Cost Estimation

by microsoft354361d83247MITListed Oct 8, 2026Updated Oct 8, 2026

Forecast Azure spend and price planned resources or workloads. WHEN: "forecast Azure spending", "project next month cost", "compare forecast to my planning target", "how much will Azure cost", "estimate VM cost", "compare storage tiers", "compare Azure regions", "retail price", "EA rate card", "negotiated pricesheet". DO NOT USE FOR: configured budget health or alerts, bill analysis, cost spikes, rightsizing, or commitments.

FeaturedInstructions onlyBusiness & Finance

AI-generated overview

Forecasts Azure spending and prices planned Azure resources using Azure MCP pricing and forecast tools.

What it does: This skill guides an agent through two Azure cost workflows: forecasting existing spend for a scope and estimating prices for planned resources or workloads. It covers confirming scope, assumptions, period, region, OS, and currency, then loading the matching workflow and labeling value types. It also defines error handling for ambiguous meters, unavailable forecasts, pending pricesheets, mixed currencies, and server errors.
When to use it: Use it when someone asks to forecast Azure spending, project next month's cost, compare a forecast to a planning target, estimate VM cost, compare storage tiers or Azure regions, or look up retail, EA rate card, or negotiated pricesheet pricing. It is not intended for configured budget health or alerts, bill analysis, cost spikes, rightsizing, or commitments.
Requirements: Requires access to Azure MCP tools: forecast_costs, get_retail_prices, and start_pricesheet_download with get_pricesheet_status. Network access to Azure pricing and forecast services is needed, and EA or MCA pricesheet access may require appropriate credentials. It ships no scripts; it is instructions and reference documents only.

Azure Cost Estimation

Quick Reference

When to Use This Skill

Use for forecasts, pricing, and planning targets.

MCP Tools

Fallback: API mappings [blocked].

Workflow

Distinguish forecasts from hypothetical pricing.
Confirm scope, assumptions, period, region, OS, and currency.
Load the matching workflow and label every value type.
Never transform MCP results in a shell or interpreter; request tool-side filtering or bounded follow-up queries.

Error Handling

Error	Action
Ambiguous meter	Ask for OS, term, tier, or usage.
Forecast unavailable	Explain the history requirement.
Pricesheet pending	Honor the returned polling interval.
Multiple currencies	Never combine currencies.
Server error	Retry once; then report the trace ID.

Source and attribution

Source:microsoft/skillsin.github/plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimationat commit354361d

License: MIT

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

Report or request removal

Intent	Workflow	Primary tools
Forecast existing spend	Cost forecast [blocked]	`forecast_costs`
Price planned resources	Pricing estimate [blocked]	Pricing tools

Tool	Use
`forecast_costs`	Forecast a scope.
`get_retail_prices`	Get public prices.
`start_pricesheet_download`, `get_pricesheet_status`	Get Enterprise Agreement (EA) or Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) prices.

Cost Estimation

Azure Cost Estimation

Quick Reference

When to Use This Skill

MCP Tools

Workflow

Error Handling

Source and attribution

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