> **azure-advisor-cost-optimization** — skill 8 of 54 in [microsoft/azure-skills](https://skillsdocs.com/microsoft/azure-skills). > > Book (all skills, one file): https://skillsdocs.com/microsoft/azure-skills.md > Machine manifest: https://skillsdocs.com/microsoft/azure-skills/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json > Install the book: `npx skills add microsoft/azure-skills` > Upstream: https://github.com/microsoft/azure-skills/blob/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/SKILL.md @ `main` > Raw bytes, no header: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/SKILL.md > Base for relative paths: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/ > Licence: MIT — https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT.html > > Bundled files (10), referenced from this skill's directory: > - `references/examples.md` — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/references/examples.md > - `references/lifecycle.md` — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/references/lifecycle.md > - `references/output-and-savings.md` — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/references/output-and-savings.md > - `references/README.md` — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/references/README.md > - `references/scope-resolution.md` — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/references/scope-resolution.md > - `references/selection-and-handoff.md` — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/references/selection-and-handoff.md > - `references/state-updates.md` — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/references/state-updates.md > - `references/table-format.md` — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/references/table-format.md > - `references/tools-and-recovery.md` — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/references/tools-and-recovery.md > - `references/workflow.md` — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-skills/main/.github/plugins/azure-advisor/skills/azure-advisor-cost-optimization/references/workflow.md > > Content © its authors, served unmodified. Takedown: https://github.com/DreambaseAI/skillsdocs/issues/new?labels=takedown&title=Takedown+request --- name: azure-advisor-cost-optimization description: "Analyze Azure Advisor Cost/IdleResources findings and prevalidate deletion safety, including Service Groups. WHEN: \"find unused Azure resources\", \"what resources am I paying for but no longer using\", \"idle-resource savings\", \"historical idle-resource savings\", \"are these idle resources safe to delete\". Generic Cost, other subcategories, and cross-category requests use azure-advisor." license: MIT metadata: author: Microsoft version: "1.0.11" --- # Azure Advisor Cost Optimization Use existing Advisor tools only with `category=Cost` and `sub-category=IdleResources`. Never substitute billing, inventory or runtime KQL. Preserve selected scope, type and tenant; pass supplied identities unchanged. ## Shared rules Use only returned structured retail savings; MCP owns calculations. Never annualize, reconstruct amounts from dates, or fall back to legacy annualSavingsAmount/savingsAmount or raw pricing. Cost is accumulated Advisor cost, not monthly spend or yearly savings. Completed reports use Realized savings. Every monetary answer or proposal visibly shows Currency and `Pricing basis: ` from the calculated measure or its documented source. Missing amounts are Unavailable, not zero; numeric zero stays zero. Preserve a known basis even when amounts are missing. Potential savings depend on validating and deleting eligible resources. Estimates do not establish inactivity or safe deletion and never authorize remediation. ## Workflow Before each flow, read its matching references below, including when using supplied results. Before scoped calls, read [Scope resolution](references/scope-resolution.md). Reuse already loaded references. If a required file is unavailable, report it and stop the affected flow. Use the matching scenario guidance; [Reference index](references/README.md). ## Quick reference | Flow | Required reference | |---|---| | Discovery and type expansion | [Workflow](references/workflow.md) | | Counts, savings field mapping and pricing-source interpretation | [Output and savings](references/output-and-savings.md) | | Tables and selected resources | [Table format](references/table-format.md) | | Completed/historical reports | [Lifecycle](references/lifecycle.md) | | State changes | [State updates](references/state-updates.md) | | Selection/remediation handoff | [Selection](references/selection-and-handoff.md) | | Explicit prevalidation/safety checks | [Selection](references/selection-and-handoff.md#read-only-prevalidation) | | Filters/errors | [Tools and recovery](references/tools-and-recovery.md) | | Routing examples | [Examples](references/examples.md) | ## Response guidance Use shared headings and column order across models, with documented scope/lifecycle variations. Visibly show results/proposals before dependent questions; reasoning, tool output or text inside `ask_user` does not count. Ask directly for missing input.