Cloud Cost Optimization
wshobson/agents
Cuts cloud spend across AWS, Azure, GCP and OCI with cost tagging, rightsizing, commitment and spot pricing models, and architecture changes.
Forecast Azure spend and price planned resources or workloads.
Install Cost Estimation
$ npx skills add microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure --skill cost-estimation -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure cost-estimation --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation .claude/skills/cost-estimation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "cost-estimation" agent skill from https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure/tree/main/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation into .claude/skills/cost-estimation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "cost-estimation", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure/tree/main/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimationType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure --skill cost-estimation -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure cost-estimation --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation .agents/skills/cost-estimation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "cost-estimation" agent skill from https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure/tree/main/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation into .agents/skills/cost-estimation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "cost-estimation", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure --skill cost-estimation -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure cost-estimation --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation .cursor/skills/cost-estimation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "cost-estimation" agent skill from https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure/tree/main/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation into .cursor/skills/cost-estimation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "cost-estimation", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure.git --path plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure --skill cost-estimation -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure cost-estimation --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation .gemini/skills/cost-estimation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "cost-estimation" agent skill from https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure/tree/main/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation into .gemini/skills/cost-estimation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "cost-estimation", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure cost-estimationInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure --skill cost-estimation -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation .github/skills/cost-estimation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "cost-estimation" agent skill from https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure/tree/main/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation into .github/skills/cost-estimation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "cost-estimation", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure --skill cost-estimation -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure cost-estimation --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation .opencode/skills/cost-estimation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "cost-estimation" agent skill from https://github.com/microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure/tree/main/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation into .opencode/skills/cost-estimation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "cost-estimation", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
cost-estimation- GitHub stars
- 255
- Token cost
- ~486 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 144 words
- Files
- 9 (incl. references)
- Skills in repo
- 56
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
Forecast Azure spend and price planned resources or workloads.
- Works in 4 steps: Distinguish forecasts from hypothetical… → Confirm scope, assumptions, period,… → Load the matching workflow and label… → …
- : configured budget health
- SKILL.md covers Quick Reference, When to Use This Skill, MCP Tools and Workflow, plus 1 more section
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Cost Estimation is an agent skill from microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Forecast Azure spend and price planned resources or workloads. WHEN: "forecast Azure spending", "project next month cost", "compare forecast to my planning target", "how much will Azure cost", "estimate VM cost", "compare storage tiers", "compare Azure regions", "retail price", "EA rate card", "negotiated pricesheet". DO NOT USE FOR: configured budget health or alerts, bill analysis, cost spikes, rightsizing, or commitments.
Its SKILL.md is about 490 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 10 other files, including reference files (for example `references/cost-forecast/error-handling.md`, `references/cost-forecast/examples.md` and `references/cost-forecast/guardrails.md`).
It sits in DevOps & Cloud, covering Cloud cost optimization. It works with Microsoft Azure. The repository describes itself as: GitHub Copilot for Azure. The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- : configured budget health
- Tasks that involve Cloud cost optimization
Example prompts
- “forecast Azure spending”
- “project next month cost”
- “compare forecast to my planning target”
- “/cost-estimation”
Workflow steps
4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
- Distinguish forecasts from hypothetical pricing.
- Confirm scope, assumptions, period, region, OS, and currency.
- Load the matching workflow and label every value type.
- Never transform MCP results in a shell or interpreter; request tool-side
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit fcf2f3b. 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
Cost Estimation loads about 486 tokens when it runs, and up to ~2.8k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 111 tokens; SKILL.md has 144 words of instructions outside code blocks.
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 microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure at commit fcf2f3b, republished under its MIT licence (© microsoft). 144 words, ~486 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/cost-estimation/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 8 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.- name
- cost-estimation
- description
- Forecast Azure spend and price planned resources or workloads. WHEN: "forecast Azure spending", "project next month cost", "compare forecast to my planning target", "how much will Azure cost", "estimate VM cost", "compare storage tiers", "compare Azure regions", "retail price", "EA rate card", "negotiated pricesheet". DO NOT USE FOR: configured budget health or alerts, bill analysis, cost spikes, rightsizing, or commitments.
- license
- MIT
- metadata.author
- Microsoft
- metadata.version
- 0.0.0-placeholder
Azure Cost Estimation
Quick Reference
| Intent | Workflow | Primary tools |
|---|---|---|
| Forecast existing spend | Cost forecast | forecast_costs |
| Price planned resources | Pricing estimate | Pricing tools |
When to Use This Skill
Use for forecasts, pricing, and planning targets.
MCP Tools
| Tool | Use |
|---|---|
forecast_costs | Forecast a scope. |
get_retail_prices | Get public prices. |
start_pricesheet_download, get_pricesheet_status | Get Enterprise Agreement (EA) or Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) prices. |
Fallback: API mappings.
Workflow
- Distinguish forecasts from hypothetical pricing.
- Confirm scope, assumptions, period, region, OS, and currency.
- Load the matching workflow and label every value type.
- Never transform MCP results in a shell or interpreter; request tool-side filtering or bounded follow-up queries.
Error Handling
| Error | Action |
|---|---|
| Ambiguous meter | Ask for OS, term, tier, or usage. |
| Forecast unavailable | Explain the history requirement. |
| Pricesheet pending | Honor the returned polling interval. |
| Multiple currencies | Never combine currencies. |
| Server error | Retry once; then report the trace ID. |
© microsoft, 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 8 other files (references) in plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation of microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure.
- SKILL.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/pricing-estimate.md
- references/tool-fallback.md
- version.json
Open the folder on GitHubat commit fcf2f3b
Used in 2 other repositories
We found 2 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders. This page covers the copy in microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.
Compare with similar skills
Cost Estimation 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.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost Estimation this skillmicrosoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure | 255 | — | ~486 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Cloud Cost Optimizationwshobson/agents | 40k | 14 repos | ~1.7k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Spotinfoalexei-led/spotinfo | 164 | — | ~1.8k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| FrugalyuanboP/frugal | 198 | — | ~2.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| SkyPilot Multi-Cloud OrchestrationOrchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs | 13k | 4 repos | ~2.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Cloud Architectdavila7/claude-code-templates | 32k | 8 repos | ~1.9k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
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Questions about Cost Estimation
What does Cost Estimation do?
Forecast Azure spend and price planned resources or workloads. Cost Estimation is an agent skill from microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Forecast Azure spend and price planned resources or workloads.
When should I use Cost Estimation?
Cost Estimation fits situations like: : configured budget health; tasks that involve Cloud cost optimization.
How do I install Cost Estimation in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure --skill cost-estimation -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation in microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure) into .claude/skills/cost-estimation in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Cost Estimation in Codex?
Run `npx skills add microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure --skill cost-estimation -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation in microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure) into .agents/skills/cost-estimation in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Cost Estimation 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 microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure --skill cost-estimation -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/cost-estimation, .gemini/skills/cost-estimation, .github/skills/cost-estimation and .opencode/skills/cost-estimation in your project.
What does Cost Estimation need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Cost Estimation is instructions for the agent only.
Does Cost Estimation 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 Cost Estimation 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 Cost Estimation use?
Cost Estimation 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 Cost Estimation use?
About 486 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 1.9k 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 2.3k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.
What are the alternatives to Cost Estimation?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Cost Estimation: Cloud Cost Optimization (wshobson/agents, 40k stars), Spotinfo (alexei-led/spotinfo, 164 stars), Frugal (yuanboP/frugal, 198 stars) and SkyPilot Multi-Cloud Orchestration (Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs, 13k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Cost Estimation?
microsoft (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure, which has 255 GitHub stars. The repository holds 56 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.
Source: microsoft/GitHub-Copilot-for-Azure on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.