Can't delete index because of agent

[Hyunduck-Hwang]

I got this error message.

[Failed to delete index](https://portal.azure.com/#)
Failed to delete index masterjsa. Error: CannotDeleteIndex: Cannot delete index 'masterjsa' because agent 'jsa-safety-agent' is still referencing it. Please delete the referencing agent before deleting the index.

It occurs after I used agentic retriever. I saw someone who went through the same error in discord server.
And @leestott shared some links like this

But I have nothing in private network in Azure AI Search.

I don't know what should I do and where does the agent is placed?

[leestott]

So this looks like a Azure Foundry dependency lock. That error means your index masterjsa is still bound to the agent jsa-safety-agent, so Azure won’t let you delete it until that reference is removed.

Here’s how to cleanly resolve it:

Step-by-Step Fix: Remove Agent Reference Before Deleting Index

1. Locate the Agent

• Go to Azure Foundry Studio or use the CLI.
• Find jsa-safety-agent under your Agents tab or via:

  az foundry agent show --name jsa-safety-agent

2. Check Index Bindings

• Confirm that masterjsa is listed as a bound index.
• You can inspect bindings with:

  az foundry agent binding list --agent jsa-safety-agent

3. Unbind the Index

• Remove the index reference:

  az foundry agent binding delete --agent jsa-safety-agent --index masterjsa

4. Delete the Agent (if needed)
   If the agent is obsolete:

az foundry agent delete --name jsa-safety-agent

⚠️ Note: If jsa-safety-agent is part of a multi-agent flow, make sure it’s not actively used in any Prompt Flow or orchestration pipeline before deletion.

5. Delete the Index
   Once unbound:

az foundry index delete --name masterjsa

Optional: Audit Dependencies
If you’re unsure what else might be referencing masterjsa, run:

az foundry index show --name masterjsa --query "referencedBy"

This will list all agents, flows, or pipelines still linked to it.

[Hyunduck-Hwang]

dougie@dougie:~$ az foundry agent show --name jsa-safety-agent
'foundry' is misspelled or not recognized by the system.

Examples from AI knowledge base:
https://aka.ms/cli_ref
Read more about the command in reference docs

It seems Azure CLI have no such command option. Do I have to install some extensions?
I am digging this error for like 4 hours now. I might just delete the Azure AI Search service and re-deploy... 😅

[KeilorRodriguez]

I ran into this too — turns out the index was still bound to the agent via the agentic retriever. What worked for me:

az foundry agent binding delete --agent jsa-safety-agent --index masterjsa

After unbinding, I could delete the index without issues. You can also check what’s still referencing it with:

az foundry index show --name masterjsa --query "referencedBy"

Hope that helps others hitting the same lock!

[Hyunduck-Hwang]

Thx for the answer! But I need to make the "az foundry" command works first!

[leestott]

Hi @Hyunduck-Hwang

The Azure AI Foundry CLI extension is currently not available via az extension add, which is why you're seeing:
No extension found with name 'foundry'

Microsoft has shifted Foundry tooling toward Visual Studio Code integration, and the CLI commands like az foundry index show are only available within the Azure AI Foundry VS Code extension, not as a standalone CLI extension.

What You Can Do Instead

1. Use Visual Studio Code
   Install the Azure AI Foundry extension from the VS Code Marketplace and use the built-in terminal or command palette to run Foundry commands.
2. Use Azure AI Foundry SDK (Python)
   If you're scripting or automating workflows, you can use the Foundry SDK instead. Microsoft provides Python-based access to agents, indexes, and flows—though it's still in preview.
3. Check Azure AI Foundry CLI Availability
   Microsoft may release CLI support in future updates. You can track this on the Azure AI Foundry documentation.