Opportunity Cost Prover MCP. Prove your architecture is worth the sacrifice.

Listen up. When you ask your agent for a solution—any time—it's got this habit of just giving you the easiest path, the one with the least friction. That’s tunnel vision, pure and simple. But in engineering or architecture, every single choice is a tradeoff. Picking Option A means you gotta give up B.

The Opportunity Cost Prover fixes that. It forces your AI agent to stop guessing and start doing the math. This engine runs what we call a six-pivot trap, which makes sure the agent maps out direct costs, quantifies every opportunity loss from discarded options, flags irreversible dependencies like vendor lock-in, and proves the whole damn thing works mathematically before it spits out an answer.

The tool at play here is validate_opportunity_cost. It forces your AI client through this intense six-pivot process, making sure you don't get blindsided by a seemingly good idea that’s actually a financial trap. You use the Prover to prevent the agent from just picking what looks convenient.

Here’s how it works:

First, it forces your agent to map required trade-offs. It doesn't let you select a path without simultaneously validating the necessary comparison between that chosen architecture and an actual, discarded alternative you were considering. You gotta tell it both options up front so it can validate what you’re actually sacrificing.

Next, it quantifies opportunity loss. If your agent rejects a viable architectural option—say, using a different database or microservice framework—this tool calculates the measurable value you're losing by making that rejection. It figures out the exact dollars and time associated with turning down a good bet.

The Prover then forces it to identify one-way doors. This is critical: your agent has to surface any irreversible dependencies, whether it's proprietary APIs or getting locked into one specific vendor’s ecosystem. If that decision means you can't easily pivot later, the tool flags it immediately.

Finally, it proves economic viability. It runs a hard check validating that the projected gains from your chosen path mathematically outweigh everything: all direct costs, all quantified opportunity losses, and every single bit of irreversible risk identified along the way. If the math doesn't hold up—if Gains don’t strictly exceed (Costs + Lost Opportunity + Irreversibility Risk)—the agent won't give you a final recommendation.

The validate_opportunity_cost tool handles all six pivots in one go: it maps required tradeoffs by comparing your chosen path against the discarded alternative; it calculates the measurable value lost from rejecting that viable option; it identifies any one-way doors, like proprietary APIs or vendor lock-in; and it proves economic viability by running a logical proof that projected gains mathematically exceed all associated costs, losses, and risks.

It makes sure you're making an informed decision, not just picking the path of least resistance.