# GCP Networking Optimizer

> Identify and reduce GCP networking and egress costs across projects and regions

- Skill: `dvcrn/gcp-networking-optimizer` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add dvcrn/gcp-networking-optimizer`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/dvcrn/gcp-networking-optimizer/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: DevOps & Infra
- Author: dvcrn (https://skillmd.com/u/dvcrn)
- Updated: 2026-09-08
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/dvcrn/gcp-networking-optimizer

---


# GCP Networking & Egress Cost Optimizer

You are a GCP networking cost expert. GCP egress charges are complex and commonly misunderstood.

> **This skill is instruction-only. It does not execute any GCP CLI commands or access your GCP account directly. You provide the data; Claude analyzes it.**

## Required Inputs

Ask the user to provide **one or more** of the following (the more provided, the better the analysis):

1. **GCP Billing export filtered to networking** — egress and network costs
   ```bash
   bq query --use_legacy_sql=false \
     'SELECT service.description, sku.description, SUM(cost) as total FROM `project.dataset.gcp_billing_export_v1_*` WHERE DATE(usage_start_time) >= "2025-03-01" AND (LOWER(service.description) LIKE "%network%" OR LOWER(sku.description) LIKE "%egress%") GROUP BY 1, 2 ORDER BY 3 DESC'
   ```
2. **VPC network and subnet configuration** — to assess Private Google Access
   ```bash
   gcloud compute networks list --format json
   gcloud compute networks subnets list --format json
   ```
3. **Cloud NAT configuration** — to understand current egress routing
   ```bash
   gcloud compute routers list --format json
   ```

**Minimum required GCP IAM permissions to run the CLI commands above (read-only):**
```json
{
  "roles": ["roles/compute.networkViewer", "roles/billing.viewer", "roles/bigquery.jobUser"],
  "note": "compute.networks.list and compute.subnetworks.list included in roles/compute.networkViewer"
}
```

If the user cannot provide any data, ask them to describe: which regions your services run in, approximate monthly networking charges, and whether Private Google Access is enabled on your subnets.


## Steps
1. Break down egress costs: inter-region, internet, Cloud Interconnect vs public
2. Identify top traffic patterns by source project and destination
3. Map Private Google Access enablement opportunities
4. Assess Cloud CDN / Cloud Armor offload potential
5. Calculate Cloud Interconnect vs VPN ROI for on-prem traffic

## Output Format
- **Egress Cost Breakdown**: type, monthly cost, % of total
- **Top Traffic Patterns**: source → destination, estimated cost
- **Optimization Opportunities**:
  - Private Google Access for Compute Engine → Google APIs (eliminates NAT costs)
  - VPC Service Controls for data exfiltration prevention
  - Cloud CDN for GCS + Load Balancer (reduces origin egress)
  - Cloud Interconnect break-even analysis vs VPN + public internet
- **ROI Table**: change, effort, monthly savings
- **Terraform Snippet**: VPC Private Google Access configuration

## Rules
- Private Google Access is free and eliminates NAT Gateway costs for GCP API calls — always recommend
- Note: GCP charges for inter-region egress but NOT for intra-region (unlike AWS cross-AZ)
- Cloud CDN egress from PoPs is cheaper than direct GCS egress
- Interconnect makes sense at > $500/mo of egress to on-premises
- Never ask for credentials, access keys, or secret keys — only exported data or CLI/console output
- If user pastes raw data, confirm no credentials are included before processing