analyze-costs

name	analyze-costs
description	Analyze cloud costs, find optimization opportunities, and track anomalies using Harness CCM via MCP. Use when user says "cloud costs", "analyze costs", "cost optimization", "reduce spending", "cost report", or asks about cloud bills.
metadata	{"author":"Harness","version":"2.0.0","mcp-server":"harness-mcp-v2"}
license	Apache-2.0
compatibility	Requires Harness MCP v2 server (harness-mcp-v2)

Analyze Costs

Analyze cloud costs and identify savings using Harness Cloud Cost Management (CCM) via MCP.

Instructions

Step 1: Get Cost Overview

Call MCP tool: harness_get
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_overview"

Returns total spend, provider breakdown, and trend vs previous period.

Step 2: Get Cost Breakdown

Call MCP tool: harness_get
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_breakdown"

Multi-dimensional breakdown by service, environment, team, region.

Step 3: Explore Perspectives

Call MCP tool: harness_list
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_perspective"

Then get detailed data for a specific perspective:

Call MCP tool: harness_get
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_perspective"
  resource_id: "<perspective_id>"

Step 4: Get Cost Trends

Call MCP tool: harness_get
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_timeseries"

Step 5: Get Optimization Recommendations

Call MCP tool: harness_list
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_recommendation"

For detailed recommendation info:

Call MCP tool: harness_get
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_recommendation_detail"
  resource_id: "<recommendation_id>"

Summary statistics:

Call MCP tool: harness_get
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_recommendation_stats"

Step 6: Check for Anomalies

Call MCP tool: harness_list
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_anomaly"

To dismiss a known anomaly:

Call MCP tool: harness_execute
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_anomaly"
  action: "ignore"
  resource_id: "<anomaly_id>"

Step 7: Commitment Analysis

Call MCP tool: harness_get
Parameters:
  resource_type: "cost_commitment_analysis"

Also: cost_commitment_coverage, cost_commitment_utilisation, cost_commitment_savings

Report Format

## Cloud Cost Analysis

**Period:** Last 30 Days

### Summary
| Provider | Spend | vs Previous |
|----------|-------|-------------|
| AWS      | $X    | +X%         |
| GCP      | $X    | +X%         |
| Azure    | $X    | -X%         |

### Top Recommendations
1. **Rightsize <resource>** - Save $X/month (95% confidence)
2. **Convert to Reserved** - Save $X/month
3. **Delete unused resources** - Save $X/month

### Anomalies
- <date>: <service> spiked $X above expected

### Actions
- [ ] Rightsize instance X
- [ ] Purchase reserved capacity
- [ ] Clean up unused volumes

Cost Resource Types Reference

Resource Type	Operations	Description
cost_overview	get	Total spend summary
cost_summary	get	Filtered cost summary
cost_timeseries	get	Cost trends over time
cost_breakdown	get	Multi-dimensional breakdown
cost_perspective	list, get	Custom cost views
cost_recommendation	list	Optimization suggestions
cost_recommendation_detail	get	Detailed recommendation
cost_recommendation_stats	get	Summary statistics
cost_estimated_savings	get	Savings projections
cost_anomaly	list, get	Cost spikes
cost_category	list, get	Cost allocation
cost_filter_value	get	Available filter values

Examples

• "How much are we spending on cloud?" - Get cost_overview
• "Find $5,000 in monthly savings" - List cost_recommendations, prioritize by savings
• "Why did our bill spike last week?" - List cost_anomaly
• "Break down costs by team" - Get cost_breakdown or cost_perspective
• "Are we using our reserved instances?" - Get cost_commitment_utilisation

Performance Notes

• Gather data from all relevant perspectives before drawing cost conclusions. Partial data leads to incorrect recommendations.
• Cross-reference recommendations with anomaly data to distinguish trends from spikes.
• Quality of cost analysis is more important than speed. Verify savings estimates before presenting.

Troubleshooting

No Cost Data

• Check cloud connectors are configured and syncing
• Initial sync takes 24-48 hours
• Verify billing access permissions (Cost Explorer, Billing API)

No Recommendations

• Resources need sufficient usage history for analysis
• Small savings may be filtered out
• Check minimum running time requirements