Azure spending can be difficult to explain and control. This skill queries costs, forecasts spending, and produces evidence-based optimization recommendations.
Review the plan and obtain explicit user consent before changing files.
Install with my Agent
Copy this request to your Agent. It includes the canonical Skill page and manifest.
Agent request
Review the Skillstore skill "azure-cost" from https://skillstore.io/skills/microsoft-azure-cost.md and its manifest at https://skillstore.io/api/skills/microsoft-azure-cost/manifest. Verify the artifact. Stop and obtain explicit user consent before installing or changing files.
Your Agent should still show its plan and request any confirmation required by the security policy.
Agent-readable resources
Use these links when an AI agent, crawler, or script needs clean context instead of reading the full page.
Using "azure-cost". Show this month by service for subscription Production.
Expected outcome:
Month-to-date total: 12,480 USD.
Virtual Machines: 6,110 USD, 49 percent.
Azure Kubernetes Service: 3,020 USD, 24 percent.
Storage: 1,840 USD, 15 percent.
Remaining services: 1,510 USD, 12 percent.
Using "azure-cost". Forecast spending through the end of next month.
Expected outcome:
Projected total: 24,700 USD. Actual charges cover completed dates, while forecast values cover future dates. The estimate uses available Azure history.
Using "azure-cost". Find the largest safe savings opportunities.
Expected outcome:
Priority 1: Validate three unattached disks costing about 240 USD monthly before deletion.
Priority 2: Review two low-utilization virtual machines with an estimated 310 USD monthly rightsizing opportunity.
Priority 3: Confirm storage lifecycle requirements before applying a proposed 90-day policy.
Review confirmed one high-risk cleanup command that recursively removes a relative temp directory without proving the skill owns it. Two semantic issues remain: unqualified resource deletion advice and budget creation without an explicit approval checkpoint. The other 79 static findings are documentation false positives involving Markdown links, code fences, official URLs, and non-secret environment selectors.
The report template labels azqr-identified resources as immediately deletable. This can encourage destructive changes without dependency validation or explicit approval.
The template explicitly places azqr results under resources that can be deleted immediately. No validation or approval condition appears in that section.
The anomaly workflow supplies a budget creation command with notification recipients but no explicit confirmation step. An investigation can therefore modify subscription state.
The cited section directly provides az consumption budget create after diagnostic steps. It does not require confirmation before the state-changing command.
Capability review items (1)
These are real local capabilities that may be expected for this skill, so they require review but are not counted as confirmed malicious behavior.
Share the versioned assessment report, neutral badge, embed card, and citations. Skillstore reports evidence without deciding whether this Skill is safe.
microsoft. (2026). azure-cost security audit report (audit version 5) [Author version 1.2.2]. Skillstore. https://skillstore.io/skills/microsoft-azure-cost/audits/5
BibTeX citation
@techreport{microsoft-microsoft-azure-cost-2026,
author = {microsoft},
title = {azure-cost security audit report (audit version 5)},
institution = {Skillstore},
year = {2026},
number = {5},
url = {https://skillstore.io/skills/microsoft-azure-cost/audits/5},
note = {Author version 1.2.2}
}
CITATION.cff
cff-version: 1.2.0
message: "If you use this Skill, cite its author and this versioned security audit report."
title: "azure-cost security audit report (audit version 5)"
version: "1.2.2"
type: report
authors:
- name: "microsoft"
date-released: "2026-07-23"
url: "https://skillstore.io/skills/microsoft-azure-cost/audits/5"
identifiers:
- type: other
value: "skillstore:microsoft-azure-cost:audit:5"
description: "Skillstore immutable audit report identifier"
Skillstore Score
Why this scoreEvidence Confidence: Medium
41
Architecture
100
Maintainability
87
Content
69
Community
91
Spec Compliance
What You Can Build
Explain Monthly Azure Spend
Break down actual charges by service, resource group, or tag and identify the largest cost drivers.
Prioritize Cloud Savings
Combine cost data, utilization metrics, orphaned-resource checks, and validated pricing into a ranked optimization report.
Investigate AKS Cost Spikes
Correlate cluster costs with node counts, scaling events, and resource consumption during a reported anomaly window.
Try These Prompts
Review Current Spend
Show month-to-date Azure cost for subscription <subscription-id>, grouped by service. Use actual cost data and state the currency.
Forecast Subscription Cost
Forecast Azure spending for subscription <subscription-id> through <date>. Include actual costs, forecast totals, assumptions, and any unavailable-data warning.
Find Optimization Opportunities
Analyze the last 30 days for subscription <subscription-id>. Identify orphaned resources and rightsizing opportunities, validate pricing, and estimate monthly savings.
Investigate an AKS Anomaly
Investigate the AKS cost spike for cluster <cluster-name> from <start> to <end>. Correlate costs, node metrics, scaling events, and top consumers. Do not modify resources. Propose budget alert settings separately and wait for approval.
Best Practices
Query actual costs before estimating savings, and label actual data, metrics, validated pricing, and estimates clearly.
Use the narrowest Azure scope and least-privilege reader roles needed for the analysis.
Require explicit approval, dry-run validation, and rollback guidance before any resource or budget change.
Avoid
Do not estimate costs from list prices when actual billing data is available.
Do not treat orphaned-resource scans as proof that deletion is safe.
Do not execute cleanup or Azure mutation commands without validating paths, scope, impact, and user approval.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Azure scopes are supported?
The skill documents subscription, resource group, management group, and billing account scopes. API capabilities and dimensions vary by scope.
Which permissions are required?
Typical analysis needs Cost Management Reader, Monitoring Reader, and Reader roles on the target scope. Some operations may require additional permissions.
Can it forecast costs by service?
No. Azure forecast grouping is not supported. Use grouped historical queries beside the overall forecast.
Does it change or delete Azure resources?
Most workflows are read-only, but some references include budget, AKS, and implementation commands. Review every change and require explicit approval.
How are savings estimates calculated?
The workflow combines actual costs, utilization metrics, Azure recommendations, and official pricing. Estimates still require human validation.
Where are reports and query results stored?
The workflow uses local output and temp directories with timestamped reports. Protect billing data and verify cleanup paths before removal.