AWS Cost & Operations
This skill provides comprehensive guidance for AWS cost optimization, monitoring, observability, and operational excellence with integrated MCP servers.
AWS Documentation Requirement
CRITICAL: This skill requires AWS MCP tools for accurate, up-to-date AWS information.
Before Answering AWS Questions
Always verify using AWS MCP tools (if available):
mcp__aws-mcp__awssearchdocumentation or mcpawsdocsaws___search_documentation - Search AWS docs mcp__aws-mcp__aws___read_documentation or mcpawsdocs__awsreaddocumentation - Read specific pages mcpaws-mcp__aws___get_regional_availability - Check service availability
If AWS MCP tools are unavailable:
Guide user to configure AWS MCP: See AWS MCP Setup Guide Help determine which option fits their environment: Has uvx + AWS credentials → Full AWS MCP Server No Python/credentials → AWS Documentation MCP (no auth) If cannot determine → Ask user which option to use Integrated MCP Servers
This skill includes 8 MCP servers automatically configured with the plugin:
Cost Management Servers 1. AWS Billing and Cost Management MCP Server
Purpose: Real-time billing and cost management
View current AWS spending and trends Analyze billing details across services Track budget utilization Monitor cost allocation tags Review consolidated billing for organizations 2. AWS Pricing MCP Server
Purpose: Pre-deployment cost estimation and optimization
Estimate costs before deploying resources Compare pricing across regions Calculate Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Evaluate different service options for cost efficiency Get current pricing information for AWS services 3. AWS Cost Explorer MCP Server
Purpose: Detailed cost analysis and reporting
Analyze historical spending patterns Create custom cost reports Identify cost anomalies and trends Forecast future costs Analyze cost by service, region, or tag Generate cost optimization recommendations Monitoring & Observability Servers 4. Amazon CloudWatch MCP Server
Purpose: Metrics, alarms, and logs analysis
Query CloudWatch metrics and logs Create and manage CloudWatch alarms Analyze application performance metrics Troubleshoot operational issues Set up custom dashboards Monitor resource utilization 5. Amazon CloudWatch Application Signals MCP Server
Purpose: Application monitoring and performance insights
Monitor application health and performance Analyze service-level objectives (SLOs) Track application dependencies Identify performance bottlenecks Monitor service map and traces 6. AWS Managed Prometheus MCP Server
Purpose: Prometheus-compatible monitoring
Query Prometheus metrics Monitor containerized applications Analyze Kubernetes workload metrics Create PromQL queries Track custom application metrics Audit & Security Servers 7. AWS CloudTrail MCP Server
Purpose: AWS API activity and audit analysis
Analyze AWS API calls and user activity Track resource changes and modifications Investigate security incidents Audit compliance requirements Identify unusual access patterns Review who made what changes when 8. AWS Well-Architected Security Assessment Tool MCP Server
Purpose: Security assessment against Well-Architected Framework
Assess security posture against AWS best practices Identify security gaps and vulnerabilities Get security improvement recommendations Review security pillar compliance Generate security assessment reports When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when:
Optimizing AWS costs and reducing spending Estimating costs before deployment Monitoring application and infrastructure performance Setting up observability and alerting Analyzing spending patterns and trends Investigating operational issues Auditing AWS activity and changes Assessing security posture Implementing operational excellence Cost Optimization Best Practices Pre-Deployment Cost Estimation
Always estimate costs before deploying:
Use AWS Pricing MCP to estimate resource costs Compare pricing across different regions Evaluate alternative service options Calculate expected monthly costs Plan for scaling and growth
Example workflow:
"Estimate the monthly cost of running a Lambda function with 1 million invocations, 512MB memory, 3-second duration in us-east-1"
Cost Analysis and Optimization
Regular cost reviews:
Use Cost Explorer MCP to analyze spending trends Identify cost anomalies and unexpected charges Review costs by service, region, and environment Compare actual vs. budgeted costs Generate cost optimization recommendations
Cost optimization strategies:
Right-size over-provisioned resources Use appropriate storage classes (S3, EBS) Implement auto-scaling for dynamic workloads Leverage Savings Plans and Reserved Instances Delete unused resources and snapshots Use cost allocation tags effectively Budget Monitoring
Track spending against budgets:
Use Billing and Cost Management MCP to monitor budgets Set up budget alerts for threshold breaches Review budget utilization regularly Adjust budgets based on trends Implement cost controls and governance Monitoring and Observability Best Practices CloudWatch Metrics and Alarms
Implement comprehensive monitoring:
Use CloudWatch MCP to query metrics and logs Set up alarms for critical metrics: CPU and memory utilization Error rates and latency Queue depths and processing times API gateway throttling Lambda errors and timeouts Create CloudWatch dashboards for visualization Use log insights for troubleshooting
Example alarm scenarios:
Lambda error rate > 1% EC2 CPU utilization > 80% API Gateway 4xx/5xx error spike DynamoDB throttled requests ECS task failures Application Performance Monitoring
Monitor application health:
Use CloudWatch Application Signals MCP for APM Track service-level objectives (SLOs) Monitor application dependencies Identify performance bottlenecks Set up distributed tracing Container and Kubernetes Monitoring
For containerized workloads:
Use AWS Managed Prometheus MCP for metrics Monitor container resource utilization Track pod and node health Create PromQL queries for custom metrics Set up alerts for container anomalies Audit and Security Best Practices CloudTrail Activity Analysis
Audit AWS activity:
Use CloudTrail MCP to analyze API activity Track who made changes to resources Investigate security incidents Monitor for suspicious activity patterns Audit compliance with policies
Common audit scenarios:
"Who deleted this S3 bucket?" "Show all IAM role changes in the last 24 hours" "List failed login attempts" "Find all actions by a specific user" "Track modifications to security groups" Security Assessment
Regular security reviews:
Use Well-Architected Security Assessment MCP Assess security posture against best practices Identify security gaps and vulnerabilities Implement recommended security improvements Document security compliance
Security assessment areas:
Identity and Access Management (IAM) Detective controls and monitoring Infrastructure protection Data protection and encryption Incident response preparedness Using MCP Servers Effectively Cost Analysis Workflow Pre-deployment: Use Pricing MCP to estimate costs Post-deployment: Use Billing MCP to track actual spending Analysis: Use Cost Explorer MCP for detailed cost analysis Optimization: Implement recommendations from Cost Explorer Monitoring Workflow Setup: Configure CloudWatch metrics and alarms Monitor: Use CloudWatch MCP to track key metrics Analyze: Use Application Signals for APM insights Troubleshoot: Query CloudWatch Logs for issue resolution Security Workflow Audit: Use CloudTrail MCP to review activity Assess: Use Well-Architected Security Assessment Remediate: Implement security recommendations Monitor: Track security events via CloudWatch MCP Usage Best Practices Cost Awareness: Check pricing before deploying resources Proactive Monitoring: Set up alarms for critical metrics Regular Reviews: Analyze costs and performance weekly Audit Trails: Review CloudTrail logs for compliance Security First: Run security assessments regularly Optimize Continuously: Act on cost and performance recommendations Operational Excellence Guidelines Cost Optimization Tag Everything: Use consistent cost allocation tags Review Monthly: Analyze spending trends and anomalies Right-size: Match resources to actual usage Automate: Use auto-scaling and scheduling Monitor Budgets: Set alerts for cost overruns Monitoring and Alerting Critical Metrics: Alert on business-critical metrics Noise Reduction: Fine-tune thresholds to reduce false positives Actionable Alerts: Ensure alerts have clear remediation steps Dashboard Visibility: Create dashboards for key stakeholders Log Retention: Balance cost and compliance needs Security and Compliance Least Privilege: Grant minimum required permissions Audit Regularly: Review CloudTrail logs for anomalies Encrypt Data: Use encryption at rest and in transit Assess Continuously: Run security assessments frequently Incident Response: Have procedures for security events Additional Resources
For detailed operational patterns and best practices, refer to the comprehensive reference:
File: references/operations-patterns.md
This reference includes:
Cost optimization strategies Monitoring and alerting patterns Observability best practices Security and compliance guidelines Troubleshooting workflows CloudWatch Alarms Reference
File: references/cloudwatch-alarms.md
Common alarm configurations for:
Lambda functions EC2 instances RDS databases DynamoDB tables API Gateway ECS services Application Load Balancers