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RAG chat: Deploying with minimal costs

This AI RAG chat application is designed to be easily deployed using the Azure Developer CLI, which provisions the infrastructure according to the Bicep files in the infra folder. Those files describe each of the Azure resources needed, and configures their SKU (pricing tier) and other parameters. Many Azure services offer a free tier, but the infrastructure files in this project do not default to the free tier as there are often limitations in that tier.

However, if your goal is to minimize costs while prototyping your application, follow the steps below before running azd up. Once you've gone through these steps, return to the deployment steps.

  1. Log in to your Azure account using the Azure Developer CLI:

    azd auth login

  2. Create a new azd environment for the free resource group:

    azd env new

    Enter a name that will be used for the resource group. This will create a new folder in the .azure folder, and set it as the active environment for any calls to azd going forward.

  3. Use the free tier of Azure App Service:

    • Set the App Service SKU to the free tier:

      azd env set AZURE_APP_SERVICE_SKU F1

    Limitation: You are only allowed a certain number of free App Service instances per region. If you have exceeded your limit in a region, you will get an error during the provisioning stage. If that happens, you can run azd down, then azd env new to create a new environment with a new region.

  4. Use the free tier of Azure DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility):

    • Set the Cosmos DB SKU to the free tier:

      azd env set AZURE_MONGO_SERVICE_SKU Free

    Limitation: The free tier of Cosmos DB is only available in certain regions. If you get an error during provisioning, you may need to change the region for the cosmos DB service. You can do this by running:

    azd env set AZURE_MONGO_SERVICE_REGION <your-region>

    Replace <your-region> with a region that supports the free tier of Cosmos DB. You can find a list of supported regions in the Azure DocumentDB documentation.

  5. Turn off Azure Monitor (Application Insights):

    azd env set AZURE_USE_APPLICATION_INSIGHTS false

    Application Insights is quite inexpensive already, so turning this off may not be worth the costs saved, but it is an option for those who want to minimize costs.

  6. Once you've made the desired customizations, you can run azd up to build, package, and deploy your customizations to Azure. We recommend using "eastus" as the region, for availability reasons.