Home / microsoft / github-copilot-for-azure · plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-estimation/SKILL.md · GitHub

cost-estimation skillA

cost-estimation is agent-read markdown (skill) from microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure: 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..

Indexed from public GitHub and served as immutable, content-addressed versions. Install it pinned to an exact SHA-256 with the mdr CLI, and every file is verified against the hash recorded here before it reaches your agent. The deterministic audit below grades the latest version, and the same file always earns the same grade.

What the file says

# Azure Cost Estimation

## Quick Reference

| Intent | Workflow | Primary tools |
|--------|----------|---------------|
| Forecast existing spend | [Cost forecast](references/cost-forecast/workflow.md) | `forecast_costs` |
| Price planned resources | [Pricing estimate](references/pricing-estimate.md) | Pricing tools |

## When to Use This Skill

Use for forecasts, pricing, and planning targets.

## MCP 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. |

Fallback: [API mappings](references/tool-fallback.md).

## Workflow

1. Distinguish forecasts from hypothetical pricing.
2. Confirm scope, assumptions, period, region, OS, and currency.
3. Load the matching workflow and label every value type.
4. 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. |
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

Latest version
mdr add microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure/cost-estimation@v0.0.0-placeholder
Exact content
mdr add microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure/cost-estimation@sha256:570b6c9b2251f676

Pin to a label to follow the author's releases, or to a sha256 to freeze the exact bytes forever. Either way the resolved hash is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install reproduces it on any machine.

Badge

mdr badge

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_lyhkasipnwij5yjh.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_lyhkasipnwij5yjh)

1 badge views in 30 days

Versions

versioncommittedcommitsizeaudit
v0.0.0-placeholder latest2026-09-22 cda1f27 1,943 BA view

Audit of the latest version

A  17 of 17 checks passed. Deterministic, no model, same answer every run.
  • pass: Frontmatter block present
  • pass: Frontmatter declares a name
  • pass: Frontmatter declares a description
  • pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (1943 bytes)
  • pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
  • pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
  • pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
  • pass: No credential-shaped string
  • pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
  • pass: No text hidden with inline styles
  • pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
  • pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
  • pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
  • pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
  • pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
  • pass: No link to a raw IP address
  • pass: No script tag

Source

GitHub

microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · 252 stars · license NOASSERTION · pushed 2026-09-23 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_lyhkasipnwij5yjh
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure/cost-estimation
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/570b6c9b2251f676665d1c60a4af868a78f42ee090564fb985117f4f43d2235a

Your agent does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.

More from microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure

analyze-comparison-tests skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/analyze-comparison-tests/SKILL.md · Collects comparison test run artifacts and answers the user's questions based on the trajectories of each run. WHEN TO…
v1.0.0 · audit A · 252 stars
analyze-skill-issues skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/analyze-skill-issues/SKILL.md · Query the integration-test storage account to find why a specific skill's tests are failing. Reads blob-stored test…
v1.0.1 · audit A · 252 stars
analyze-test-run skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/analyze-test-run/SKILL.md · Analyze a GitHub Actions integration test run and produce a skill invocation report with failure root-cause issues…
v1.0.6 · audit A · 252 stars
file-test-bug skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/file-test-bug/SKILL.md · File a GitHub issue for local integration test failures. TRIGGERS: file test bug, report test failure, create bug for…
v1.0.0 · audit A · 252 stars
investigate-integration-test skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/investigate-integration-test/SKILL.md · Investigate a failing integration test from a GitHub issue. Downloads logs/artifacts, analyzes the failure, examines…
v1.0.0 · audit A · 252 stars
markdown-token-optimizer skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/markdown-token-optimizer/SKILL.md · Analyzes markdown files for token efficiency. TRIGGERS: optimize markdown, reduce tokens, token count, token bloat, too…
v1.0.0 · audit A · 252 stars
onboard-plugin skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/onboard-plugin/SKILL.md · Scaffold a new plugin and prepare it for distribution. WHEN: 'create a new plugin', 'scaffold a new plugin'
v1.0.0 · audit A · 252 stars
sensei skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/sensei/SKILL.md · Iteratively improve skill frontmatter to achieve good routing test coverage. WHEN: run sensei, sensei help, improve…
v1.0.6 · audit A · 252 stars
skill-authoring skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/skill-authoring/SKILL.md · Guidelines for writing Agent Skills that comply with the agentskills.io specification. WHEN: "create a skill", "new…
v1.0.1 · audit A · 252 stars
skill-reviewer skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/skill-reviewer/SKILL.md · Review skill PRs with structured severity-rated feedback covering token budgets, routing conflicts, and repo…
v1.0.3 · audit A · 252 stars
vally-eval skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · .github/skills/vally-eval/SKILL.md · Author, validate, and run Vally evaluation suites for agent skills. TRIGGERS: create eval, write eval, add eval, run…
v1.0.0 · audit A · 252 stars
cost-analysis skill
microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure · plugins/azure-cost/skills/cost-analysis/SKILL.md · Analyze actual Azure spend, bill changes, and AKS or AI costs. WHEN: "Azure cost breakdown", "most expensive…
v0.0.0-placeholder · audit A · 252 stars

Every file in microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure

Other files named cost-estimation

cost-estimation skill
habitat-thinking/ai-literacy-superpowers · ai-literacy-superpowers/skills/cost-estimation/SKILL.md · Use when the user wants to estimate or predict the cost, token usage, or time of a task BEFORE it runs — "how much will…
git:20260615.89f6ae8 · audit A · 106 stars

Browse by kind, by grade A, or by owner.