# Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP (remote · cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live)

Cloud cost + FinOps knowledge for AI agents: AWS/Azure/GCP optimisation, AI spend, waste playbooks.

- Trust score: 23/100 (low)
- Change this week: 0
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-09-20

## Components

- remote · `cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live`: 23/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/optimnow-cloud-finops/cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/optimnow-cloud-finops/cloud-finops-skills-590a051d)
- pypi · `cloud-finops-mcp`: 80/100, [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/optimnow-cloud-finops/cloud-finops-mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/optimnow-cloud-finops/cloud-finops-mcp)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `1.36.0`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically against the live server, and we only credit what we can confirm. Scores are 0–100 per category. Scoring method: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring (what has changed: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring/changelog)

Scored 2026-09-20.

- **Endpoint Security**: 57/100
  - The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key.
  - Authorisation not fully verified: no authorisation is required to connect, but we couldn't read the tool list to see what that exposes.
  - HTTPS is enforced; there's no plaintext access path.
  - HSTS check failed: the Strict-Transport-Security header is absent.
  - DNSSEC check failed: this domain isn't protected by DNSSEC.
- **Transport & Reachability**: 0/100
  - Transport check failed: declared streamable-http, but the endpoint returned HTTP 402.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 0/100
  - Schema not yet verified: we couldn't read the endpoint's schema.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 0/100
  - Stability not yet verified: not enough scan history yet (needs a 30-day window).
- **Tool Coverage**: 0/100
  - Tool coverage not yet verified: we couldn't read the endpoint's tools.
- **Tool Safety**: 0/100
  - Tool safety not yet verified: we couldn't read the endpoint's tools.
- **Capabilities**: 0/100
  - Capabilities not yet verified: we couldn't read the endpoint's capabilities.

**Unverified: 5 categories.** Categories scored 0 because we could not verify them: authentication we do not have, an unreachable endpoint, or not enough scan history. We only credit what we can confirm.

## Install

### How do I install the Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP server?

Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP is a hosted endpoint at https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp, so there is nothing to install locally. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.

### Claude

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http optimnow-cloud-finops 'https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp'
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "optimnow-cloud-finops": {
      "url": "https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "optimnow-cloud-finops": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```toml
[mcp_servers.optimnow-cloud-finops]
url = "https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp"
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "optimnow-cloud-finops": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add optimnow-cloud-finops --url 'https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp' --transport streamable-http
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  optimnow-cloud-finops:
    url: "https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp"
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "optimnow-cloud-finops": {
      "Transport": "http",
      "Url": "https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add optimnow-cloud-finops -t streamable-http -u 'https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp'
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "optimnow-cloud-finops": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

The mcpServers block is a cross-client convention. Remote transports vary, so check your client's docs.

## Changelog

Every change recorded for this component, newest first. Days that predate change tracking, or that we cannot explain, say so: "we were watching and nothing happened" and "we were not watching" are different claims.

### 2026-09-05 (score 23, −54)

- [security regression] Endpoint reachability: reachable → not serving MCP
- [security regression] Stability: 0.53 → unverified
- [security regression] Tool safety: pass → unverified
- [security regression] Authorization: partial → unverified
- [security regression] Transport: pass → fail
- [functional regression] Schema quality: 100 → unverified
- [functional regression] Capabilities: pass → unverified
- [functional regression] Tool coverage: 100 → unverified

### 2026-09-04 (score 77, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 50 to 53. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 15 days of observed history at the previous scan, 16 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-02 (score 76, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 43 to 47. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 13 days of observed history at the previous scan, 14 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-08-31 (score 75, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 37 to 40. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 11 days of observed history at the previous scan, 12 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-08-29 (score 74, 0)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [security] Tool “find_playbooks” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “get_playbook” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “get_reference” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “list_playbooks” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “list_references” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional regression] Schema quality: 200 → 286
- [functional regression] Schema quality: 200 → 275
- [functional] Server version: 1.29.0 → 1.29.1
- [cosmetic] “get_reference” added an optional parameter “section”

### 2026-08-28 (score 74, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 27 to 30. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 8 days of observed history at the previous scan, 9 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-08-26 (score 73, +2)

- [functional] We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server

### 2026-08-25 (score 71, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 17 to 20. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 5 days of observed history at the previous scan, 6 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

## MCP tools (6)

### `list_references` (~245 tokens)

Browse the FinOps knowledge library

See what FinOps guidance is available: billing mechanics, commitment
strategy, allocation and chargeback, AI cost management, and per-provider
cost handbooks (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, Databricks, Snowflake, ...).

Use this to discover what the library covers before deciding what to
fetch. When the question already names a FinOps domain, phase, persona
or maturity, call ``find_references`` instead of scanning this full
list.

Returns a dict shaped ``{"references": [...], "total": N}`` where each
entry includes ``name``, ``title``, a one-line ``description``, the
discriminating FCP facets (``fcp_domain``, ``fcp_capability``,
\``fcp_phases``, ``fcp_personas_primary``, ``fcp_maturity_entry``) and
\``approx_tokens``.

Read ``approx_tokens`` before fetching: the library runs from about 3,000
to over 25,000 tokens per file. Above roughly 10,000, prefer
\``get_reference(name, section=...)`` and pull the part you need.

### `get_reference` (~517 tokens)

Read one FinOps guide

Fetch the guidance on one FinOps topic - the billing mechanics,
decision rules and worked examples behind a defensible answer - either
whole or one section at a time.

Use this when you need the actual content of one known reference -
after ``list_references`` or ``find_references`` told you which one
serves the question, and ALWAYS before answering an advisory question
(commitment sizing, chargeback design, allocation methodology) the
library covers.

Pass ``section`` when the question is narrower than the file. The
\``approx_tokens`` hint in the listing tells you when this matters: the
provider pattern catalogues run past 25,000 tokens and are enumerated
lists, so a question about S3 lifecycle wants one section of
\``finops-aws-patterns``, not all of it. Omit ``section`` for the whole
file when you need the cross-cutting reasoning.

Args:
    name: Reference name as returned by ``list_references`` (e.g.
        ``"finops-aws"``, ``"finops-genai-capacity"``,
        ``"optimnow-methodology"``).
    section: Optional H2 or H3 heading to return on its own. Matched
        case-insensitively and partially against the headings, so a
        natural phrase works - ``"storage"``, ``"commitment decision
        tree"``. A heading's trailing count is ignored, so
        ``"storage optimization patterns"`` matches
        ``"Storage Optimization Patterns (28)"``. If it matches nothing
        you get the list of available headings back, not the whole file.

Without ``section``, returns ``{"name": ..., "content": "...",
"lines": N}`` where ``content`` is the file verbatim. With ``section``,
returns ``{"name", "title", "section", "section_level", "partial": true,
"content", "lines", "full_lines"}`` where ``content`` is that section
prefixed by the reference's title, plus ``other_matching_sections`` when
the phrase matched more than one heading.

On a miss, returns ``{"error": ..., "suggestions": [...]}``. An unknown
name gives up to three string-distance matches; an unmatched…

Input parameters:

- `name` (string, required)
- `section`

### `find_references` (~515 tokens)

Find the right FinOps guide

Find which guidance serves a FinOps question - how to commit, size,
allocate, charge back, forecast, or govern cloud and AI spend.

Use this for questions like "how should we size Savings Plans",
"what should Finance own in chargeback", "what does a Crawl-stage org
tackle first" - anything that maps to FinOps Framework facets (domain,
capability, phase, persona, maturity) - and you want only the
references that serve it, instead of scanning the full list.

All filters are optional and combine with AND semantics. String matching
is case-insensitive and exact (not substring). Examples:

\- ``find_references(domain="Optimize Usage & Cost")``
\- ``find_references(phase="Optimize", persona="Engineering")``
\- ``find_references(persona="Engineering", persona_primary_only=True)``
\- ``find_references(capability="Rate Optimization")``
\- ``find_references(maturity="Crawl")``

Args:
    domain: FinOps Framework domain (e.g. ``"Optimize Usage & Cost"``,
        ``"Quantify Business Value"``, ``"Manage the FinOps Practice"``).
    capability: FinOps capability (matches ``fcp_capability`` and
        ``fcp_capabilities_secondary``).
    phase: FinOps phase (``"Inform"``, ``"Optimize"``, ``"Operate"``).
    persona: Persona (matches ``fcp_personas_primary`` and
        ``fcp_personas_collaborating``).
    maturity: Entry maturity level (``"Crawl"``, ``"Walk"``, ``"Run"``).
    persona_primary_only: when True, ``persona`` matches only the primary
        list. Use it when the default match barely narrows the set -
        broad personas like Engineering collaborate on nearly every file,
        so filtering on collaboration is descriptive, not discriminating.
        ``persona="Engineering", persona_primary_only=True`` is the
        engineering reading list; the default is the everything-they-touch
        view.

Returns ``{"filters": {...}, "references": [...], "total": N}``. A query
that matches nothing also returns `hint` and `valid_values`, so a typo is
distinguishable from a ge…

Input parameters:

- `capability`
- `domain`
- `maturity`
- `persona`
- `persona_primary_only` (boolean)
- `phase`

### `list_playbooks` (~222 tokens)

Browse the cloud waste runbooks

See every ready-made runbook for finding and fixing cloud waste:
idle, orphaned and overprovisioned resources, egress surprises,
schedule blindness and AI/ML inefficiency across AWS, Azure and GCP.

Use this to discover which waste patterns have a runbook. When the
question already names a provider, waste category, or confidence tier,
call ``find_playbooks`` instead.

Each playbook is a small (~80-130 line) runbook scoped to one waste
pattern (e.g. ``aws-zombie-nat-gateway``, ``azure-orphan-disks``). Returns
\``{"playbooks": [...], "total": N}`` where each entry includes ``name``,
\``title``, ``scope`` (aws/azure/gcp/cross-cloud), ``service``,
\``waste_category``, ``confidence`` (obvious/likely/possible), and
\``approx_tokens`` - the same size hint the reference listing carries, so a
multi-playbook answer can be budgeted before fetching.

### `get_playbook` (~291 tokens)

Read one waste runbook

Fetch the step-by-step runbook for one specific waste pattern:
symptoms, the detection queries to run, the fix, and the anti-pattern
to avoid.

Use this when the user asks how to detect, confirm, or fix one specific
named waste pattern (zombie NAT gateway, snapshot sprawl, idle SageMaker
endpoint, ...). When the question is about the user's OWN resources
("which of my X..."), fetch the runbook and hand over its detection
query - never reply that you lack account access, and never ask for a
data export first. The runbook IS the answer.

Args:
    name: Playbook slug as returned by ``list_playbooks`` (e.g.
        ``"aws-zombie-nat-gateway"``, ``"azure-orphan-disks"``,
        ``"cross-cloud-untagged-spend-drift"``).

Returns ``{"name": ..., "title": ..., "content": "...", "lines": N}``.
On miss, returns ``{"error": ..., "suggestions": [...]}`` with up to
three string-distance matches so the caller can self-correct.

A host with MCP Apps (SEP-1865) support may render this result via the
linked ``ui://cloud-finops/playbook-viewer`` resource instead of showing
the raw markdown.

Input parameters:

- `name` (string, required)

### `find_playbooks` (~665 tokens)

Find a waste runbook

ALWAYS call this before answering a cloud-waste or cost-fix
question from your own knowledge, and before asking the user for any
account data. Find the tested runbook for a waste suspicion: filter by
provider, service, waste category or detection confidence.

Two rules. (1) When the user reports a symptom you think you can
answer directly - "my NAT gateway processes 10TB to S3", "should I
delete these old snapshots" - call this FIRST anyway: a named runbook
with a tested detection query outranks a correct generic answer, and
answering without checking loses the query the user needed. (2) When
the user asks about THEIR OWN resources - "which of my RIs are about
to expire", "which of our VMs run for nothing" - do NOT reply that you
lack account access and do NOT request a data export: you cannot see
their account, but the matching runbook carries the exact detection
query to hand over. The runbook IS the answer.

Use this for questions like "which VMs are running for nothing",
"why is our NAT bill so high", "what waste can we clean up safely
without review" - anything that names a provider, a waste category, or
how confident the detection needs to be before acting. Patterns
covered include NAT gateways and VPC endpoints, expiring Savings
Plans / RIs / reservations, snapshot sprawl, S3 lifecycle gaps, idle
or stopped VMs, orphaned disks / public IPs / EBS volumes, GPU and
SageMaker sizing, Kubernetes idle capacity, and schedule blindness.

All filters are optional and combine with AND semantics. String matching
is case-insensitive and exact. Examples:

\- ``find_playbooks(scope="aws")`` - all AWS-specific playbooks
\- ``find_playbooks(waste_category="idle")`` - every idle-resource pattern
\- ``find_playbooks(scope="cross-cloud", confidence="obvious")``

Args:
    scope: ``"aws"``, ``"azure"``, ``"gcp"``, or ``"cross-cloud"``.
    service: Provider service exact-match (e.g. ``"AWS NAT Gateway"``).
    waste_category: ``"orphaned"``, ``"idle"``, ``"overprovisioned"``,…

Input parameters:

- `confidence`
- `scope`
- `service`
- `waste_category`

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: TLS, DNSSEC, Authorisation, Transports. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/optimnow-cloud-finops/cloud-finops-skills-590a051d#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-09-20: 23
- 2026-09-19: 23
- 2026-09-18: 23
- 2026-09-17: 23
- 2026-09-16: 23
- 2026-09-15: 23
- 2026-09-14: 23
- 2026-09-13: 23
- 2026-09-12: 23
- 2026-09-11: 23
- 2026-09-10: 23
- 2026-09-09: 23
- 2026-09-08: 23
- 2026-09-07: 23
- 2026-09-06: 23
- 2026-09-05: 23
- 2026-09-04: 77
- 2026-09-03: 76
- 2026-09-02: 76
- 2026-09-01: 75
- 2026-08-31: 75
- 2026-08-30: 74
- 2026-08-29: 74
- 2026-08-28: 74
- 2026-08-27: 73
- 2026-08-26: 73
- 2026-08-25: 71
- 2026-08-24: 70
- 2026-08-23: 70
- 2026-08-22: 69

## Common questions

### What is the Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP server?

Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP is listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.OptimNow/cloud-finops. Cloud cost + FinOps knowledge for AI agents: AWS/Azure/GCP optimisation, AI spend, waste playbooks. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp).

### Is the Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP server safe to use?

Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP scores 23 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. That is a record of what we were able to check automatically, not an endorsement. The category breakdown on this page shows every signal behind the number, including the ones we could not confirm.

### What tools does the Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP server expose?

Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP exposes 6 tools: list_references, get_reference, find_references, list_playbooks, get_playbook, find_playbooks. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 2,455 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Does the Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP server require authentication?

No. We connected to Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.

### Is the Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP server still maintained?

Cloud FinOps Skill & MCP is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 20 September 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

## Links

- Remote endpoint: https://cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.alpic.live/mcp
- Repository: https://github.com/OptimNow/cloud-finops-skills
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/optimnow-cloud-finops/cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/optimnow-cloud-finops/cloud-finops-skills-590a051d.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/optimnow-cloud-finops/cloud-finops-skills-590a051d