Azure cost management: query costs, forecast spending, optimize to reduce waste. WHEN: \"Azure costs\", \"Azure bill\", \"cost breakdown\", \"how much am I spending\", \"forecast spending\", \"optimize costs\", \"reduce spending\", \"orphaned resources\", \"rightsize VMs\", \"cost spike\", \"reduce storage costs\", \"AKS cost\". DO NOT USE FOR: deploying resources, provisioning, diagnostics, or security audits.
Install with the open skills CLI (global, non-interactive — available in every Claude Code session):
npx skills add microsoft/azure-skills --skill "azure-cost" -g -a claude-code -yOr manually — clone and copy the skill directory (SKILL.md + companion files):
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/azure-skills /tmp/azure-skills && cp -r /tmp/azure-skills/.github/plugins/azure-skills/skills/azure-cost ~/.claude/skills/azure-cost-microsoftThis skill is a directory: SKILL.md is the entry point; the files below ship with it.
---
name: azure-cost
description: "Azure cost management: query costs, forecast spending, optimize to reduce waste. WHEN: \"Azure costs\", \"Azure bill\", \"cost breakdown\", \"how much am I spending\", \"forecast spending\", \"optimize costs\", \"reduce spending\", \"orphaned resources\", \"rightsize VMs\", \"cost spike\", \"reduce storage costs\", \"AKS cost\". DO NOT USE FOR: deploying resources, provisioning, diagnostics, or security audits."
license: MIT
metadata:
author: Microsoft
version: "1.2.2"
---
# Azure Cost Management Skill
Query historical costs, forecast future spending, optimize to reduce waste.
## Routing
| User Intent | Workflow |
|-------------|----------|
| Understand current costs | [Cost Query](cost-query/workflow.md) |
| Reduce costs / find waste | [Cost Optimization](cost-optimization/workflow.md) |
| Project future costs | [Cost Forecast](cost-forecast/workflow.md) |
## Quick Reference
| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| **Query API** | `POST {scope}/providers/Microsoft.CostManagement/query?api-version=2023-11-01` |
| **Forecast API** | `POST {scope}/providers/Microsoft.CostManagement/forecast?api-version=2023-11-01` |
| **Required Role** | Cost Management Reader + Monitoring Reader + Reader (on target scope) |
## Scope Patterns
- Subscription: `/subscriptions/<id>`
- Resource Group: `/subscriptions/<id>/resourceGroups/<name>`
- Management Group: `/providers/Microsoft.Management/managementGroups/<id>`
- Billing Account: `/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/<id>`
## Service-Specific Optimization
- [Redis](cost-optimization/services/redis/azure-cache-for-redis.md)
- [Storage](cost-optimization/services/storage/azure-storage.md)
## References
- [MCP Tools, Best Practices, Safety](references/tools-and-best-practices.md)
- [SDK: Redis .NET](cost-optimization/sdk/azure-resource-manager-redis-dotnet.md)
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