MR
Mayur Rathi
@sickn33
⭐ 47.3k GitHub stars

aws-cost-optimization

aws-cost-optimization is an engineering AI skill with a core value of Reduce AWS spend with rightsizing, autoscaling, commitment planning, and storage lifecycle policies. It helps developers solve real-world problems in the engineering domain, boosting efficiency, automating repetitive tasks, and optimizing workflows.

Reduce AWS spend with rightsizing, autoscaling, commitment planning, and storage lifecycle policies. Use when running FinOps reviews, lowering cloud bills, or improving cost-per-request metrics.

Last verified on: 2026-10-06

Quick Facts

Category engineering
Works With Claude
Source sickn33/antigravity-awesome-skills
Stars ⭐ 47.3k
Last Verified 2026-10-06
Risk Level Low
mkdir -p ./skills/aws-cost-optimization && curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sickn33/antigravity-awesome-skills/main/skills/aws-cost-optimization/SKILL.md -o ./skills/aws-cost-optimization/SKILL.md

Run in terminal / PowerShell. Requires curl (Unix) or PowerShell 5+ (Windows).

Skill Content

# AWS Cost Optimization


Apply practical FinOps controls to reduce AWS spend without sacrificing reliability or performance.


When to Use This Skill


- Monthly AWS bill spikes unexpectedly or exceeds budget thresholds

- Preparing cost reviews with engineering and finance teams

- Rightsizing EC2, RDS, EKS, or Lambda workloads after load testing

- Choosing between Savings Plans, Reserved Instances, or on-demand pricing

- Setting up automated budget alerts and anomaly detection

- Cleaning up unused resources (unattached EBS, idle load balancers, old snapshots)

- Optimizing data transfer costs across regions and AZs


Prerequisites


- AWS CLI v2 installed and configured (`aws configure`)

- IAM permissions: `ce:*`, `budgets:*`, `ec2:Describe*`, `cloudwatch:PutMetricAlarm`, `s3:PutLifecycleConfiguration`

- Cost Explorer enabled in the AWS billing console (takes 24 hours to populate)

- Cost allocation tags activated in the Billing console


Cost Review Workflow


1. Tag every resource by team, service, environment, and cost center.

2. Enable Cost Explorer and activate Cost and Usage Reports (CUR) to S3.

3. Identify top spend drivers by service, account, and tag.

4. Rightsize underutilized compute and storage based on CloudWatch metrics.

5. Apply commitment discounts (Savings Plans or RIs) for stable baseline usage.

6. Set budgets, anomaly alerts, and build KPI dashboards.

7. Review monthly and iterate.


Cost Explorer CLI Commands


bash 
# Get cost and usage for the last 30 days grouped by service
aws ce get-cost-and-usage \
  --time-period Start=2026-02-01,End=2026-03-01 \
  --granularity MONTHLY \
  --metrics "BlendedCost" "UnblendedCost" "UsageQuantity" \
  --group-by Type=DIMENSION,Key=SERVICE

# Get cost forecast for the next 30 days
aws ce get-cost-forecast \
  --time-period Start=2026-03-24,End=2026-04-24 \
  --metric UNBLENDED_COST \
  --granularity MONTHLY

# Get cost grouped by a specific tag (e.g., team)
aws ce get-cost-and-usage \
  --time-period Start=2026-02-01,End=2026-03-01 \
  --granularity MONTHLY \
  --metrics "UnblendedCost" \
  --group-by Type=TAG,Key=team

# Get rightsizing recommendations for EC2
aws ce get-rightsizing-recommendation \
  --service "AmazonEC2" \
  --configuration '{"RecommendationTarget":"SAME_INSTANCE_FAMILY","BenefitsConsidered":true}'

# Get Savings Plans purchase recommendation
aws ce get-savings-plans-purchase-recommendation \
  --savings-plans-type COMPUTE_SP \
  --term-in-years ONE_YEAR \
  --payment-option NO_UPFRONT \
  --lookback-period-in-days SIXTY_DAYS

# Get Savings Plans utilization
aws ce get-savings-plans-utilization \
  --time-period Start=2026-02-01,End=2026-03-01 \
  --granularity MONTHLY

# Get Reserved Instance utilization
aws ce get-reservation-utilization \
  --time-period Start=2026-02-01,End=2026-03-01 \
  --granularity MONTHLY

Budget Alerts


bash 
# Create a monthly cost budget with email alert at 80% and 100%
aws budgets create-budget \
  --account-id 123456789012 \
  --budget '{
    "BudgetName": "monthly-total",
    "BudgetLimit": {"Amount": "5000", "Unit": "USD"},
    "TimeUnit": "MONTHLY",
    "BudgetType": "COST",
    "CostFilters": {},
    "CostTypes": {
      "IncludeTax": true,
      "IncludeSubscription": true,
      "UseBlended": false
    }
  }' \
  --notifications-with-subscribers '[
    {
      "Notification": {
        "NotificationType": "ACTUAL",
        "ComparisonOperator": "GREATER_THAN",
        "Threshold": 80,
        "ThresholdType": "PERCENTAGE"
      },
      "Subscribers": [{"SubscriptionType": "EMAIL", "Address": "finops@example.com"}]
    },
    {
      "Notification": {
        "NotificationType": "ACTUAL",
        "ComparisonOperator": "GREATER_THAN",
        "Threshold": 100,
        "ThresholdType": "PERCENTAGE"
      },
      "Subscribers": [{"SubscriptionType": "EMAIL", "Address": "finops@example.com"}]
    }
  ]'

# List all budgets
aws budgets describe-budgets --account-id 123456789012

# Enable Cost Anomaly Dete

🎯 Best For

  • Engineering teams doing code reviews
  • Open source maintainers
  • Claude users
  • AI users

💡 Use Cases

  • Reviewing pull requests for security vulnerabilities
  • Checking code style consistency
  • Using aws-cost-optimization in daily workflow
  • Automating repetitive engineering tasks

📖 How to Use This Skill

  1. 1

    Install the Skill

    Copy the install command from the Terminal tab and run it. The SKILL.md file downloads to your local skills directory.

  2. 2

    Load into Your AI Assistant

    Open Claude and reference the skill. Paste the SKILL.md content or use the system prompt tab.

  3. 3

    Apply aws-cost-optimization to Your Work

    Provide context for your task — paste source material, describe your audience, or share existing work to guide the AI.

  4. 4

    Review and Refine

    Edit the AI output for accuracy, tone, and completeness. Add human insight where the AI lacks context.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Does this skill check for OWASP Top 10?

Security-focused review skills often include OWASP checks. Check the skill content for specific vulnerability categories covered.

How do I install aws-cost-optimization?

Copy the install command from the Terminal tab and run it. The skill downloads to ./skills/aws-cost-optimization/SKILL.md, ready to use.

Can I customize this skill for my team?

Absolutely. Edit the SKILL.md file to add team-specific instructions, examples, or workflows.

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

Blindly accepting AI suggestions

Always verify AI-generated review comments. Some suggestions may not apply to your specific codebase conventions.

Not reading the full skill

Skills contain important context and edge cases beyond the quick start.

🔗 Related Skills

cloudflare-pages cloudflare-pagesdeploy-to-vercel deploy-to-vercelvercel-deployments vercel-deploymentsazure-devops-cli Azure-Devops-Cliagent-evals agent-evalsagent-observability agent-observability