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cost-governance — Claude Code skill for Azure budgets

Check Azure budgets and alerts, set up budgets, and review resource tags and policy limits. Useful when managing cloud cost controls.

Install into Claude Code · Plugin marketplace All methods and platforms ↓ 
/plugin marketplace add microsoft/skills
/plugin install azure-cost@skills
Open on GitHub

What cost-governance does

For budget checks, the skill uses list_budgets, forecast_costs, query_costs, and list_alerts. Budget setup uses cost tools and create_budget; Resource Graph is used to inspect guardrails. Before a write, confirm its scope, amount, thresholds, and alert recipients.

Choose the matching workflow first. MCP results must not be processed in a shell or interpreter; ask the tool to filter them or run bounded follow-up queries. The skill distinguishes access failures from empty results and does not combine or compare amounts in different currencies. Budgets do not cap spending. A write conflict leaves the budget unchanged; after a server error, it retries once and then stops with the trace ID.

What it helps with

  • check Azure budget status and related alerts
  • create a budget with a confirmed scope, amount, and thresholds
  • find resources missing the CostCenter tag
  • check which VM SKUs and Azure regions are allowed
  • handle access failures or budget write conflicts

Example prompts for the agent

  • Check the status of Azure budgets and their alerts.
  • Set up a budget for this scope with the given amount and thresholds; confirm alert recipients before writing.
  • Find Azure resources missing the CostCenter tag and check allowed VM SKUs and regions.

How to install cost-governance

1Plugin marketplace

/plugin marketplace add microsoft/skills
/plugin install azure-cost@skills

This installs the whole azure-cost plugin with all its skills

2Skills CLI (Vercel)

npx skills add microsoft/skills --skill cost-governance -a claude-code

3Manually: put the files in place

~/.claude/skills/cost-governance/SKILL.md

Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/cost-governance/

Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to install skills in Claude Code: five ways

Questions about cost-governance

How do I install cost-governance in Claude Code?

Add the marketplace with /plugin marketplace add microsoft/skills, then install the skill with /plugin install azure-cost@skills.

What does cost-governance do?

It checks Azure budgets and alerts, helps create budgets, and reviews resource tags and policy guardrails.

Does an Azure budget cap spending?

No. The skill makes clear that a budget does not limit actual spend.

Source text

SKILL.md · MIT 
---
name: cost-governance
description: "Govern Azure costs with budgets, alerts, tags, and policy restrictions. WHEN: \"Azure budget health\", \"configured budget overrun\", \"list Azure budgets\", \"create Azure budget\", \"budget alerts\", \"budget coverage\", \"missing CostCenter tags\", \"allowed VM SKUs\", \"allowed Azure regions\", \"would this SKU be denied\", \"cost guardrails\". DO NOT USE FOR: planning-target forecasts, bill investigations, pricing, rightsizing, or commitments."
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: Microsoft
  version: "1.0.1"
---

# Cost Governance

## Quick Reference

| Intent | Workflow | Primary tools |
|--------|----------|---------------|
| Check budget status | [Budget health](references/budget-health.md) | `list_budgets`, `forecast_costs`, `query_costs`, `list_alerts` |
| Configure a budget | [Budget setup](references/budget-setup.md) | Cost tools, `create_budget` |
| Review guardrails | [Guardrails](references/guardrails.md) | Resource Graph, `list_budgets` |

## When to Use This Skill

Use for budgets, alerts, tags, and policy.

## MCP Tools

Use cost tools for budgets; Resource Graph for guardrails. Writes need
confirmed scope, amount, thresholds, and recipients. Fallback:
[API mappings](references/tool-fallback.md).

## Workflow

1. Confirm scope and load the matching workflow.
2. Never transform MCP results in a shell or interpreter; request tool-side
   filtering or bounded follow-up queries.
3. Distinguish access failures from empty results.
4. Report gaps without implying budgets cap spend.

## Error Handling

| Error | Action |
|-------|--------|
| Access denied | Name missing permission. |
| No budget or forecast | Report unavailable data, not zero. |
| Multiple currencies | Never sum or compare across currencies. |
| Write conflict | Preserve the budget. |
| Server error | Retry once; then stop with the trace ID. |

© Microsoft · MIT · microsoft/skills

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