How do I install the Finops Analyst skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add daemon-blockint-tech/finops-analyst in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Finops Analyst skill do?

Guides FinOps analysis on AWS, GCP, and Azure—cost visibility and allocation, tagging and showback/chargeback models, rightsizing and waste removal, RI/Savings Plan/CUD recommendations, budgets and forecasts, anomaly detection, unit economics (cost per service/customer), and FinOps cadence with engineering accountability. Use when optimizing cloud spend, analyzing CUR/billing exports, building cost dashboards, explaining bill spikes, or improving allocation—not for GL mapping, capex, depreciation, or month-end ledger close (compute-accounting-manager), enterprise EA negotiation (enterprise-cloud-architect), hands-on resource provisioning (cloud-engineer), or hardware supply efficiency (data-center-compute-supply-efficiency). It is listed under DevOps & Infra on SkillMD.

Is Finops Analyst safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Finops Analyst?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Finops Analyst free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Finops Analyst?

daemon-blockint-tech (@daemon-blockint-tech) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Finops Analyst by daemon-blockint-tech

Name: Finops Analyst
Author: daemon-blockint-tech

FinOps Analyst

When to Use

Analyze cloud bills and usage (CUR, Cost Explorer, billing export, Cost Management)
Design tagging and allocation keys for showback or chargeback
Find waste — idle compute, unattached storage, orphaned IPs, over-provisioned SKUs
Recommend commitments — RIs, Savings Plans, CUDs, reservations (usage-based)
Build budgets, forecasts, and variance explanations for leadership
Detect anomalies and investigate spend spikes
Report unit economics — cost per tenant, API, feature, or environment
Run FinOps reviews with service owners (monthly optimization cadence)
Model what-if scenarios (region move, architecture change, commit purchase)

When NOT to Use

Map cloud spend to GL, amortize prepaids, fixed assets → compute-accounting-manager
Enterprise agreement strategy and org-wide CCoE FinOps program → enterprise-cloud-architect
Provision VPC, fix IAM, implement infra → cloud-engineer
Execute access tickets and patch windows → cloud-system-administrator
Rack/GPU utilization and stranded kW → data-center-compute-supply-efficiency
Capex policy and board asset governance → director-infrastructure-capex-accounting
Generic BI without cloud cost domain → bi-analyst
SOC 2 cloud evidence → cloud-compliance-specialist
TCO/NPV business cases, commit portfolio economics, CFO scenarios → cloud-economist
Cloud program strategy, migration portfolio, EA sign-off → vp-of-cloud
Infrastructure org strategy, portfolio budget, board narratives → vp-of-infrastructure

Related skills

Need	Skill
VP cloud envelope and executive FinOps accountability	`vp-of-cloud`
TCO, NPV, migration and commit business cases	`cloud-economist`
Ledger, capex/OpEx, month-end close	`compute-accounting-manager`
Enterprise EA and org chargeback model	`enterprise-cloud-architect`
Tag enforcement and cost runbooks in ops	`cloud-engineer`
Hygiene execution (delete idle resources)	`cloud-system-administrator`
K8s cluster cost and rightsizing	`cluster-deployment-engineer`
LLM/token cost programs	`ai-token-improvement-plan-engineer`
AI ops cost and capacity	`ai-lead-ops`
Well-Architected cost pillar at design	`cloud-architect`
Business requirements for finance tools	`business-analyst`
VP infrastructure leadership	`vp-of-infrastructure`

Core Workflows

1. Scope and FinOps principles

Inform, optimize, operate; boundaries with accounting.

See references/finops_scope_and_principles.md.

2. Cost visibility and allocation

Tags, CUR, dashboards, allocation rules.

See references/cost_visibility_allocation.md.

3. Optimization and rightsizing

Waste, SKUs, commitments, engineering tickets.

See references/optimization_rightsizing.md.

4. Budgeting and forecasting

Budgets, forecasts, anomalies.

See references/budgeting_forecasting.md.

5. Unit economics and reporting

Cost per unit, executive narratives.

See references/unit_economics_reporting.md.

6. FinOps governance

Policies, RACI, review cadence.

See references/finops_governance.md.

Outputs

Cost breakdown — by account, service, tag, trend vs prior period
Optimization backlog — savings estimate, owner, risk, effort
Commitment recommendation — coverage %, term, break-even, risk
Allocation model — keys, untagged %, disputed splits
Forecast — baseline, growth drivers, confidence range
Anomaly report — root cause, one-time vs recurring

Principles

Everyone owns their spend — FinOps enables; engineering decides trade-offs
Unit economics over totals — tie cost to business drivers
Measure then commit — stabilize usage before multi-year RIs
Same tags as finance — align with compute-accounting-manager keys where possible
Fast feedback — weekly visibility beats quarterly surprises

Finops Analyst

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