Agent skill

Apex Azure Cost Optimization

by jonathan-vella in jonathan-vella/apex

ANALYSIS SKILL — Query, forecast and optimize Azure costs via cost + utilization analysis.

MITAuto-check passedDevOps & Cloud

Install Apex Azure Cost Optimization

skills CLI
$ npx skills add jonathan-vella/apex --skill apex-azure-cost-optimization -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install jonathan-vella/apex apex-azure-cost-optimization --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/jonathan-vella/apex.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.github/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization .claude/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
apex-azure-cost-optimization
GitHub stars
217
Token cost
~2.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
609 words
Files
25 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
39
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

ANALYSIS SKILL — Query, forecast and optimize Azure costs via cost + utilization analysis.

  • Works in 2 steps: Cost Optimization Report… → Cost Query Results…
  • : deploying (apex-azure-deploy)
  • SKILL.md covers Routing, Scope Reference (Shared Across…, When to Use This Skill and Rules, plus 5 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Apex Azure Cost Optimization is an agent skill from jonathan-vella/apex. ANALYSIS SKILL — Query, forecast and optimize Azure costs via cost + utilization analysis. WHEN: "optimize Azure costs", "find cost savings", "what did we spend", "cost forecast", "rightsize VMs", "find orphaned resources", "optimize Redis costs". DO NOT USE FOR: deploying (apex-azure-deploy), general diagnostics (apex-azure-diagnostics), security issues (apex-azure-compliance).

Its SKILL.md is about 2.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 27 other files, including reference files (for example `references/azure-quick-review.md`, `references/azure-redis.md` and `references/azure-resource-graph.md`).

It sits in DevOps & Cloud, covering Cloud cost optimization. It works with Microsoft Azure and Redis. The repository describes itself as: APEX turns Azure platform engineering requirements into verified, deploy-ready IaC — powered by GitHub Copilot agents, real-time pricing, and built-in compliance. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • : deploying (apex-azure-deploy)
  • General diagnostics (apex-azure-diagnostics)
  • Security issues (apex-azure-compliance)

Example prompts

  • “optimize Azure costs”
  • “find cost savings”
  • “what did we spend”
  • “/apex-azure-cost-optimization”

Workflow steps

2 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Cost Optimization Report (agent-output/{project}/costoptimizereport.md)
  2. Cost Query Results (agent-output/{project}/cost-query-result.json)

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit b8e5908. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Apex Azure Cost Optimization loads about 2.1k tokens when it runs, and up to ~15k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 104 tokens; SKILL.md has 609 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~104
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2.1k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~15k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from jonathan-vella/apex at commit b8e5908, republished under its MIT licence (© jonathan-vella). 609 words, ~2,079 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 24 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
apex-azure-cost-optimization
description
**ANALYSIS SKILL** — Query, forecast and optimize Azure costs via cost + utilization analysis. WHEN: "optimize Azure costs", "find cost savings", "what did we spend", "cost forecast", "rightsize VMs", "find orphaned resources", "optimize Redis costs". DO NOT USE FOR: deploying (apex-azure-deploy), general diagnostics (apex-azure-diagnostics), security issues (apex-azure-compliance).
user-invocable
true
disable-model-invocation
false
argument-hint
subscription scope and analysis period
license
MIT
metadata.author
Microsoft
metadata.version
1.0.0

Azure Cost Optimization Skill

Analyze Azure subscriptions to identify cost savings through orphaned resource cleanup, rightsizing, and optimization recommendations based on actual usage data.

Routing

User intentWorkflow
Understand current or historical costCost query (query_costs)
Reduce costs or find wasteInstructions below
Project future costCost forecast (forecast_costs)

Scope Reference (Shared Across All Workflows)

  • Subscription: /subscriptions/<id>
  • Resource group: /subscriptions/<id>/resourceGroups/<name>
  • Management group: /providers/Microsoft.Management/managementGroups/<id>
  • Billing account: /providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/<id>

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user asks to:

  • Optimize Azure costs or reduce spending
  • Analyze Azure subscription for cost savings
  • Generate cost optimization report
  • Find orphaned or unused resources
  • Rightsize Azure VMs, containers, or services
  • Identify where they're overspending in Azure
  • Optimize Redis costs specifically - See Azure Redis Cost Optimization for Redis-specific analysis
  • Review storage tiers and lifecycle - See Azure Storage Cost Review

Rules

  • Read-only analysis first — never delete or modify resources during the assessment phase; remediation is a separate user-approved step
  • Validate prerequisites before starting (Azure CLI authenticated, costmanagement + resource-graph extensions, azqr installed, Cost Management Reader + Monitoring Reader + Reader roles)
  • Use real data — recommendations must be grounded in actual cost queries and utilization metrics, not assumptions
  • ARM MCP first — use API fallbacks only when an operation is unavailable, never to bypass invalid input, denied access, throttling or empty data (tool and safety guidance)
  • Cite sources — every savings estimate must reference the underlying cost query or pricing API result (audit trail in agent-output/{project}/cost-query-result<timestamp>.json)
  • Classify safely — mark recommendations as Safe / Review / Risky; never auto-apply destructive operations
  • Show the total bill — present savings next to the scope's total actual cost for the same period, so each saving reads against the whole bill
  • Redis-specific scope — when the user asks about Redis only, follow Azure Redis Cost Optimization instead of the general subscription workflow
  • Save artifacts to agent-output/{project}/costoptimizereport<timestamp>.md and the audit trail JSON; without a project, ask for its name before writing
  • Out of scope: deploying resources (use apex-azure-deploy), security issues (use apex-azure-compliance), general diagnostics (use apex-azure-diagnostics)
Show full SKILL.md (285 more words)Show less

Instructions

High-level step list (full procedure in references/workflow-steps.md):

#StepReference
0Validate prerequisites (Azure CLI, costmanagement + resource-graph extensions, azqr, RBAC)workflow-steps.md
1Load Azure cost-optimization best practices via mcp_azure-mcp_get_azure_bestpracticesworkflow-steps.md
1.5(Conditional) Redis-specific analysis branchazure-redis.md
1.6(Redis branch) Choose analysis scope (subscription / prefix / tenant-wide)azure-redis.md
2Run Azure Quick Review (extension_azqr) for orphaned-resource discoveryazure-quick-review.md
3Discover resources cross-subscription via Azure Resource Graphazure-resource-graph.md
4–9Cost queries, pricing validation, metrics, report, audit trail, cleanupdetailed-workflow-steps.md

Branching rule: use Redis-only analysis only for an explicitly Redis-only request. Mixed-service or subscription-wide requests retain the general workflow and add Redis analysis for those resources. An ambiguous Redis mention never narrows scope; clarify intent while preserving all requested services.

Output

The skill generates:

  1. Cost Optimization Report (agent-output/{project}/costoptimizereport<timestamp>.md)

    • Executive summary with total costs and top drivers
    • Detailed cost breakdown with Azure Portal links
    • Prioritized recommendations with actual data and estimated savings
    • Implementation commands with safety warnings
  2. Cost Query Results (agent-output/{project}/cost-query-result<timestamp>.json)

    • Audit trail of all cost queries and responses
    • Validation evidence for recommendations

Important Notes

📋 Reference: Read references/best-practices-notes.md for data classification labels, best practices, common pitfalls, and safety requirements.

SDK Quick References

  • Redis Management: .NET

Reference Index

Load these on demand — do NOT read all at once:

ReferenceWhen to Load
../apex-entra-app-registration/references/auth-best-practices.mdAuth Best Practices
references/azure-quick-review.mdAzure Quick Review
references/azure-redis.mdAzure Redis
references/azure-resource-graph.mdAzure Resource Graph
references/workflow-steps.mdSteps 0–3: prerequisites, best practices, azqr, resource discovery
references/detailed-workflow-steps.mdSteps 4-9: cost queries, pricing, metrics, report, audit, cleanup
references/best-practices-notes.mdData classification, best practices, pitfalls, safety
references/cost-query/workflow.mdCost breakdowns, trends and totals; query_costs limits and errors
references/cost-forecast/workflow.mdForecasts; forecast_costs period and row limits
references/tools-and-safety.mdARM MCP fallback APIs, evidence labels and approval rules
references/azure-storage-tiers.mdStorage access tiers, lifecycle tiering and review signals

© jonathan-vella, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 24 other files (references) in .github/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization of jonathan-vella/apex.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/azure-quick-review.md
  • references/azure-redis.md
  • references/azure-resource-graph.md
  • references/azure-storage-tiers.md
  • references/best-practices-notes.md
  • references/cost-forecast/error-handling.md
  • references/cost-forecast/examples.md
  • references/cost-forecast/guardrails.md
  • references/cost-forecast/request-body-schema.md
  • references/cost-forecast/workflow.md
  • references/cost-query/dimensions-by-scope.md
  • references/cost-query/error-handling.md
  • references/cost-query/examples.md
  • references/cost-query/guardrails.md
  • references/cost-query/request-body-schema.md
  • references/cost-query/workflow.md
  • references/detailed-workflow-steps.md
  • … and 7 more

Open the folder on GitHubat commit b8e5908

Compare with similar skills

Apex Azure Cost Optimization next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Apex Azure Cost Optimization compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Apex Azure Cost Optimization this skilljonathan-vella/apex217—~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Azure Cost Optimizationaiskillstore/marketplace433—~3.5kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Cloud Cost Optimizationwshobson/agents40k14 repos~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Spotinfoalexei-led/spotinfo164—~1.8kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
FrugalyuanboP/frugal198—~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Cloud ArchitectJeffallan/claude-skills12k—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Categories

Questions about Apex Azure Cost Optimization

What does Apex Azure Cost Optimization do?

ANALYSIS SKILL — Query, forecast and optimize Azure costs via cost + utilization analysis. Apex Azure Cost Optimization is an agent skill from jonathan-vella/apex. ANALYSIS SKILL — Query, forecast and optimize Azure costs via cost + utilization analysis.

When should I use Apex Azure Cost Optimization?

Apex Azure Cost Optimization fits situations like: : deploying (apex-azure-deploy); general diagnostics (apex-azure-diagnostics); security issues (apex-azure-compliance).

How do I install Apex Azure Cost Optimization in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add jonathan-vella/apex --skill apex-azure-cost-optimization -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.github/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization in jonathan-vella/apex) into .claude/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Apex Azure Cost Optimization in Codex?

Run `npx skills add jonathan-vella/apex --skill apex-azure-cost-optimization -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.github/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization in jonathan-vella/apex) into .agents/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Apex Azure Cost Optimization in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add jonathan-vella/apex --skill apex-azure-cost-optimization -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization, .gemini/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization, .github/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization and .opencode/skills/apex-azure-cost-optimization in your project.

What does Apex Azure Cost Optimization need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Apex Azure Cost Optimization is instructions for the agent only.

Does Apex Azure Cost Optimization access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Apex Azure Cost Optimization safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Apex Azure Cost Optimization use?

Apex Azure Cost Optimization is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Apex Azure Cost Optimization use?

About 2.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 8.3k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 12k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Apex Azure Cost Optimization?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Apex Azure Cost Optimization: Azure Cost Optimization (aiskillstore/marketplace, 433 stars), Cloud Cost Optimization (wshobson/agents, 40k stars), Spotinfo (alexei-led/spotinfo, 164 stars) and Frugal (yuanboP/frugal, 198 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Apex Azure Cost Optimization?

jonathan-vella (a GitHub user) maintains it in jonathan-vella/apex, which has 217 GitHub stars. The repository holds 39 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 10, 2026.

Source: jonathan-vella/apex on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.