Add npx alternative for running Azurite without Docker

[Copilot]

Purpose

Docker was required to run Azurite but not listed as a prerequisite. Users avoiding Docker had no alternative.

Added npx as a documented option for running Azurite alongside existing Docker and VS Code extension methods.

Does this introduce a breaking change?

[ ] Yes
[x] No

Pull Request Type

[ ] Bugfix
[ ] Feature
[ ] Code style update (formatting, local variables)
[ ] Refactoring (no functional changes, no api changes)
[x] Documentation content changes
[ ] Other... Please describe:

How to Test

• Get the code

git clone https://github.com/Azure-Samples/remote-mcp-functions-dotnet
cd remote-mcp-functions-dotnet
git checkout copilot/add-npx-option-for-azurite

• Test the code

# Verify npx option works
npx azurite --silent --location azurite --debug azurite/debug.log

# In another terminal
cd src
func start

# Verify connection to http://localhost:7071/runtime/webhooks/mcp

What to Check

Verify that the following are valid

• Prerequisites section lists three Azurite options with links
• "Prepare your local environment" presents Docker, npx, and VS Code options with equal clarity
• npx command parameters are explained (--silent, --location, --debug)
• Default ports (10000, 10001, 10002) documented as matching Docker
• Cross-platform path examples provided (Linux/Mac/Windows)
• Troubleshooting section includes all three methods

Other Information

Changes are documentation-only. The npx command uses Azurite's default ports which match the Docker configuration, ensuring compatibility with existing local.settings.json and connection strings.

Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Docker as a Pre-Requisite</issue_title>
<issue_description>Looking forward to running the sample but wanted to mention the following.

Docker is not listed as a pre-requisite/dependency but the first thing out of the gate is to run a Docker command.

I try to avoid Docker/Containers as much as possible (personal preference I know) so it was an issue that some may not have.</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>Add an additional option to run azurite via npx per my comment</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

@paulyuk Hey @drewid - good feedback. The challenge we have is Azurite (the Storage Emulator) was written in Node and that's sometimes also an odd dependency for VS and .NET users. Would it be any better to recommend running Azurite like this: ` npx azurite --location c:\azurite --silent` ? There are several options to run it, do you prefer any of these or would you have prefered us just pointing to this doc instead? https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-use-azurite?tabs=visual-studio%2Cblob-storage

We went for the simplest copy n paste step and landed on Docker. Feedback welcome.</comment_new>

• Fixes Docker as a Pre-Requisite #29

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[paulyuk]

See comments about path

[paulyuk]

We need to make sure this is in a path that is not in the repo. OK options are ~/azurite for posix and C:\azurite for Windows