tools-only Azure Cost Estimate Documentation Standards
Document Purpose
Cost estimates provide:
- Financial clarity for budget approvals
- Architecture context linking cost to design decisions
- Optimization guidance for reducing costs
- Fast decisions via "what changes cost" tables
General Requirements
- Keep markdown lines <= 120 characters.
- Use ATX headings (
##,###) for sections. - Use emoji callouts consistently (see "Visual Standards").
- Prefer tables for compare-and-decide content.
- If the workload is small, keep the same sections but shorten them.
Canonical Templates (Golden Source)
The canonical cost-estimate structure is defined in these templates:
.github/skills/azure-artifacts/templates/03-des-cost-estimate.template.md(design estimate).github/skills/azure-artifacts/templates/07-ab-cost-estimate.template.md(as-built estimate)
Agents MUST start from the appropriate template and fill it in. Do not re-embed long templates in agent bodies.
Core Heading Contract (Stable)
Both templates MUST contain these exact H2 headings (##) in this order:
## 💰 Cost At-a-Glance## ✅ Decision Summary## 🔁 Requirements → Cost Mapping## 📊 Top 5 Cost Drivers## Architecture Overview## 🧾 What We Are Not Paying For (Yet)## ⚠️ Cost Risk Indicators## 🎯 Quick Decision Matrix## 💰 Savings Opportunities## Detailed Cost Breakdown
Notes:
- Emoji + spacing must match exactly.
- Use the unicode arrow
→(not->) in the Requirements heading. - Additional H2 headings are allowed, but discouraged (prefer H3s).
Required Header
# Azure Cost Estimate: {Project Name}
**Generated**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
**Region**: {primary-region}
**Environment**: {Production|Staging|Development}
**MCP Tools Used**: {azure_price_search, azure_cost_estimate, azure_region_recommend, azure_sku_discovery}
**Architecture Reference**: {relative link to assessment doc, if available}
💰 Cost At-a-Glance (Required)
Include immediately after the header:
## 💰 Cost At-a-Glance
> **Monthly Total: ~$X,XXX** | Annual: ~$XX,XXX
>
> ```
> Budget: $X/month (soft|hard) | Utilization: NN% ($X of $X)
> ```
>
> | Status | Indicator |
> | ----------------- | ---------------------------- |
> | Cost Trend | ➡️ Stable |
> | Savings Available | 💰 $X/year with reservations |
> | Compliance | ✅ {e.g., PCI-DSS aligned} |
If no budget is provided, use:
Budget: No fixed budget (explain in one sentence)
✅ Decision Summary (Required)
Immediately after "Cost At-a-Glance", include a 2-3 bullet decision summary:
- What's approved now
- What's deferred (intentionally not paying for yet)
- What requirement change would trigger a redesign
Also include a confidence line:
**Confidence**: High|Medium|Low | **Expected Variance**: ±X% (1 sentence why)
Visual Standards
Status Indicators
| Status | Indicator | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Under budget | ✅ | < 80% utilized |
| Near budget | ⚠️ | 80-100% utilized |
| Over budget | ❌ | > 100% utilized |
| Recommendation | 💡 | Optimization suggestions |
| Savings | 💰 | Money saved |
| High risk | 🔴 | Potential to materially increase cost |
| Medium risk | 🟡 | Could increase cost under growth |
| Low risk | 🟢 | Predictable |
Category Icons
| Category | Emoji |
|---|---|
| Compute | 💻 |
| Data Services | 💾 |
| Networking | 🌐 |
| Messaging | 📨 |
| Security/Management | 🔐 |
Trend Indicators
- ➡️ Stable
- 📈 Increasing
- 📉 Decreasing
- ⚠️ Volatile/unknown
Required Sections (Recommended Order)
1. ✅ Decision Summary
## ✅ Decision Summary
- ✅ Approved: {what is in-scope and funded}
- ⏳ Deferred: {what is explicitly not included yet}
- 🔁 Redesign Trigger: {what requirement change forces SKU/region redesign}
**Confidence**: High|Medium|Low | **Expected Variance**: ±X% (1 sentence why)
2. 🔁 Requirements → Cost Mapping
Map business requirements and NFRs to concrete SKU decisions.
## 🔁 Requirements → Cost Mapping
| Requirement | Architecture Decision | Cost Impact | Mandatory |
| ----------- | --------------------- | ------------ | --------- |
| SLA 99.9% | Use {service/SKU} | +$X/month 📈 | Yes |
| RTO/RPO | {backup/DR choice} | +$X/month | No |
| Compliance | {WAF/PE/CMK choice} | +$X/month 📈 | Yes |
3. 📊 Top 5 Cost Drivers
## 📊 Top 5 Cost Drivers
| Rank | Resource | Monthly Cost | % of Total | Trend |
| ---- | -------- | ------------ | ---------- | ----- |
| 1️⃣ | ... | $... | ... | ➡️ |
> 💡 **Quick Win**: One low-effort action that saves meaningful cost
4. Summary
## Summary
| Metric | Value |
| ------------------- | ----------------- |
| 💵 Monthly Estimate | $X - $Y |
| 📅 Annual Estimate | $X - $Y |
| 🌍 Primary Region | swedencentral |
| 💳 Pricing Type | List Price (PAYG) |
| ⭐ WAF Score | X.X/10 (or TBD) |
| 🎯 Target Users | N concurrent |
Add a short "Business Context" narrative (2-5 lines) linking spend to outcomes.
5. Architecture Overview
Include both subsections:
- Cost distribution (table + optional generated image)
- Key design decisions affecting cost
Cost distribution is required for all workloads. Preferred format is a markdown table. Optional: include a generated chart image (PNG/SVG) when available.
## Architecture Overview
### Cost Distribution
| Category | Monthly Cost (USD) | Share |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| 💻 Compute | 535 | 39% |
| 💾 Data Services | 466 | 34% |
| 🌐 Networking | 376 | 27% |
Key Design Decisions Affecting Cost
| Decision | Cost Impact | Business Rationale | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ... | +$.../month 📈 | ... | Required |
### 6. 🧾 What We Are Not Paying For (Yet)
Make trade-offs explicit so stakeholders see conscious deferrals.
```markdown
## 🧾 What We Are Not Paying For (Yet)
> Examples: multi-region active-active, private endpoints for all services, premium HA cache, DDoS Standard
```
### 7. ⚠️ Cost Risk Indicators
```markdown
## ⚠️ Cost Risk Indicators
| Resource | Risk Level | Issue | Mitigation |
| -------- | ---------- | ----- | ---------- |
| ... | 🔴 High | ... | ... |
> **⚠️ Watch Item**: One sentence on the biggest budget uncertainty
8. 🎯 Quick Decision Matrix
## 🎯 Quick Decision Matrix
_"If you need X, expect to pay Y more"_
| Requirement | Additional Cost | SKU Change | Notes |
| ----------- | --------------- | ---------- | ----- |
| ... | +$.../month | ... | ... |
9. 🧩 Change Control (Top 3 Change Requests)
Standardize the 3 most likely changes and their delta.
## 🧩 Change Control
| Change Request | Delta | Notes |
| ------------------- | --------- | -------------------- |
| Add multi-region DR | +$X/month | From decision matrix |
| Add WAF | +$X/month | From decision matrix |
| Upgrade DB tier | +$X/month | From decision matrix |
10. 💰 Savings Opportunities
Always include a savings section. If already optimized, say so and list what is already applied.
## 💰 Savings Opportunities
> ### Total Potential Savings: $X/year
>
> | Commitment | Monthly Savings | Annual Savings |
> | ---------- | --------------- | -------------- |
> | 1-Year ... | $... | $... |
### Additional Optimization Strategies
| Strategy | Potential Savings | Effort | Notes |
| -------- | ----------------- | ------ | ----- |
| ... | ... | 🟢 Low | ... |
11. Detailed Cost Breakdown
Break down by category, include subtotals.
## Detailed Cost Breakdown
### 💻 Compute Services
| Resource | SKU | Qty | $/Hour | $/Month | Notes |
| -------- | --- | --- | ------ | ------- | ----- |
**💻 Compute Subtotal**: ~$X/month
12. 📋 Monthly Cost Summary
Include:
- A category summary table
- An ASCII bar distribution (simple, readable)
13. 🧮 Base Run Cost vs Growth-Variable Cost
Make variance drivers explicit.
## 🧮 Base Run Cost vs Growth-Variable Cost
| Cost Type | Drivers | Examples | How It Scales |
| --------------- | ----------- | -------------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| Base run | fixed SKUs | App Service plan, SQL tier | step-changes (SKU upgrades) |
| Growth-variable | usage-based | egress, logs, queries | linear/near-linear with usage |
14. 🌍 Regional Comparison
Include the primary region and at least one alternative. Add one sentence explaining why the primary was chosen.
15. 🔧 Environment Strategy (FinOps)
Explicitly state prod vs non-prod sizing rules and whether non-prod auto-shutdown is used.
## 🔧 Environment Strategy (FinOps)
- Production: {HA/zone strategy, baseline capacity}
- Non-prod: {smaller SKUs, single instance, auto-shutdown schedule}
16. 🔄 Environment Cost Comparison
If there are multiple environments (prod/staging/dev), include the table. If single environment, include a short table and state "single environment".
17. 🛡️ Cost Guardrails
Tie the estimate to operational enforcement.
## 🛡️ Cost Guardrails
| Guardrail | Threshold | Action |
| -------------- | ----------- | ------------------------ |
| Budget alert | 80% / 100% | Notify / block approvals |
| DB utilization | >80% | Review tier/queries |
| Log ingestion | >X GB/day | Tune sampling/retention |
| Egress | >X GB/month | Investigate CDN/traffic |
18. 📝 Testable Assumptions
List 3-5 assumptions most likely to change spend, and how to measure them.
## 📝 Testable Assumptions
| Assumption | Why It Matters | How to Measure | Threshold / Trigger |
| ------------------ | -------------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------- |
| Egress < 100 GB/mo | keeps networking costs low | Azure Cost Mgmt + metrics | >100 GB/mo |
| Logs < 5 GB/mo | avoids ingestion costs | Log Analytics usage | >5 GB/mo |
19. 📊 Pricing Data Accuracy
Required bullets:
- Usage basis (e.g., 730 hours/month)
- Pricing type (PAYG list price unless otherwise stated)
- Data/egress assumptions
- Prices queried date
19. 📊 Pricing Data Accuracy
## 📊 Pricing Data Accuracy
> **📊 Data Source**: Prices retrieved from Azure Retail Prices API via Azure Pricing MCP
>
> ✅ **Included**: Retail list prices (PAYG)
>
> ❌ **Not Included**: EA discounts, CSP pricing, negotiated rates, Azure Hybrid Benefit
>
> 💡 For official quotes, validate with Azure Pricing Calculator
20. 🔗 References
Always include links to:
- Azure Pricing Calculator
- Azure Retail Prices API
- Any assessment/plan/docs used
Pricing Sources (Priority Order)
- Azure Pricing MCP (
azure_price_search,azure_cost_estimate) - Azure Pricing Calculator (manual validation)
- Azure Retail Prices API (programmatic)
Patterns to Avoid
| Anti-Pattern | Solution |
|---|---|
| Missing cost drivers | Include top 5 drivers table |
| Missing assumptions | Document usage and pricing basis |
| No "what changes cost" | Include the decision matrix |
| No risk callouts | Include cost risk indicators + a watch item |
| No savings section | Always include savings and what is already applied |
| Stale prices | Note query date; re-validate periodically |
| Missing change control | Include top 3 likely change requests + delta |
| Hidden trade-offs | Add "What we are not paying for (yet)" |
| Unclear variance | Add confidence, variance, base vs variable split |