Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP

Measured conclusion: Deep-tested. L2 outcome: tools_ok.

Cloud cost + FinOps knowledge for AI agents: AWS/Azure/GCP optimisation, AI spend, waste playbooks.

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Copy this into your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP": {
      "url": "https://mcp.optimnow.io/mcp",
      "transport": "streamable-http"
    }
  }
}

Measured tools (7)

• list_references read-only

  See what FinOps guidance is available: billing mechanics, commitment strategy, allocation and chargeback, AI cost management, and per-provider cost handbooks (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, Databricks, Snowflake, ...). Use this to discover what the library covers before deciding what to fetch. When the question already names a FinOps domain, phase, persona or maturity, call ``find_references`` instead of scanning this full list. Returns a dict shaped ``{"references": [...], "total": N}`` where each entry includes ``name``, ``title``, a one-line ``description``, the discriminating FCP facets (``fcp_domain``, ``fcp_capability``, ``fcp_phases``, ``fcp_personas_primary``, ``fcp_maturity_entry``) and ``approx_tokens``. Read ``approx_tokens`` before fetching: the library runs from about 2,000 to about 15,000 tokens per file. Above roughly 10,000, prefer ``get_reference(name, section=...)`` and pull the part you need.

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive no · idempotent yes · open-world no

• get_reference read-only

  Fetch the guidance on one FinOps topic - the billing mechanics, decision rules and worked examples behind a defensible answer - either whole or one section at a time. Use this when you need the actual content of one known reference, after ``list_references`` or ``find_references`` told you which one serves the question. Advisory questions (commitment sizing, chargeback design, allocation methodology) are served by the reference's decision rules and worked examples, which a summary does not carry. Pass ``section`` when the question is narrower than the file. The ``approx_tokens`` hint in the listing tells you when this matters: the largest references run to about 15,000 tokens and the Azure pattern catalogue is an enumerated list, so a question about storage lifecycle wants one section of ``finops-azure-patterns``, not all of it. Omit ``section`` for the whole file when you need the cross-cutting reasoning. Args: name: Reference name as returned by ``list_references`` (e.g. ``"finops-aws"``, ``"finops-genai-capacity"``, ``"optimnow-methodology"``). section: Optional H2 or H3 heading to return on its own. Matched case-insensitively and partially against the headings, so a natural phrase works - ``"storage"``, ``"commitment decision tree"``. A heading's trailing count is ignored, so ``"storage optimization patterns"`` matches ``"Storage Optimization Patterns (28)"``. If it matches nothing you get the list of available headings back, not the whole file. Without ``section``, returns ``{"name": ..., "content": "...", "lines": N}`` where ``content`` is the file verbatim. With ``section``, returns ``{"name", "title", "section", "section_level", "partial": true, "content", "lines", "full_lines"}`` where ``content`` is that section prefixed by the reference's title, plus ``other_matching_sections`` when the phrase matched more than one heading. On a miss, returns ``{"error": ..., "suggestions": [...]}``. An unknown name gives up to three string-distance matches; an unmatched ``section`` gives ``available_sections`` - every heading in the file - so the retry is exact.

  Parameters:

  • name (required) — string
  • section

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive no · idempotent yes · open-world no

• find_references read-only

  Find which guidance serves a FinOps question - how to commit, size, allocate, charge back, forecast, or govern cloud and AI spend. Use this for questions like "how should we size Savings Plans", "what should Finance own in chargeback", "what does a Crawl-stage org tackle first" - anything that maps to FinOps Framework facets (domain, capability, phase, persona, maturity) - and you want only the references that serve it, instead of scanning the full list. All filters are optional and combine with AND semantics. String matching is case-insensitive and exact (not substring). Examples: - ``find_references(domain="Optimize Usage & Cost")`` - ``find_references(phase="Optimize", persona="Engineering")`` - ``find_references(persona="Engineering", persona_primary_only=True)`` - ``find_references(capability="Rate Optimization")`` - ``find_references(maturity="Crawl")`` Args: domain: FinOps Framework domain (e.g. ``"Optimize Usage & Cost"``, ``"Quantify Business Value"``, ``"Manage the FinOps Practice"``). capability: FinOps capability (matches ``fcp_capability`` and ``fcp_capabilities_secondary``). phase: FinOps phase (``"Inform"``, ``"Optimize"``, ``"Operate"``). persona: Persona (matches ``fcp_personas_primary`` and ``fcp_personas_collaborating``). maturity: Entry maturity level (``"Crawl"``, ``"Walk"``, ``"Run"``). persona_primary_only: when True, ``persona`` matches only the primary list. Use it when the default match barely narrows the set - broad personas like Engineering collaborate on nearly every file, so filtering on collaboration is descriptive, not discriminating. ``persona="Engineering", persona_primary_only=True`` is the engineering reading list; the default is the everything-they-touch view. Returns ``{"filters": {...}, "references": [...], "total": N}``. A query that matches nothing also returns `hint` and `valid_values`, so a typo is distinguishable from a genuine gap in coverage.

  Parameters:

  • phase
  • domain
  • persona
  • maturity
  • capability
  • persona_primary_only — boolean

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive no · idempotent yes · open-world no

• list_playbooks read-only

  See every ready-made runbook for finding and fixing cloud waste: idle, orphaned and overprovisioned resources, egress surprises, schedule blindness and AI/ML inefficiency across AWS, Azure and GCP. Use this to discover which waste patterns have a runbook. When the question already names a provider, waste category, or confidence tier, call ``find_playbooks`` instead. Each playbook is a small (~90-170 line) runbook scoped to one waste pattern (e.g. ``aws-zombie-nat-gateway``, ``azure-orphan-disks``). Returns ``{"playbooks": [...], "total": N}`` where each entry includes ``name``, ``title``, ``scope`` (aws/azure/gcp/cross-cloud), ``service``, ``waste_category``, ``confidence`` (obvious/likely/possible), and ``approx_tokens`` - the same size hint the reference listing carries, so a multi-playbook answer can be budgeted before fetching.

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive no · idempotent yes · open-world no

• get_playbook read-only

  Fetch the step-by-step runbook for one specific waste pattern: symptoms, the detection queries to run, the fix, and the anti-pattern to avoid. Use this when the user asks how to detect, confirm, or fix one specific named waste pattern (zombie NAT gateway, snapshot sprawl, idle SageMaker endpoint, ...). It also serves questions about the user's own resources ("which of my X..."): the runbook's detection query is written to be run in the user's account, so the answer does not depend on access to that account. Args: name: Playbook slug as returned by ``list_playbooks`` (e.g. ``"aws-zombie-nat-gateway"``, ``"azure-orphan-disks"``, ``"cross-cloud-untagged-spend-drift"``). Returns ``{"name": ..., "title": ..., "content": "...", "lines": N}``. On miss, returns ``{"error": ..., "suggestions": [...]}`` with up to three string-distance matches so the caller can self-correct. A host with MCP Apps (SEP-1865) support may render this result via the linked ``ui://cloud-finops/playbook-viewer`` resource instead of showing the raw markdown.

  Parameters:

  • name (required) — string

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive no · idempotent yes · open-world no

• find_playbooks read-only

  Finds the runbook for a specific cloud waste pattern, filtered by provider, service, waste category or detection confidence. Useful before answering a specific waste or cost-fix question: each runbook includes a tested detection query the user can run in their own account, so it also serves questions about the user's own resources. Use this for questions like "which VMs are running for nothing", "why is our NAT bill so high", "my NAT gateway processes 10TB to S3", "should I delete these old snapshots", "which of our RIs are about to expire", "what waste can we clean up safely without review" - anything that names a provider, a waste category, or how confident the detection needs to be before acting. Patterns covered include NAT gateways and VPC endpoints, expiring Savings Plans / RIs / reservations, snapshot sprawl, S3 lifecycle gaps, idle or stopped VMs, orphaned disks / public IPs / EBS volumes, GPU and SageMaker sizing, Kubernetes idle capacity, and schedule blindness. All filters are optional and combine with AND semantics. String matching is case-insensitive and exact. Examples: - ``find_playbooks(scope="aws")`` - all AWS-specific playbooks - ``find_playbooks(waste_category="idle")`` - every idle-resource pattern - ``find_playbooks(scope="cross-cloud", confidence="obvious")`` Args: scope: ``"aws"``, ``"azure"``, ``"gcp"``, or ``"cross-cloud"``. service: Provider service exact-match (e.g. ``"AWS NAT Gateway"``). waste_category: ``"orphaned"``, ``"idle"``, ``"overprovisioned"``, ``"commitment-mismatch"``, ``"schedule-blindness"``, ``"modernization"``, ``"ai-ml-inefficiency"``, or ``"egress"``. confidence: ``"obvious"`` (single signal is enough), ``"likely"`` (two signals required), or ``"possible"`` (needs human review). From the OptimNow three-tier confidence model in `finops-waste-detection-playbooks`. Returns ``{"filters": {...}, "playbooks": [...], "total": N}``. A query that matches nothing also returns `hint` and `valid_values`, so a typo is distinguishable from a genuine gap in coverage.

  Parameters:

  • scope
  • service
  • confidence
  • waste_category

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive no · idempotent yes · open-world no

• get_live_figures read-only

  Get the current value of a figure a reference quotes with a date. Use this when a reference quotes a figure from an OptimToken guide ("measured on the 2026-10-25 OptimToken catalogue") and the answer needs the current value: the Compute Savings Plan or reservation discount, the gap between a flexible and a locked commitment, the ARM discount against Intel and AMD, the share of LLM models with a batch rate. It fetches the guide's figures file, rebuilt daily, and returns it as published. Args: guide: The guide slug, lowercase letters, digits and hyphens. Guides with figures today: ``"savings-plans-vs-reserved-instances"``, ``"arm-against-x86"``, ``"batch-api-economics"``. Returns ``{"document": {...}, "fetched_at": ..., "source": "live" | "cached", "note": ...}``, plus ``cache_age_seconds`` when cached (six-hour cache). ``document`` is the file unchanged: ``guide``, ``title``, ``url``, ``dataSource``, ``snapshotDate`` (the catalogue the figures come from), ``dateModified`` and ``figures``, where discounts are fractions (0.2743 is 27.4%) and each key names a median, a range or a count. An unknown slug returns ``{"error", "available_guides", "suggestions"}``. Any other failure (timeout, HTTP error, invalid JSON) returns ``{"error", "fallback"}``: the dated figure in the reference then stands, quoted with its date.

  Parameters:

  • guide (required) — string

  Hints: read-only yes · destructive no · idempotent yes · open-world yes

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