GCP FinOps
Iron Law
NO GCP COST WORK WITHOUT:
1. Verifying cost allocation labels are applied to all resources (project, service, environment)
2. A billing budget alert configured before committing spend
3. Using terraform-specialist agent for Committed Use Discount reservations (never manual console)
This Skill vs Related Agents
| Task |
Use This Skill |
Use Which Agent |
| Cost analysis, Recommender review |
YES |
— |
| Right-sizing Cloud Run services |
YES + |
deployment-engineer |
| CUD / Spend-based reservations (Terraform) |
NO |
terraform-specialist |
| Billing budget Terraform resource |
YES (pattern here) |
terraform-specialist (apply) |
| DR runbook, RTO/RPO planning |
YES |
— |
| Multi-region Cloud Run deploy pipeline |
NO |
deployment-engineer |
| Cloud SQL HA Terraform config |
YES (pattern here) |
terraform-specialist (apply) |
Pattern Selector
What do you need?
|
+-- Reduce GCP spend / right-size resources?
| -> Load: reference/gcp-cost-optimization.md
| -> Section: Cloud Run Cost Optimization + Monthly Cost Audit Checklist
|
+-- Set up billing budget alerts?
| -> Load: reference/gcp-cost-optimization.md
| -> Section: GCP Billing Budget Alert (Terraform resource)
|
+-- Plan disaster recovery / set RTO+RPO targets?
| -> Load: reference/gcp-resilience-dr.md
| -> Section: RTO/RPO Targets by Tier
|
+-- Run GCP Recommender to find cost savings?
| -> Load: reference/gcp-cost-optimization.md
| -> Section: GCP Recommender — Cost Insights (gcloud commands)
|
+-- Cloud SQL HA or PITR recovery?
-> Load: reference/gcp-resilience-dr.md
-> Section: Cloud SQL High Availability + PITR Recovery
GCP Cost Tools — Quick Reference
- GCP Billing Console —
console.cloud.google.com/billing — cost breakdown by project, service, label
- Cloud Cost Management — cost table, cost breakdown report, budget history
- GCP Recommender — automated right-sizing, idle resource, and CUD recommendations (
gcloud recommender)
- Active Assist — umbrella for all Recommender signals; surfaces in Cloud Console dashboard
- Committed Use Discounts — 1-yr (
37% off) or 3-yr (55% off); resource-based or spend-based
- Sustained Use Discounts — automatic for Compute Engine VMs running >25% of month; no action needed
Deep patterns, gcloud snippets, and Terraform resources → reference files below.
Reference Files
| File |
Load When |
reference/gcp-cost-optimization.md |
Cost analysis, CUD/SUD, Cloud Run sizing, billing budgets, Recommender, label enforcement, monthly audit |
reference/gcp-resilience-dr.md |
RTO/RPO planning, Cloud SQL HA + PITR, multi-region Cloud Run, Global LB failover, Firestore multi-region, DR runbook |
Cross-References
- Terraform resources (CUD, budgets, SQL HA): Dispatch
terraform-specialist agent to apply patterns from reference files
- Cloud Run deployment / right-sizing: Use
deployment-engineer agent with sizing flags from reference/gcp-cost-optimization.md
- Architecture decisions (multi-region): Use
architecture-design skill + architect agent for ADR
- Security review (WIF, IAM): Dispatch
security-reviewer after any infrastructure change
- Cloud Run functions: See
gcp-cloud-run skill
1---2name: gcp-finops3description: GCP cost optimization and resilience skill. Use for GCP billing budget alerts, committed use discounts, sustained use discounts, cost allocation labels, GCP Recommender, Cloud SQL PITR, multi-region DR, and RTO/RPO planning. Triggers: GCP cost, billing, committed use discount, sustained use discount, cost optimization GCP, DR planning, RTO, RPO, disaster recovery GCP.4---56# GCP FinOps78## Iron Law910```11NO GCP COST WORK WITHOUT:121. Verifying cost allocation labels are applied to all resources (project, service, environment)132. A billing budget alert configured before committing spend143. Using terraform-specialist agent for Committed Use Discount reservations (never manual console)15```1617---1819## This Skill vs Related Agents2021| Task | Use This Skill | Use Which Agent |22|------|---------------|-----------------|23| Cost analysis, Recommender review | YES | — |24| Right-sizing Cloud Run services | YES + | `deployment-engineer` |25| CUD / Spend-based reservations (Terraform) | NO | `terraform-specialist` |26| Billing budget Terraform resource | YES (pattern here) | `terraform-specialist` (apply) |27| DR runbook, RTO/RPO planning | YES | — |28| Multi-region Cloud Run deploy pipeline | NO | `deployment-engineer` |29| Cloud SQL HA Terraform config | YES (pattern here) | `terraform-specialist` (apply) |3031---3233## Pattern Selector3435```36What do you need?37 |38 +-- Reduce GCP spend / right-size resources?39 | -> Load: reference/gcp-cost-optimization.md40 | -> Section: Cloud Run Cost Optimization + Monthly Cost Audit Checklist41 |42 +-- Set up billing budget alerts?43 | -> Load: reference/gcp-cost-optimization.md44 | -> Section: GCP Billing Budget Alert (Terraform resource)45 |46 +-- Plan disaster recovery / set RTO+RPO targets?47 | -> Load: reference/gcp-resilience-dr.md48 | -> Section: RTO/RPO Targets by Tier49 |50 +-- Run GCP Recommender to find cost savings?51 | -> Load: reference/gcp-cost-optimization.md52 | -> Section: GCP Recommender — Cost Insights (gcloud commands)53 |54 +-- Cloud SQL HA or PITR recovery?55 -> Load: reference/gcp-resilience-dr.md56 -> Section: Cloud SQL High Availability + PITR Recovery57```5859---6061## GCP Cost Tools — Quick Reference6263- **GCP Billing Console** — `console.cloud.google.com/billing` — cost breakdown by project, service, label64- **Cloud Cost Management** — cost table, cost breakdown report, budget history65- **GCP Recommender** — automated right-sizing, idle resource, and CUD recommendations (`gcloud recommender`)66- **Active Assist** — umbrella for all Recommender signals; surfaces in Cloud Console dashboard67- **Committed Use Discounts** — 1-yr (~37% off) or 3-yr (~55% off); resource-based or spend-based68- **Sustained Use Discounts** — automatic for Compute Engine VMs running >25% of month; no action needed6970Deep patterns, gcloud snippets, and Terraform resources → reference files below.7172---7374## Reference Files7576| File | Load When |77|------|-----------|78| `reference/gcp-cost-optimization.md` | Cost analysis, CUD/SUD, Cloud Run sizing, billing budgets, Recommender, label enforcement, monthly audit |79| `reference/gcp-resilience-dr.md` | RTO/RPO planning, Cloud SQL HA + PITR, multi-region Cloud Run, Global LB failover, Firestore multi-region, DR runbook |8081---8283## Cross-References8485- **Terraform resources (CUD, budgets, SQL HA)**: Dispatch `terraform-specialist` agent to apply patterns from reference files86- **Cloud Run deployment / right-sizing**: Use `deployment-engineer` agent with sizing flags from `reference/gcp-cost-optimization.md`87- **Architecture decisions (multi-region)**: Use `architecture-design` skill + `architect` agent for ADR88- **Security review (WIF, IAM)**: Dispatch `security-reviewer` after any infrastructure change89- **Cloud Run functions**: See `gcp-cloud-run` skill
kumaran-is