Unified Azure cost management: query historical costs, forecast future spending, and optimize to reduce waste. WHEN: \"Azure costs\", \"Azure spending\", \"Azure bill\", \"cost breakdown\", \"cost by service\", \"cost by resource\", \"how much am I spending\", \"show my bill\", \"monthly cost summary\", \"cost trends\", \"top cost drivers\", \"actual cost\", \"amortized cost\", \"forecast spending\", \"projected costs\", \"estimate bill\", \"future costs\", \"budget forecast\", \"end of month costs\", \"how much will I spend\", \"optimize costs\", \"reduce spending\", \"find cost savings\", \"orphaned resources\", \"rightsize VMs\", \"cost analysis\", \"reduce waste\", \"unused resources\", \"optimize Redis costs\", \"cost by tag\", \"cost by resource group\", \"AKS cost analysis add-on\", \"namespace cost\", \"cost spike\", \"anomaly\", \"budget alert\", \"AKS cost visibility\". DO NOT USE FOR: deploying resources, provisioning infrastructure, diagnostics, security audits, or estimating costs for new resources not yet deployed.
No install command was captured for this snapshot yet.
Unified skill for all Azure cost management tasks: querying historical costs, forecasting future spending, and optimizing to reduce waste.
Activate this skill when user wants to:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Query API Endpoint | POST {scope}/providers/Microsoft.CostManagement/query?api-version=2023-11-01 |
| Forecast API Endpoint | POST {scope}/providers/Microsoft.CostManagement/forecast?api-version=2023-11-01 |
| MCP Tools | azure__documentation, azure__extension_cli_generate, azure__get_azure_bestpractices |
| CLI | az rest, az monitor metrics list, az resource list |
| Required Role | Cost Management Reader + Monitoring Reader + Reader on scope |
| Tool | Description | Parameters | When to Use |
|---|---|---|---|
azure__documentation | Search Azure documentation | query (Required): search terms | Research Cost Management API parameters and options |
azure__extension_cli_generate | Generate Azure CLI commands | intent (Required): task description, cli-type (Required): "az" | Construct az rest commands for cost queries |
azure__get_azure_bestpractices | Get Azure best practices | intent (Required): optimization context | Inform query design with cost management best practices |
azure__extension_azqr | Run Azure Quick Review compliance scan | subscription (Required): subscription ID, resource-group (Optional): resource group name | Find orphaned resources and cost optimization opportunities |
azure__aks | Azure Kubernetes Service operations | varies by sub-command | AKS cost analysis: list clusters, get node pools, inspect configuration |
💡 Tip: Prefer MCP tools over direct CLI commands. Use
az restonly when MCP tools don't cover the specific operation.
Read the user's request and follow the appropriate workflow below.
| User Intent | Workflow | Example Prompts |
|---|---|---|
| Understand current costs | Cost Query Workflow | "how much am I spending", "cost by service", "show my bill" |
| Reduce costs / find waste | Cost Optimization Workflow | "optimize costs", "find orphaned resources", "reduce spending" |
| Project future costs | Cost Forecast Workflow | "forecast costs", "end of month estimate", "how much will I spend" |
| Full cost picture | All three workflows combined | "give me the full picture of my Azure costs" |
Important: When optimizing costs, always present the total bill and cost breakdown alongside optimization recommendations.
| Scope | URL Pattern |
|---|---|
| Subscription | /subscriptions/<subscription-id> |
| Resource Group | /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/resourceGroups/<resource-group-name> |
| Management Group | /providers/Microsoft.Management/managementGroups/<management-group-id> |
| Billing Account | /providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/<billing-account-id> |
| Billing Profile | /providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/<billing-account-id>/billingProfiles/<billing-profile-id> |
💡 Tip: These are scope paths only — not complete URLs. Combine with the API endpoint and version.
For the full cost query workflow (scope selection, report types, timeframes, dataset configuration, API calls, pagination, guardrails, examples, and error handling), see:
For the full cost optimization workflow (prerequisites, best practices, Redis/AKS-specific analysis, Azure Quick Review, resource discovery, cost queries, pricing validation, utilization metrics, and report generation), see:
For the full cost forecast workflow (scope selection, time period rules, dataset configuration, forecast-specific options, API calls, response interpretation, guardrails, and error handling), see:
az costmanagement query)ClientType: GitHubCopilotForAzure header on all Cost Management API requests (--headers "ClientType=GitHubCopilotForAzure" in az rest)x-ms-ratelimit-microsoft.costmanagement-*-retry-after headers (qpu-retry-after, entity-retry-after, tenant-retry-after), wait for the longest value, and do not retry until that duration has elapsed. The per-scope limit (4 requests/minute) is the most restrictive.az rest with JSON body, not az costmanagement query