trigger[Trigger]
        Condition[Condition]
        Loop[For Each Loop]
        Action1[Action 1]
        Action2[Action 2]
        Parallel[Parallel Branch]
    end

    subgraph "Actions & Connectors"
        SQL[Azure SQL]
        Blob[Blob Storage]
        Email[Office 365]
        Teams[Microsoft Teams]
        Custom[HTTP/Custom API]
    end

    HTTP --> Trigger
    Schedule --> Trigger
    Event --> Trigger
    Queue --> Trigger

    Trigger --> Condition
    Condition --> Loop
    Loop --> Action1
    Action1 --> Parallel
    Parallel --> Action2

    Action1 --> SQL
    Action1 --> Blob
    Action2 --> Email
    Action2 --> Teams
    Parallel --> Custom

---

🛠️ Core Components

🔔 Triggers

Start your workflow when a specific event occurs.

Common Trigger Types

Trigger Type	Description	Use Case
HTTP Request	When HTTP request received	Webhook, REST API
Recurrence	On a schedule	Daily reports, cleanup
Event Grid	Azure service events	Blob created, VM started
Service Bus	Message in queue/topic	Async processing
SharePoint	Item created/modified	Document workflows
Outlook	New email arrives	Email automation

Recurrence Trigger Example

{
  "type": "Recurrence",
  "recurrence": {
    "frequency": "Day",
    "interval": 1,
    "schedule": {
      "hours": [9],
      "minutes": [0]
    },
    "timeZone": "Eastern Standard Time"
  }
}

HTTP Request Trigger Example

{
  "type": "Request",
  "kind": "Http",
  "inputs": {
    "schema": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "customerName": {
          "type": "string"
        },
        "orderAmount": {
          "type": "number"
        },
        "orderDate": {
          "type": "string"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

---

🎬 Actions

Perform operations in your workflow.

Built-in Actions

• Compose: Create JSON objects
• Parse JSON: Extract data from JSON
• Initialize Variable: Create workflow variables
• Condition: If-then-else logic
• Switch: Multi-branch conditionals
• For Each: Loop over arrays
• Until: Loop until condition met
• HTTP: Call REST APIs
• Response: Return HTTP response

Managed Connector Actions

Data & Storage:
- Azure SQL Database
- Azure Blob Storage
- Azure Cosmos DB
- Azure Data Lake
- SharePoint

Communication:
- Office 365 Outlook
- Microsoft Teams
- SendGrid
- Twilio

Business Apps:
- Salesforce
- Dynamics 365
- SAP
- ServiceNow

Integration:
- Azure Service Bus
- Azure Event Grid
- Azure Functions
- Azure Data Factory

---

🔄 Control Flow Actions

Condition Action

{
  "type": "If",
  "expression": {
    "and": [
      {
        "greater": [
          "@triggerBody()?['orderAmount']",
          1000
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "actions": {
    "SendApprovalEmail": {
      "type": "ApiConnection",
      "inputs": {
        "host": {
          "connection": {
            "name": "@parameters('$connections')['office365']['connectionId']"
          }
        },
        "method": "post",
        "path": "/v2/Mail"
      }
    }
  },
  "else": {
    "actions": {
      "AutoApprove": {
        "type": "Compose",
        "inputs": {
          "status": "Approved",
          "approver": "Auto"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

For Each Loop

{
  "type": "Foreach",
  "foreach": "@triggerBody()?['orders']",
  "actions": {
    "ProcessOrder": {
      "type": "ApiConnection",
      "inputs": {
        "host": {
          "connection": {
            "name": "@parameters('$connections')['sql']['connectionId']"
          }
        },
        "method": "post",
        "path": "/datasets/default/tables/Orders/items",
        "body": {
          "OrderID": "@items('ProcessOrder')?['id']",
          "CustomerName": "@items('ProcessOrder')?['customer']",
          "Amount": "@items('ProcessOrder')?['amount']"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

---

📋 Common Workflow Patterns

Pattern 1: HTTP to Database

Scenario: Receive HTTP request and insert data into SQL Database.

{
  "definition": {
    "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/providers/Microsoft.Logic/schemas/2016-06-01/workflowdefinition.json#",
    "triggers": {
      "manual": {
        "type": "Request",
        "kind": "Http",
        "inputs": {
          "schema": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "customerName": {"type": "string"},
              "email": {"type": "string"},
              "orderAmount": {"type": "number"}
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "actions": {
      "Insert_Row": {
        "type": "ApiConnection",
        "inputs": {
          "host": {
            "connection": {
              "name": "@parameters('$connections')['sql']['connectionId']"
            }
          },
          "method": "post",
          "path": "/datasets/default/tables/Customers/items",
          "body": {
            "Name": "@triggerBody()?['customerName']",
            "Email": "@triggerBody()?['email']",
            "OrderAmount": "@triggerBody()?['orderAmount']",
            "CreatedDate": "@utcNow()"
          }
        },
        "runAfter": {}
      },
      "Response": {
        "type": "Response",
        "kind": "Http",
        "inputs": {
          "statusCode": 200,
          "body": {
            "message": "Customer created successfully",
            "customerId": "@body('Insert_Row')?['Id']"
          }
        },
        "runAfter": {
          "Insert_Row": ["Succeeded"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Pattern 2: Schedule-based Data Processing

Scenario: Daily scheduled job to process files and send notifications.

{
  "definition": {
    "triggers": {
      "Recurrence": {
        "type": "Recurrence",
        "recurrence": {
          "frequency": "Day",
          "interval": 1,
          "schedule": {
            "hours": [6],
            "minutes": [0]
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "actions": {
      "List_Blobs": {
        "type": "ApiConnection",
        "inputs": {
          "host": {
            "connection": {
              "name": "@parameters('$connections')['azureblob']['connectionId']"
            }
          },
          "method": "get",
          "path": "/datasets/default/foldersV2/unprocessed"
        }
      },
      "For_Each_File": {
        "type": "Foreach",
        "foreach": "@body('List_Blobs')?['value']",
        "actions": {
          "Get_Blob_Content": {
            "type": "ApiConnection",
            "inputs": {
              "host": {
                "connection": {
                  "name": "@parameters('$connections')['azureblob']['connectionId']"
                }
              },
              "method": "get",
              "path": "/datasets/default/files/@{encodeURIComponent(items('For_Each_File')?['Id'])}/content"
            }
          },
          "Process_Data": {
            "type": "Function",
            "inputs": {
              "function": {
                "id": "/subscriptions/{sub}/resourceGroups/{rg}/providers/Microsoft.Web/sites/{functionapp}/functions/ProcessData"
              },
              "body": "@body('Get_Blob_Content')"
            },
            "runAfter": {
              "Get_Blob_Content": ["Succeeded"]
            }
          },
          "Move_to_Processed": {
            "type": "ApiConnection",
            "inputs": {
              "host": {
                "connection": {
                  "name": "@parameters('$connections')['azureblob']['connectionId']"
                }
              },
              "method": "post",
              "path": "/datasets/default/copyFile",
              "queries": {
                "source": "@items('For_Each_File')?['Path']",
                "destination": "/processed/@{items('For_Each_File')?['Name']}"
              }
            },
            "runAfter": {
              "Process_Data": ["Succeeded"]
            }
          }
        },
        "runAfter": {
          "List_Blobs": ["Succeeded"]
        }
      },
      "Send_Summary_Email": {
        "type": "ApiConnection",
        "inputs": {
          "host": {
            "connection": {
              "name": "@parameters('$connections')['office365']['connectionId']"
            }
          },
          "method": "post",
          "path": "/v2/Mail",
          "body": {
            "To": "admin@company.com",
            "Subject": "Daily Processing Complete",
            "Body": "<p>Processed @{length(body('List_Blobs')?['value'])} files</p>"
          }
        },
        "runAfter": {
          "For_Each_File": ["Succeeded"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Pattern 3: Event-driven Integration

Scenario: React to Azure Event Grid events and perform actions.

{
  "definition": {
    "triggers": {
      "When_a_resource_event_occurs": {
        "type": "ApiConnectionWebhook",
        "inputs": {
          "host": {
            "connection": {
              "name": "@parameters('$connections')['azureeventgrid']['connectionId']"
            }
          },
          "body": {
            "properties": {
              "topic": "/subscriptions/{sub}/resourceGroups/{rg}",
              "destination": {
                "endpointType": "webhook",
                "properties": {
                  "endpointUrl": "@{listCallbackUrl()}"
                }
              },
              "filter": {
                "includedEventTypes": [
                  "Microsoft.Storage.BlobCreated"
                ]
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "actions": {
      "Parse_Event": {
        "type": "ParseJson",
        "inputs": {
          "content": "@triggerBody()",
          "schema": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "data": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                  "url": {"type": "string"},
                  "contentType": {"type": "string"}
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      },
      "Send_Teams_Notification": {
        "type": "ApiConnection",
        "inputs": {
          "host": {
            "connection": {
              "name": "@parameters('$connections')['teams']['connectionId']"
            }
          },
          "method": "post",
          "path": "/v3/teams/conversations/messages",
          "body": {
            "rootMessage": {
              "body": {
                "content": "New file uploaded: @{body('Parse_Event')?['data']?['url']}"
              }
            }
          }
        },
        "runAfter": {
          "Parse_Event": ["Succeeded"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

---

🚀 Quick Start Guide

1️⃣ Create Logic App (Consumption)

# Create resource group
az group create --name rg-logicapp-demo --location eastus

# Create logic app
az logicapp create \
  --resource-group rg-logicapp-demo \
  --name logicapp-demo \
  --definition @workflow.json

2️⃣ Create Logic App (Standard)

# Create storage account (required for Standard)
az storage account create \
  --name logicappstorage001 \
  --resource-group rg-logicapp-demo \
  --location eastus \
  --sku Standard_LRS

# Create App Service plan
az appservice plan create \
  --name asp-logicapp-demo \
  --resource-group rg-logicapp-demo \
  --location eastus \
  --sku WS1

# Create Logic App (Standard)
az logicapp create \
  --resource-group rg-logicapp-demo \
  --name logicapp-standard-demo \
  --storage-account logicappstorage001 \
  --plan asp-logicapp-demo

3️⃣ Deploy Workflow Definition

# Deploy via ARM template
az deployment group create \
  --resource-group rg-logicapp-demo \
  --template-file logicapp-template.json \
  --parameters @logicapp-parameters.json

---

📊 Consumption vs Standard

Comparison Matrix

Feature	Consumption	Standard
Hosting	Multi-tenant	Single-tenant or App Service
Pricing	Per execution	Fixed (App Service Plan)
Local Development	❌ No	✅ Yes (VS Code)
VNet Integration	❌ No	✅ Yes
Stateful Workflows	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Stateless Workflows	❌ No	✅ Yes
Multiple Workflows	1 per Logic App	Many per Logic App
Best For	Low-volume, event-driven	High-volume, enterprise

When to Use Each

Consumption (Multi-tenant): - ✅ Infrequent workflows - ✅ Event-driven scenarios - ✅ Prototyping and development - ✅ Pay-per-execution preferred

Standard (Single-tenant): - ✅ High-volume scenarios - ✅ VNet integration required - ✅ Predictable costs needed - ✅ Local development workflow

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💰 Pricing Guide

Consumption Plan Pricing

Action Executions:
- Standard Connector: $0.000125 per action
- Enterprise Connector: $0.001 per action
- Built-in Actions: Free

Example Monthly Cost (10,000 runs):
- 5 built-in actions: Free
- 3 standard connectors: 30,000 × $0.000125 = $3.75
- Total: ~$3.75/month

Standard Plan Pricing

Based on App Service Plan:
- WS1: ~$209/month (1 vCPU, 3.5 GB RAM)
- WS2: ~$418/month (2 vCPU, 7 GB RAM)
- WS3: ~$836/month (4 vCPU, 14 GB RAM)

Includes:
- Unlimited workflow executions
- VNet integration
- Multiple workflows per app

---

🔧 Integration Scenarios

With Azure Data Factory

Trigger Logic App from ADF pipeline for notifications.

{
  "name": "TriggerLogicApp",
  "type": "WebActivity",
  "typeProperties": {
    "url": "https://prod-27.eastus.logic.azure.com/workflows/abc123/triggers/manual/paths/invoke",
    "method": "POST",
    "headers": {
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    "body": {
      "pipelineName": "@{pipeline().Pipeline}",
      "status": "@{activity('CopyData').output.status}",
      "rowsCopied": "@{activity('CopyData').output.rowsCopied}"
    }
  }
}

With Azure Functions

Call Azure Function from Logic App.

{
  "type": "Function",
  "inputs": {
    "function": {
      "id": "/subscriptions/{sub}/resourceGroups/{rg}/providers/Microsoft.Web/sites/{functionapp}/functions/ProcessOrder"
    },
    "method": "POST",
    "body": {
      "orderId": "@triggerBody()?['orderId']",
      "amount": "@triggerBody()?['amount']"
    }
  }
}

With Event Grid

Subscribe to Event Grid topics.

{
  "type": "ApiConnectionWebhook",
  "inputs": {
    "host": {
      "connection": {
        "name": "@parameters('$connections')['azureeventgrid']['connectionId']"
      }
    },
    "body": {
      "properties": {
        "topic": "/subscriptions/{sub}/resourceGroups/{rg}/providers/Microsoft.EventGrid/topics/MyTopic",
        "filter": {
          "includedEventTypes": ["OrderCreated", "OrderUpdated"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

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🔗 Related Resources

• Azure Data Factory
• Workflow Automation Patterns
• Architecture Patterns

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Last Updated: 2025-01-28 Connectors: 300+ Deployment Models: Consumption, Standard