Analyze Vercel billing data, identify primary cost drivers, map them to your code, and provide scored optimization recommendations. Use when asked to optimize Vercel costs, reduce Vercel bill, analyze Vercel usage, or improve Vercel spending efficiency.
Analyze Vercel billing data, identify primary cost drivers, map them to your code, and provide scored optimization recommendations. Use when asked to optimize Vercel costs, reduce Vercel bill, analyze Vercel usage, or improve Vercel spending efficiency.
license
MIT
metadata
{"author":"vercel","version":"1.0.0"}
Vercel Cost Optimization
Analyzes your Vercel billing data, detects your project stack, maps cost drivers to specific code locations, and provides scored, actionable optimization recommendations ranked by estimated savings.
Prerequisites
Vercel CLI installed and authenticated (npm i -g vercel && vercel login)
Project linked to Vercel (vercel link in project root)
Node.js project with package.json in the working directory
Verify setup:
vercel whoami# Should print your username
vercel project # Should show linked project
Workflow
Follow these 6 steps in order. Each step builds on the previous.
Step 1: Collect Billing Data
Run the usage script to pull billing data for the current billing period:
Sort remaining recommendations by score descending.
Step 6: Present Results
Use the report template below to present findings to the user.
Report Template
Present the following report to the user:
Cost Analysis Report
Project: {project_name}
Stack: {framework} {frameworkVersion} | {orm} | {app_router/pages_router}
Billing Period: {from} to {to}
Total Cost: ${total}
Cost Breakdown
Service
Cost
% of Total
{service_1}
${amount}
{pct}%
{service_2}
${amount}
{pct}%
...
...
...
Top Cost Drivers
For each top cost driver, explain:
What's driving the cost — specific files/routes identified
Why it's expensive — the pattern causing excess usage
Code locations — file paths and line numbers
Recommendations
Group by tier:
High Impact (>$20/mo savings)
#
Pattern
Est. Savings
Effort
Confidence
Score
1
{ID}: {title}
${savings}/mo
{Low/Med/High}
{confidence}
${score}
For each recommendation, provide:
What to change: Specific code modification with before/after
Files affected: List of files to modify
Cross-reference: Link to react-best-practices rule if applicable (e.g., "See rule async-parallel")
Medium Impact ($10-20/mo savings)
(Same table format)
Quick Wins ($5-10/mo savings)
(Same table format)
Platform Configuration Checklist
Check these Vercel platform settings:
Fluid Compute — Enabled in project settings (reduces cold starts and idle time)
Bot Protection — Enabled in Vercel Firewall (reduces bot-driven function invocations)
Speed Insights — Only enabled if actively used (adds function overhead)
Web Analytics — Only enabled if no external analytics provider
Skew Protection — Evaluate if needed (adds header overhead)
Function Region — Set to closest region to your database
Summary
Total estimated savings: ${total_savings}/mo
Number of recommendations: {count}
Highest impact change: {top_recommendation}
If total estimated savings < $10/mo:
Your project is already well-optimized. The identified optimizations would yield minimal savings. Consider revisiting after traffic grows significantly.
Cross-Skill References
This skill references the following rules from react-best-practices. Reference them by name — do not duplicate the rule content:
Rule
Used In
Context
async-parallel
DUR-01
Parallel data fetching with Promise.all
server-parallel-fetching
DUR-01
Restructure components for parallel fetches
server-cache-react
DUR-05
React.cache() for request deduplication
server-cache-lru
DUR-05
LRU cache for cross-request caching
server-after-nonblocking
DUR-06
after() for non-blocking operations
bundle-dynamic-imports
BW-02
next/dynamic for heavy components
bundle-barrel-imports
BW-03
Direct imports to avoid barrel files
bundle-defer-third-party
BW-04
Defer analytics and third-party scripts
async-suspense-boundaries
BW-05
Suspense boundaries for streaming
When presenting a recommendation that maps to a react-best-practices rule, mention:
"See react-best-practices rule {rule-name} for detailed implementation guidance."
Troubleshooting
"vercel: command not found"
Install the Vercel CLI: npm i -g vercel
"Not authenticated"
Run vercel login and follow the prompts.
"Project not linked"
Run vercel link in the project root to connect to your Vercel project.
"No usage data returned"
Verify the date range is within your current billing cycle
Check that the project has had deployments and traffic in the specified period
Ensure your account has billing enabled (free tier may have limited usage data)
"jq not found" (detect-stack.sh)
The detection script works without jq but results are more reliable with it installed:
macOS: brew install jq
Linux: apt-get install jq or yum install jq
Stack detection is incorrect
Ensure node_modules is installed (npm install) for accurate version detection
The script reads package.json — verify your dependencies are listed correctly
For monorepos, run the script from the specific app directory, not the workspace root
Low confidence in savings estimates
Savings estimates are conservative approximations based on billing data and code patterns. Actual savings depend on traffic patterns, caching hit rates, and implementation details. Monitor your Vercel bill after applying changes to validate impact.
