aws-cost-ops

name	aws-cost-ops
description	AWS Cost Explorer — spending analysis, service breakdowns, forecasts, cost anomalies. Use when analyzing AWS spending, investigating cost spikes, reviewing network cost drivers like NAT Gateway, or forecasting next month's bill.
version	1.0.0
license	Apache-2.0
tags	["aws","cost-explorer","billing","finops","cost-optimization"]

AWS Cost Operations

MCP Server

• Command: uvx awslabs.cost-explorer-mcp-server@latest (stdio transport)
• Requires: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, AWS_REGION (or AWS_PROFILE)
• Note: Cost Explorer API charges $0.01 per request — be mindful of query volume

Key Capabilities

• Cost breakdown: Spending by service, account, region, or tag
• Time series: Daily, monthly, or custom date range cost trends
• Forecasts: Predicted spend based on historical patterns
• Anomaly detection: Unusual spending spikes
• Filtering: Narrow by service (EC2, VPC, TGW, NAT GW, VPN, etc.)

Workflow: Network Cost Analysis

When a user asks "how much is our AWS network costing?":

1. Total network spend: Cost breakdown for VPC, Transit Gateway, NAT Gateway, VPN, ELB, Direct Connect
2. Trend: Monthly trend for network services over last 6 months
3. Top services: Rank network services by spend (NAT GW data processing is often #1)
4. Per-region: Break down network costs by region
5. Forecast: Projected network spend for next month
6. Report: Network cost dashboard with optimization recommendations

Workflow: Cost Anomaly Investigation

When investigating unexpected charges:

1. Daily breakdown: Get daily costs for the spike period
2. Service drill-down: Which service caused the spike?
3. Region check: Was the spike in a specific region?
4. Correlate: Cross-reference with CloudTrail for resource creation events
5. Report: Root cause and recommended action

Workflow: Monthly Cost Review

For regular FinOps review:

1. Month-over-month: Compare current vs previous month spending
2. Service breakdown: Top 10 services by cost
3. Network focus: VPC, TGW, NAT GW, VPN, ELB, Direct Connect costs
4. Growth rate: Percentage change per service
5. Forecast: Next month projection
6. Report: Executive cost summary with trends

Common AWS Network Cost Drivers

Service	Cost Component	Typical Driver
NAT Gateway	Data processing	$0.045/GB — largest network cost for most
NAT Gateway	Hourly charge	$0.045/hr per NAT GW
Transit Gateway	Data processing	$0.02/GB per attachment
Transit Gateway	Hourly charge	$0.05/hr per attachment
VPN	Hourly charge	$0.05/hr per VPN connection
VPN	Data transfer	$0.09/GB outbound
ELB (ALB)	Hourly + LCU	$0.0225/hr + LCU charges
ELB (NLB)	Hourly + NLCU	$0.0225/hr + NLCU charges
Direct Connect	Port hours	$0.03-$0.30/hr depending on speed
Data Transfer	Cross-AZ	$0.01/GB each direction
Data Transfer	Cross-Region	$0.02/GB
Data Transfer	Internet out	$0.09/GB (first 10TB)

Cost Optimization Tips

Finding	Recommendation
High NAT GW data processing	Use VPC endpoints for S3/DynamoDB (free)
Multiple NAT GWs per AZ	Consolidate if traffic allows
Idle VPN connections	Delete unused VPN tunnels
Cross-AZ traffic	Co-locate resources in same AZ where possible
Oversized ELB	Right-size based on actual LCU/NLCU usage
Unused EIPs	Release unattached Elastic IPs ($0.005/hr)

Important Rules

• Cost Explorer API charges $0.01 per request — batch queries, avoid excessive polling
• Data lag — Cost data can be delayed up to 24 hours
• Unblended vs amortized — clarify which cost type the user wants
• Record in GAIT — log cost investigations for audit trail

Environment Variables

• AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, AWS_REGION (or AWS_PROFILE)