• MONITOR
  • ANALYZE
  • RECONCILE
  • HUMAN

How to track third party service spend with your AI

Connect OpenCost to your AI client to bridge the gap between cluster metrics and external service invoices.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I track third party service spend with my AI?

Your AI uses OpenCost to pull cost totals and time-series data from your Kubernetes clusters. You can then compare these numbers against external service bills to find discrepancies. You'll get a clear view of how cluster activity correlates with outside costs.

Cost visibility outcomes

Where your data lands

What you get when your AI analyzes your spend.

MONITOR

Real-time cost tracking

The AI pulls current totals from OpenCost. You get a clear view of what your cluster is costing you right now.

ANALYZE

Trend identification

By pulling time-series data, your AI identifies when costs spiked. This helps you spot unusual usage patterns in your services.

RECONCILE

External service matching

Compare your cluster costs with Datadog or MongoDB Atlas bills. Your AI highlights where external spend doesn't align with cluster activity.

HUMAN

Manual budget decisions

The AI identifies the gaps, but you decide how to adjust your cloud budget or service tiers based on its findings.

The workflow

What your AI does when the data arrives.

The AI acts as a bridge between your cluster metrics and your financial oversight.

  1. Fetch totals

    The AI pulls the current cost figures from your Kubernetes environment.

    get_custom_cost_total

  2. Map trends

    It gathers historical cost data to build a timeline of your spending.

    get_custom_cost_timeseries

  3. Cross-reference

    The AI compares these cluster totals against the external service costs you provide in chat.

    get_custom_cost_total

  4. Report findings

    It summarizes the relationship between your cluster usage and third party service spend.

    get_custom_cost_timeseries

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to begin your cost analysis.

Starting points

These are opening lines. Swap out the service names like Datadog or MongoDB Atlas for the ones you actually use.

OpenCost Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_5JgTTx4dCCg1vy5LoQY7EOXCEeiHxNr943mMQtmk/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — OpenCost capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "opencost-k8s-cost-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_5JgTTx4dCCg1vy5LoQY7EOXCEeiHxNr943mMQtmk/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • What was my total Kubernetes spend for the last 30 days?

  • Show me the cost time-series for my cluster over the last week.

  • Compare my OpenCost totals with my $500 Datadog bill.

  • Did my cluster costs spike at the same time my MongoDB Atlas bill went up?

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Start here

Connect OpenCost once, then ask.

Just link the MCP to your client. Your credentials stay encrypted, and you can start asking questions immediately.

Connect OpenCost to your AI

FAQ

How this task behaves

  • 01

    Can the AI change my cloud provider settings?

    No. The AI can only read cost data from OpenCost. It cannot modify your cluster or your external service accounts.

  • 02

    Does the AI see my actual credit card info?

    No. It only accesses the cost metrics provided by the OpenCost data.

  • 03

    Can it automatically pay my Datadog bill?

    No. The AI is limited to reading and analyzing cost data. It has no capability to execute payments or change billing settings.

  • 04

    How does it know what my Datadog bill is?

    The AI doesn't pull Datadog data directly. You provide the Datadog cost information in the chat, and it compares that to the OpenCost data it fetches.

  • 05

    Can I see a graph of my spending?

    The AI can pull the time-series data needed to understand trends, which you can then use to visualize your spending.

  • More questions about OpenCost? The Connector page answers them. See everything the OpenCost Connector can do

Connect OpenCost to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT & more