MCPInstall

cost-optimization

by wshobsonDevOps & Cloud

Optimize cloud costs across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI through resource rightsizing, tagging strategies, reserved instances, and spending analysis. Use when reducing cloud expenses, analyzing infrastructure costs, or implementing cost governance policies.

Installs
11.6K
Last 24h
+30
Trending rank
#4412
Security
Pass

Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/wshobson/agents --skill cost-optimization
  1. 01

    Install

    Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.

  2. 02

    Describe the task

    Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads cost-optimization automatically when relevant.

  3. 03

    Review the result

    The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

Security audits

Independent scans of the skill's instructions and bundled files.

Gen Agent Trust Hub PassSAFE ·The skill provides guidance and static configuration templates for cloud cost optimization across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI. No security risks were identified.
Socket PassNo alerts
Snyk PassLOW ·Risk: LOW · No issues
Runlayer PassNONE ·1 file scanned · No issues
ZeroLeaks PassNONE ·Score: 93/100 · 2 sections analyzed

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

Cloud Cost Optimization

Strategies and patterns for optimizing cloud costs across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI.

Purpose

Implement systematic cost optimization strategies to reduce cloud spending while maintaining performance and reliability.

When to Use

  • Reduce cloud spending
  • Right-size resources
  • Implement cost governance
  • Optimize multi-cloud costs
  • Meet budget constraints

Cost Optimization Framework

1. Visibility

  • Implement cost allocation tags
  • Use cloud cost management tools
  • Set up budget alerts
  • Create cost dashboards

2. Right-Sizing

  • Analyze resource utilization
  • Downsize over-provisioned resources
  • Use auto-scaling
  • Remove idle resources

3. Pricing Models

  • Use reserved capacity
  • Leverage spot/preemptible instances
  • Implement savings plans
  • Use committed use discounts

4. Architecture Optimization

  • Use managed services
  • Implement caching
  • Optimize data transfer
  • Use lifecycle policies

AWS Cost Optimization

Reserved Instances

Savings: 30-72% vs On-Demand
Term: 1 or 3 years
Payment: All/Partial/No upfront
Flexibility: Standard or Convertible

Savings Plans

Compute Savings Plans: 66% savings
EC2 Instance Savings Plans: 72% savings
Applies to: EC2, Fargate, Lambda
Flexible across: Instance families, regions, OS

Spot Instances

Savings: Up to 90% vs On-Demand
Best for: Batch jobs, CI/CD, stateless workloads
Risk: 2-minute interruption notice
Strategy: Mix with On-Demand for resilience

S3 Cost Optimization

resource "aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration" "example" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.example.id

  rule {
    id     = "transition-to-ia"
    status = "Enabled"

    transition {
      days          = 30
      storage_class = "STANDARD_IA"
    }

    transition {
      days          = 90
      storage_class = "GLACIER"
    }

    expiration {
      days = 365
    }
  }
}

Azure Cost Optimization

Reserved VM Instances

  • 1 or 3 year terms
  • Up to 72% savings
  • Flexible sizing
  • Exchangeable

Azure Hybrid Benefit

  • Use existing Windows Server licenses
  • Up to 80% savings with RI
  • Available for Windows and SQL Server

Azure Advisor Recommendations

  • Right-size VMs
  • Delete unused resources
  • Use reserved capacity
  • Optimize storage

GCP Cost Optimization

Committed Use Discounts

  • 1 or 3 year commitment
  • Up to 57% savings
  • Applies to vCPUs and memory
  • Resource-based or spend-based

Sustained Use Discounts

  • Automatic discounts
  • Up to 30% for running instances
  • No commitment required
  • Applies to Compute Engine, GKE

Preemptible VMs

  • Up to 80% savings
  • 24-hour maximum runtime
  • Best for batch workloads

OCI Cost Optimization

Flexible Shapes

  • Scale OCPUs and memory independently
  • Match instance sizing to workload demand
  • Reduce wasted capacity from fixed VM shapes

Commitments and Budgets

  • Use annual commitments for predictable spend
  • Set compartment-level budgets with alerts
  • Track monthly forecasts with OCI Cost Analysis

Preemptible Capacity

  • Use preemptible instances for batch and ephemeral workloads
  • Keep interruption-tolerant autoscaling groups
  • Mix with standard capacity for critical services

Tagging Strategy

AWS Tagging

locals {
  common_tags = {
    Environment = "production"
    Project     = "my-project"
    CostCenter  = "engineering"
    Owner       = "team@example.com"
    ManagedBy   = "terraform"
  }
}

resource "aws_instance" "example" {
  ami           = "ami-12345678"
  instance_type = "t3.medium"

  tags = merge(
    local.common_tags,
    {
      Name = "web-server"
    }
  )
}

Reference: See references/tagging-standards.md

Cost Monitoring

Budget Alerts

# AWS Budget
resource "aws_budgets_budget" "monthly" {
  name              = "monthly-budget"
  budget_type       = "COST"
  limit_amount      = "1000"
  limit_unit        = "USD"
  time_period_start = "2024-01-01_00:00"
  time_unit         = "MONTHLY"

  notification {
    comparison_operator        = "GREATER_THAN"
    threshold                  = 80
    threshold_type            = "PERCENTAGE"
    notification_type         = "ACTUAL"
    subscriber_email_addresses = ["team@example.com"]
  }
}

Cost Anomaly Detection

  • AWS Cost Anomaly Detection
  • Azure Cost Management alerts
  • GCP Budget alerts
  • OCI Budgets and Cost Analysis

Architecture Patterns

Pattern 1: Serverless First

  • Use Lambda/Functions for event-driven
  • Pay only for execution time
  • Auto-scaling included
  • No idle costs

Pattern 2: Right-Sized Databases

Development: t3.small RDS
Staging: t3.large RDS
Production: r6g.2xlarge RDS with read replicas

Pattern 3: Multi-Tier Storage

Hot data: S3 Standard
Warm data: S3 Standard-IA (30 days)
Cold data: S3 Glacier (90 days)
Archive: S3 Deep Archive (365 days)

Pattern 4: Auto-Scaling

resource "aws_autoscaling_policy" "scale_up" {
  name                   = "scale-up"
  scaling_adjustment     = 2
  adjustment_type        = "ChangeInCapacity"
  cooldown              = 300
  autoscaling_group_name = aws_autoscaling_group.main.name
}

resource "aws_cloudwatch_metric_alarm" "cpu_high" {
  alarm_name          = "cpu-high"
  comparison_operator = "GreaterThanThreshold"
  evaluation_periods  = "2"
  metric_name         = "CPUUtilization"
  namespace           = "AWS/EC2"
  period              = "60"
  statistic           = "Average"
  threshold           = "80"
  alarm_actions       = [aws_autoscaling_policy.scale_up.arn]
}

Cost Optimization Checklist

  • Implement cost allocation tags
  • Delete unused resources (EBS, EIPs, snapshots)
  • Right-size instances based on utilization
  • Use reserved capacity for steady workloads
  • Implement auto-scaling
  • Optimize storage classes
  • Use lifecycle policies
  • Enable cost anomaly detection
  • Set budget alerts
  • Review costs weekly
  • Use spot/preemptible instances
  • Optimize data transfer costs
  • Implement caching layers
  • Use managed services
  • Monitor and optimize continuously

Tools

  • AWS: Cost Explorer, Cost Anomaly Detection, Compute Optimizer
  • Azure: Cost Management, Advisor
  • GCP: Cost Management, Recommender
  • OCI: Cost Analysis, Budgets, Cloud Advisor
  • Multi-cloud: CloudHealth, Cloudability, Kubecost

Related Skills

  • terraform-module-library - For resource provisioning
  • multi-cloud-architecture - For cloud selection

FAQ

What does the cost-optimization skill do?

Optimize cloud costs across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI through resource rightsizing, tagging strategies, reserved instances, and spending analysis. Use when reducing cloud expenses, analyzing infrastructure costs, or implementing cost governance policies.

How do I install cost-optimization?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/wshobson/agents --skill cost-optimization in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/cost-optimization/ (personal) or .claude/skills/cost-optimization/ (project).

Which AI agents can use cost-optimization?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is cost-optimization safe to install?

Security partners have reviewed it: Gen Agent Trust Hub passed; Socket passed; Snyk passed; Runlayer passed; ZeroLeaks passed. As with any skill, read the SKILL.md and bundled scripts before installing.

Who maintains cost-optimization?

It is published by wshobson in wshobson/agents. It has 11,594 recorded installs.

More from wshobson/agents

View all →

typescript-advanced-types

wshobson/agents

Master TypeScript's advanced type system including generics, conditional types, mapped types, template literals, and utility types for building type-safe applications. Use when implementing complex type logic, creating reusable type utilities, or ensuring compile-time type safety in TypeScript projects.

Code Quality & Workflow93.5K installs

tailwind-design-system

wshobson/agents

Build scalable design systems with Tailwind CSS v4, design tokens, component libraries, and responsive patterns. Use when creating component libraries, implementing design systems, or standardizing UI patterns.

Frontend & Design70.6K installs

nodejs-backend-patterns

wshobson/agents

Build production-ready Node.js backend services with Express/Fastify, implementing middleware patterns, error handling, authentication, database integration, and API design best practices. Use when creating Node.js servers, REST APIs, GraphQL backends, or microservices architectures.

Backend & APIs48.8K installs

brand-landingpage

wshobson/agents

Brand-first landing page designer — runs a brand-identity interview (colors, typography, shape language), then generates and iterates on a polished landing page via Stitch with deployment-ready HTML. Use when the user asks to create, design, or build a landing page, homepage, or marketing page and has no established visual direction. Skip when they have a design mockup, need a dashboard or app UI, are working at component level, building a multi-page app, or restyling with known design tokens — use frontend-design instead.

Frontend & Design39.6K installs

python-testing-patterns

wshobson/agents

Implement comprehensive testing strategies with pytest, fixtures, mocking, and test-driven development. Use when writing Python tests, setting up test suites, or implementing testing best practices.

Testing & QA37.3K installs

python-performance-optimization

wshobson/agents

Profile and optimize Python code using cProfile, memory profilers, and performance best practices. Use when debugging slow Python code, optimizing bottlenecks, or improving application performance.

Code Quality & Workflow35.9K installs

Popular devops & cloud skills

View category →

microsoft-foundry

microsoft/azure-skills

Build, deploy, evaluate, optimize, fine-tune, and manage Microsoft Foundry agents, models, and resources end to end. USE FOR: foundry, azd ai agent, azd provision/deploy, hosted agent scaffold/develop/run/deploy/troubleshoot, prompt agent create, managed harness agent create, GitHub Copilot harness agent, create agent, update agent, add tool to agent, invoke agent, agent insights, evaluate agent, batch eval, continuous eval, continuous monitoring, agent CI/CD, optimize prompt, improve prompt, optimize agent instructions, Agent Optimizer scaffold, dataset curation from traces, deploy model, model fine-tuning (SFT/DPO/RFT), Foundry project, RBAC, role assignment, permissions, quota, capacity, region, deployment failure, AI Services, create Foundry resource, knowledge index, customize deployment, onboard, availability, training-data, grader, distillation, large file upload. DO NOT USE FOR: Azure Functions, App Service, general Azure deploy (use azure-deploy), general Azure prep (use azure

OfficialDevOps & Cloud579.1K installs

azure-diagnostics

microsoft/azure-skills

Debug Azure production issues on Azure using AppLens, Azure Monitor, resource health, and safe triage. WHEN: debug production issues, troubleshoot app service, app service high CPU, app service deployment failure, troubleshoot container apps, container app 503 or target port mismatch, troubleshoot functions, function telemetry missing or stopped after a config/connection-string change, troubleshoot AKS, VM RDP, Linux SSH, VM black screen, can't connect to VM, reset VM password, NSG or firewall blocking, kubectl cannot connect, kube-system/CoreDNS failures, pod pending, crashloop, node not ready, upgrade failures, analyze logs, KQL, insights, image pull failures, cold start issues, health probe failures, resource health, root cause of errors, troubleshoot event hubs, troubleshoot service bus, messaging SDK error, AMQP connection failure, message lock lost, lock renewal during long-running processing, service bus dead letter.

OfficialDevOps & Cloud569.8K installs

azure-prepare

microsoft/azure-skills

Prepare azd-based Azure projects for deployment: generates azure.yaml, infrastructure (Bicep/Terraform), and Dockerfiles for the Azure Developer CLI (azd) workflow. USE ONLY when the user explicitly wants to use azd as the deployment tool, or the project already has an azure.yaml file. DO NOT USE FOR: non-azd deployments, Python App Service code-only deploys (use python-appservice-deploy), or cross-cloud migration (use azure-cloud-migrate). WHEN: prepare app for azd, create azure.yaml, set up azd infrastructure, modernize app for Azure with azd, deploy with azd, function app, timer trigger, service bus trigger, event-driven function, managed identity, generate Bicep, generate Terraform, create and deploy to Azure.

OfficialDevOps & Cloud569K installs

azure-ai

microsoft/azure-skills

Use for Azure AI: Search, Speech, OpenAI, Document Intelligence. Helps with search, vector/hybrid search, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, transcription, OCR. WHEN: AI Search, query search, vector search, hybrid search, semantic search, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, transcribe, OCR, convert text to speech.

OfficialDevOps & Cloud568.8K installs

azure-deploy

microsoft/azure-skills

Execute Azure deployments for ALREADY-PREPARED applications that have existing .azure/deployment-plan.md and infrastructure files. DO NOT use this skill when the user asks to CREATE a new application — use azure-prepare instead. This skill runs azd up, azd deploy, terraform apply, and az deployment commands with built-in error recovery. Requires .azure/deployment-plan.md from azure-prepare and validated status from azure-validate. WHEN: "run azd up", "run azd deploy", "execute deployment", "push to production", "push to cloud", "go live", "ship it", "bicep deploy", "terraform apply", "publish to Azure", "launch on Azure". DO NOT USE WHEN: "create and deploy", "build and deploy", "create a new app", "set up infrastructure", "create and deploy to Azure using Terraform" — use azure-prepare for these.

OfficialDevOps & Cloud568.6K installs

azure-validate

microsoft/azure-skills

Pre-deployment validation for Azure readiness. Run deep checks on configuration, infrastructure (Bicep or Terraform), RBAC role assignments, managed identity permissions, and prerequisites before deploying. WHEN: validate my app, check deployment readiness, run preflight checks, verify configuration, check if ready to deploy, validate azure.yaml, validate Bicep, test before deploying, troubleshoot deployment errors, validate Azure Functions, validate function app, validate serverless deployment, verify RBAC roles, check role assignments, review managed identity permissions, what-if analysis, validate Container Apps deployment.

OfficialDevOps & Cloud568K installs