NameCodex.app: Because Every Tenant Deserves Better Names
If you've spent any time managing a Microsoft 365 or Entra ID tenant, you already know this conversation. Someone's setting up a new Conditional Access policy, or registering a new app, or creating a security group, and they ask:
How should I name this? Do you have a suggestion?
I’ve had that conversation more times than I can count. Over the years, working across different tenants and different customers, I built up my own library of naming patterns. Every time someone asked, I'd pull from that same library.
At some point it occurred to me: why keep this to myself when I could share it with the community instead? I ran the idea past colleagues and customers, and the reaction was pretty consistently "do it". So, I did. A few weeks later, here's the first version is good enough to put in front of you, with plenty of room to grow from here.
What Name Codex actually is
Name Codex for Microsoft 365 is a free web tool that generates naming suggestions for common Microsoft 365 and Entra ID objects: App Registrations, Conditional Access Policies, Groups, Defender for Office 365 policies, Endpoint Security profiles, and Intune configuration profiles. Pick an object type, pick a pattern, fill in a few fields, and it builds a consistent, structured name for you.
A couple of things I want to be upfront about, because they shape how you should use the tool:
It’s not a standard; it’s a starting point. Microsoft doesn’t publish formal naming conventions for most of these object types. What Name Codex gives you is a structured, sensible baseline that goes beyond what Microsoft officially prescribes, built from real-world practice. You’re not expected to follow it to the letter.
It’s meant to be a reference, not a rulebook. Use the generated names as examples and inspiration for building your own naming codex. One that fits your organization’s structure, tenant size, and conventions already in place.
It won’t cover every scenario. Trying to account for every possible naming situation would make the tool unusable. Instead, it focuses on the scenarios that come up often, across the object types most admins deal with day to day.
Originally, I considered just writing up my naming recommendations as a long blog post. I ended up building a tool instead, because a living, updatable tool is more useful than a static article. It can grow as new scenarios, patterns, and feedback come in from the community.
What’s next
This first release is deliberately good enough to ship, not finished. The plan is to keep expanding it based on feedback. If you try it and something doesn’t fit how your tenant works, or you think a scenario is missing, I’d genuinely like to hear about it.
Thanks to the colleagues who pressure-tested ideas and shared their own naming battle scars. Give it a try and let me know what you think.