# Azure Blob Storage
> Azure Blob is a Data Sources/Sinks service for storing and retrieving data.
## Configure Azure Blob Storage credentials

You can safely store your Azure Blob Storage credentials in MotherDuck for convenience by creating a `SECRET` object using the [CREATE SECRET](/sql-reference/motherduck-sql-reference/create-secret.md) command.

:::note
See [Azure docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/azure/storage/common/storage-configure-connection-string#configure-a-connection-string-for-an-azure-storage-account) to find the correct connection string format.
:::

### Create a SECRET object

### SQL

```sql

-- to configure a secret manually:
CREATE SECRET IN MOTHERDUCK (
    TYPE AZURE,
    CONNECTION_STRING '[your_connection_string]'
);
```

```sql
-- to store a secret configured through `az configure`:
CREATE SECRET az_secret IN MOTHERDUCK (
      TYPE AZURE,
      PROVIDER credential_chain,
      ACCOUNT_NAME 'some-account'
);
```

```sql
-- test the azure credentials
SELECT count(*) FROM 'azure://[container]/[file]'
SELECT * FROM 'azure://[container]/*.csv';

-- browse objects in a container
FROM md_list_files('azure://[container]/', limit := 50);
```

### Python

```python

import duckdb

con = duckdb.connect('md:')
con.sql("CREATE SECRET IN MOTHERDUCK (TYPE AZURE, CONNECTION_STRING '[your_connection_string]')");

# testing that our Azure credentials work
con.sql("SELECT count(*) FROM 'azure://[container]/[file]'").show()
con.sql("SELECT * FROM 'azure://[container]/*.csv'").show()
```

### UI

Click on your profile to access the `Settings` panel and click on `Secrets` menu.

![menu_1](./img/settings_access.png)
![menu_2](./img/settings_panel.png)

Then click on `Add secret` in the secrets section.

![menu_3](./img/settings_secrets_panel.png)

You will then be prompted to enter your Amazon S3 credentials.

![menu_3](./img/secrets_add_azure.png)

### Delete a SECRET object

### SQL

You can use the same method above, using the [DROP SECRET](/sql-reference/motherduck-sql-reference/delete-secret.md) command.

```sql
DROP SECRET <secret_name>;
```

### UI

Click on your profile and access the `Settings` menu. Click on the bin icon to delete the secret.

![menu_4](./img/secrets_delete_azure.png)

### Azure credentials as **temporary** secrets

MotherDuck supports DuckDB syntax for providing Azure credentials.

```sql
CREATE SECRET (
    TYPE AZURE,
    CONNECTION_STRING '[your_connection_string]'
);
```

or if you use the `az configure` command to store your credentials in the `az` CLI.

```sql
CREATE SECRET az_secret (
      TYPE AZURE,
      PROVIDER credential_chain,
      ACCOUNT_NAME 'some-account'
);
```

:::note
Local/In-memory secrets are not persisted across sessions.
:::

:::info
Even temporary, in-memory secrets are available to MotherDuck's cloud execution engine when you connect your
local DuckDB instance to MotherDuck. When you query Azure Blob Storage, the query runs on MotherDuck's servers, not your local machine,
and MotherDuck uses the best-matching secret to authenticate, whether it is stored locally or in MotherDuck.
For more details, see [CREATE SECRET](/sql-reference/motherduck-sql-reference/create-secret/#querying-with-secrets).
:::

## Browse files in Azure Blob Storage

To inspect a container before querying individual files, use [`MD_LIST_FILES()`](/sql-reference/motherduck-sql-reference/md-list-files):

```sql
FROM md_list_files('azure://[container]/');
FROM md_list_files('az://[container]/path/');
```


---

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