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AWS Cost Explorer

Query AWS spend, forecasts, cost allocation tags, and Savings Plans or Reserved Instance utilization via the Cost Explorer API.

Manual setup 10 tools

Example questions

Try asking your AI client

  • What did we spend by AWS service over the last 7 days?

  • Did Lambda or S3 cost jump after last week's launch?

  • Give me a short forecast for the rest of the month.

  • Which cost allocation tags look unused?

  • Write a savings note for Amalie about idle RDS - do not change anything.

Overview

Connect AWS Cost Explorer so AI clients can query historical AWS spend, cost forecasts, dimension values (services, regions, linked accounts), cost allocation tags, and Savings Plans / Reserved Instance utilization.

This integration uses the AWS Cost Explorer API with IAM access keys stored encrypted in stackgate.ai. API usage is billed to your AWS account ($0.01 per request).

For infrastructure logs and metrics, use AWS CloudWatch. For S3 artifact costs in context of CI, see AWS CodeBuild.

Prerequisites

  • An AWS account with Cost Explorer enabled (AWS Billing console → Cost Explorer → Enable; can take up to 24 hours)
  • For organization-wide linked-account data: IAM credentials from the management/payer account
  • A stackgate.ai account

Getting credentials

  1. In the AWS IAM console, create an IAM user (or use an existing automation user) with programmatic access.
  2. Attach a least-privilege policy. Example for read-only Cost Explorer:
{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "ce:GetCostAndUsage",
                "ce:GetCostForecast",
                "ce:GetDimensionValues",
                "ce:GetTags",
                "ce:GetUsageForecast",
                "ce:GetSavingsPlansUtilization",
                "ce:GetSavingsPlansCoverage",
                "ce:GetReservationUtilization",
                "ce:GetReservationCoverage",
                "ce:GetCostCategories"
            ],
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}
  1. Create an access key and copy the key ID and secret.
  2. In stackgate.ai, open My Integrations → AWS Cost Explorer.
  3. Click Activate and enter access key ID, secret access key, and AWS region (stored for consistency; the Cost Explorer API always uses the us-east-1 endpoint).

You can reuse the same IAM user as Amazon S3, AWS CloudWatch, or other AWS integrations with a merged policy.

Using with AI clients

  • Dedicated endpoint: POST /mcp/cost-explorer with a Sanctum bearer token
  • Private gateway: one config for all integrations — use cost-explorer__* namespaced tools

Typical workflow:

  1. get_dimension_values — discover services, regions, or linked accounts (dimension: SERVICE, REGION, LINKED_ACCOUNT)
  2. get_tags — list cost allocation tag keys or values
  3. get_cost_and_usage — query historical spend (group_by, filter by services, region, or tags)
  4. get_cost_forecast — forecast upcoming spend
  5. get_savings_plans_utilization / get_reservation_utilization — commitment utilization

See Documentation for HTTP authentication and private gateway setup.

Troubleshooting

  • 422 integration not configured — complete all required credential fields in My Integrations.
  • 403 / AccessDenied from AWS — verify IAM policy includes ce:Get* actions and Cost Explorer is enabled on the account.
  • DataUnavailableException / empty results — Cost Explorer may not be enabled yet, or the date range has no billing data.
  • LimitExceededException — you made too many API calls in a short period. Each request costs $0.01; avoid rapid repeated queries.
  • Linked account data missing — use management/payer account credentials for organization-wide LINKED_ACCOUNT dimensions.
  • HOURLY granularity charges — hourly data has additional AWS fees beyond the per-request API cost. Prefer DAILY or MONTHLY unless needed.

Available tools

  • get_dimension_values

    List available dimension values (services, regions, linked accounts, etc.) for a time period.

  • get_cost_and_usage

    Query historical AWS cost and usage for a time period.

  • get_cost_forecast

    Forecast AWS spend for a future time period based on historical costs.

  • get_tags

    List cost allocation tag keys or values active during a time period.

  • get_usage_forecast

    Forecast AWS usage quantity for a future time period.

  • get_savings_plans_utilization

    Retrieve Savings Plans utilization for a time period.

  • get_savings_plans_coverage

    Retrieve Savings Plans coverage for a time period.

  • get_reservation_utilization

    Retrieve Reserved Instance utilization for a time period.

  • get_reservation_coverage

    Retrieve Reserved Instance coverage for a time period.

  • get_cost_categories

    List cost category names available for a time period.

MCP endpoint: https://stackgate.ai/mcp/cost-explorer (HTTP) or via the private gateway.

Related workflows

Multi-integration playbooks that use AWS Cost Explorer to solve concrete business outcomes.

Create account Documentation