How do I install the AWS Cost Explorer skill?

Run npx skillmds add oldwinter/aws-cost-explorer 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.

Is AWS Cost Explorer safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: executes scripts, reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with AWS Cost Explorer?

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 AWS Cost Explorer free to use?

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

Who published AWS Cost Explorer?

oldwinter (@oldwinter) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

AWS Cost Explorer by oldwinter — Agent Skill

Name: AWS Cost Explorer
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: oldwinter

AWS Cost Explorer

This skill should be used when users need to query AWS cost and usage details for a specific date. It supports querying costs at service level (e.g., EC2, S3, RDS) and drilling down to usage type level (e.g., instance types, storage classes, data transfer). Triggers on requests mentioning AWS costs, billing, spending, cost breakdown, or fee analysis.

oldwinter ad83e39 2 files · 12.6 KB Updated Sep 9, 2026

File contents

AWS Cost Explorer

Query AWS costs and usage details with flexible granularity - from service-level overview to detailed usage type breakdown.

Capabilities

Query daily AWS costs by service (e.g., EC2, S3, OpenSearch, DocumentDB)
Drill down to usage type details for specific services (e.g., instance types, storage, data transfer)
Filter results by minimum cost threshold
Support both relative dates (days ago) and absolute dates (YYYY-MM-DD)
Output in human-readable table or JSON format

Usage

Quick Commands

To query costs, use the bundled script at scripts/cost_query.py:

# Query costs from 2 days ago (default) by service
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py

# Query yesterday's costs, show items > $5
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --days-ago 1 --min-cost 5

# Query specific date
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --date 2026-01-15

# Query specific service's usage breakdown
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --service "Amazon OpenSearch Service" --min-cost 1

# Query all services with usage type details
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --detailed --min-cost 5

# Output as JSON
python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --json --min-cost 5

Script Options

Option	Short	Description
`--days-ago`	`-d`	Query N days ago (default: 2, i.e., day before yesterday)
`--date`		Query specific date (YYYY-MM-DD format)
`--min-cost`	`-m`	Minimum cost threshold to display (default: 0)
`--service`	`-s`	Query usage type breakdown for a specific service
`--detailed`		Show all services with usage type breakdown
`--json`	`-j`	Output in JSON format

Common Service Names

When using --service, use the exact AWS service names:

Common Name	AWS Service Name
OpenSearch	`Amazon OpenSearch Service`
DocumentDB/MongoDB	`Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility)`
EC2 Compute	`Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud - Compute`
EC2 Other (EBS, NAT)	`EC2 - Other`
EFS	`Amazon Elastic File System`
S3	`Amazon Simple Storage Service`
RDS	`Amazon Relational Database Service`
EKS	`Amazon Elastic Container Service for Kubernetes`
VPC	`Amazon Virtual Private Cloud`
Bedrock	`Amazon Bedrock`
Lambda	`AWS Lambda`
CloudWatch	`AmazonCloudWatch`

Understanding Usage Types

Common usage type patterns:

Pattern	Meaning
`BoxUsage:*`	EC2 instance hours (e.g., `BoxUsage:m7i.large`)
`ESInstance:*`	OpenSearch instance hours
`EBS:VolumeUsage.*`	EBS storage (e.g., `EBS:VolumeUsage.gp3`)
`TimedStorage-ByteHrs`	S3/EFS storage capacity
`DataTransfer-*`	Data transfer costs
`NatGateway-*`	NAT Gateway costs
`VpcEndpoint-*`	VPC Endpoint costs
`-input-tokens` / `-output-tokens`	Bedrock token usage
`Elastic*Usage`	DocumentDB Elastic costs

Prerequisites

AWS CLI configured with appropriate credentials
IAM permissions for ce:GetCostAndUsage

Example Workflow

First, get service-level overview:

python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --min-cost 5

Identify high-cost services, then drill down:

python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --service "Amazon OpenSearch Service" --min-cost 1

For comprehensive analysis, use detailed mode:

python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --detailed --min-cost 5

---name: aws-cost-explorerdescription: This skill should be used when users need to query AWS cost and usage details for a specific date. It supports querying costs at service level (e.g., EC2, S3, RDS) and drilling down to usage type level (e.g., instance types, storage classes, data transfer). Triggers on requests mentioning AWS costs, billing, spending, cost breakdown, or fee analysis.--- # AWS Cost Explorer Query AWS costs and usage details with flexible granularity - from service-level overview to detailed usage type breakdown. ## Capabilities - Query daily AWS costs by service (e.g., EC2, S3, OpenSearch, DocumentDB) - Drill down to usage type details for specific services (e.g., instance types, storage, data transfer) - Filter results by minimum cost threshold - Support both relative dates (days ago) and absolute dates (YYYY-MM-DD) - Output in human-readable table or JSON format ## Usage ### Quick Commands To query costs, use the bundled script at `scripts/cost_query.py`: ```bash # Query costs from 2 days ago (default) by service python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py # Query yesterday's costs, show items > $5 python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --days-ago 1 --min-cost 5 # Query specific date python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --date 2026-01-15 # Query specific service's usage breakdown python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --service "Amazon OpenSearch Service" --min-cost 1 # Query all services with usage type details python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --detailed --min-cost 5 # Output as JSON python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --json --min-cost 5 ``` ### Script Options | Option | Short | Description | |--------|-------|-------------| | `--days-ago` | `-d` | Query N days ago (default: 2, i.e., day before yesterday) | | `--date` | | Query specific date (YYYY-MM-DD format) | | `--min-cost` | `-m` | Minimum cost threshold to display (default: 0) | | `--service` | `-s` | Query usage type breakdown for a specific service | | `--detailed` | | Show all services with usage type breakdown | | `--json` | `-j` | Output in JSON format | ## Common Service Names When using `--service`, use the exact AWS service names: | Common Name | AWS Service Name | |-------------|------------------| | OpenSearch | `Amazon OpenSearch Service` | | DocumentDB/MongoDB | `Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility)` | | EC2 Compute | `Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud - Compute` | | EC2 Other (EBS, NAT) | `EC2 - Other` | | EFS | `Amazon Elastic File System` | | S3 | `Amazon Simple Storage Service` | | RDS | `Amazon Relational Database Service` | | EKS | `Amazon Elastic Container Service for Kubernetes` | | VPC | `Amazon Virtual Private Cloud` | | Bedrock | `Amazon Bedrock` | | Lambda | `AWS Lambda` | | CloudWatch | `AmazonCloudWatch` | ## Understanding Usage Types Common usage type patterns: | Pattern | Meaning | |---------|---------| | `BoxUsage:*` | EC2 instance hours (e.g., `BoxUsage:m7i.large`) | | `ESInstance:*` | OpenSearch instance hours | | `EBS:VolumeUsage.*` | EBS storage (e.g., `EBS:VolumeUsage.gp3`) | | `TimedStorage-ByteHrs` | S3/EFS storage capacity | | `DataTransfer-*` | Data transfer costs | | `NatGateway-*` | NAT Gateway costs | | `VpcEndpoint-*` | VPC Endpoint costs | | `*-input-tokens` / `*-output-tokens` | Bedrock token usage | | `Elastic*Usage` | DocumentDB Elastic costs | ## Prerequisites - AWS CLI configured with appropriate credentials - IAM permissions for `ce:GetCostAndUsage` ## Example Workflow 1. First, get service-level overview: ```bash python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --min-cost 5 ``` 2. Identify high-cost services, then drill down: ```bash python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --service "Amazon OpenSearch Service" --min-cost 1 ``` 3. For comprehensive analysis, use detailed mode: ```bash python3 <skill-path>/scripts/cost_query.py --detailed --min-cost 5 ```

Frequently asked questions

AWS Cost Explorer

File contents

AWS Cost Explorer

Capabilities

Usage

Quick Commands

Script Options

Common Service Names

Understanding Usage Types

Prerequisites

Example Workflow

Related skills

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the AWS Cost Explorer skill?

What does the AWS Cost Explorer skill do?

Is AWS Cost Explorer safe to use?

Which AI agents work with AWS Cost Explorer?

Is AWS Cost Explorer free to use?

Who published AWS Cost Explorer?