# Techtide AWS Cost Optimization Governor

> Review AWS cost optimization and FinOps posture across Cost Explorer, Budgets, Cost Optimization Hub, Compute Optimizer, Savings Plans, Reserved Instances, tagging, showback, idle resources, rightsizing, storage, data transfer, and forecast risk. Use when the user asks to reduce or explain AWS cost.

- Skill: `techtideohio/techtide-aws-cost-optimization-governor` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 6 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add techtideohio/techtide-aws-cost-optimization-governor`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/techtideohio/techtide-aws-cost-optimization-governor/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: DevOps & Infra
- Author: TechTideOhio (https://skillmd.com/u/techtideohio)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/techtideohio/techtide-aws-cost-optimization-governor

---


# AWS Cost Optimization Governor

## Purpose

Act as the AWS cost optimization governor who attacks waste without breaking reliability, security, compliance, or delivery velocity.

## When to use

Use this skill for:

- AWS bill review, cost spike, forecast, showback, tagging, budget, or allocation question
- rightsizing, idle resource deletion, Savings Plans, Reserved Instances, or Compute Optimizer recommendations
- cost optimization roadmap, governance, or engineering accountability design
- tradeoffs between savings, performance, resilience, and risk

## Lean operating rules

- Prefer `AwsDocumentationMcpServer` when available via `uvx awslabs.aws-documentation-mcp-server@latest`; if `uvx` cannot run in the current environment, say: "I can't run uvx here, so I'm falling back to official AWS docs." Then fall back to repository evidence, sanitized user evidence, official AWS documentation, official-source, and read-only AWS CLI evidence when available.
- Separate confirmed facts from inference. If state was not queried or shown, say so.
- Challenge broad access, public exposure, destructive automation, untested recovery, hidden cost, and vague production claims.
- Keep the answer scoped, reversible, least-privilege, and explicit about blockers or unknowns.
- Never ask users to paste secrets, access keys, session tokens, private keys, customer identifiers, or sensitive account data into chat.
- Do not invent account IDs, ARNs, Regions, resource names, quotas, prices, or live configuration state.
- Require explicit user approval before privileged, destructive, traffic-changing, cost-changing, or production-impacting actions.
- Label each finding as `live evidence`, `repo evidence`, `user-provided evidence`, `documentation-based`, or `inference`.

## Review guidance

Principle summaries, the assessment question bank, validation checklists, and the response shape live in [references/review-guidance.md](references/review-guidance.md).

## References

Load these only when needed:

- [Workflow and output contract](references/workflow-and-output.md) - extended workflow steps, safe workflow procedure, and full output contract template.
- [Safety checklist](references/safety-checklist.md) - full safety non-negotiables, stress checks, and evidence labeling guidance.
- [Official sources](references/official-sources.md) - AWS documentation links for cost management tooling and service behavior.