Documentation - CloudCostAI

Quick Start Guide

1

Create Your Account

Sign up at cloudcostai.tech/signup with your work email. Verify your email to activate your 14-day free trial.

2

Connect Your Cloud Account

Follow the provider-specific instructions below to grant read-only access to your cloud accounts. We use secure IAM roles (AWS), Service Principals (Azure), or Service Accounts (GCP).

3

Wait for Initial Analysis

Our AI will analyze your infrastructure. Initial scan takes 30-60 minutes depending on resource count. You'll receive an email when complete.

4

Review Your Insights

Access your dashboard to see cost breakdowns, waste detection results, and personalized recommendations. Start taking action immediately!

AWS Setup

Step 1: Create IAM Role

Create a read-only IAM role in your AWS account:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ce:*",
        "ec2:Describe*",
        "rds:Describe*",
        "s3:GetBucketLocation",
        "s3:ListAllMyBuckets"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

Step 2: Configure Trust Relationship

Add CloudCostAI's AWS account to the trust policy:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root"
      },
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
      "Condition": {
        "StringEquals": {
          "sts:ExternalId": "your-unique-external-id"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Step 3: Enter Role ARN

Copy your IAM Role ARN and paste it into the CloudCostAI dashboard under Settings → Cloud Accounts → Add AWS Account.

Azure Setup

Step 1: Create Service Principal

Use Azure CLI to create a service principal:

az ad sp create-for-rbac \
  --name "CloudCostAI" \
  --role "Cost Management Reader" \
  --scopes /subscriptions/YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_ID

Step 2: Grant Required Permissions

Ensure the service principal has these roles:

Cost Management Reader
Reader (for resource metadata)

Step 3: Enter Credentials

Enter your Tenant ID, Client ID, and Client Secret in the CloudCostAI dashboard.

GCP Setup

Step 1: Create Service Account

Create a service account with billing viewer permissions:

gcloud iam service-accounts create cloudcostai \
  --display-name="CloudCostAI Service Account"

Step 2: Grant Permissions

Assign required roles:

gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
  --member="serviceAccount:cloudcostai@PROJECT_ID.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
  --role="roles/billing.viewer"

Step 3: Generate Key

Create and download JSON key file:

gcloud iam service-accounts keys create key.json \
  --iam-account=cloudcostai@PROJECT_ID.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Upload the JSON key file in the CloudCostAI dashboard.

Using the Dashboard

Overview Dashboard

Your main dashboard shows real-time cost metrics, savings opportunities, and quick actions. Key widgets include:

Total monthly spend and trend
Identified waste and potential savings
Top recommendations by impact
Cost breakdown by service/region/tag

Recommendations

AI-generated recommendations are sorted by potential savings. Each recommendation includes:

Detailed explanation of the issue
Expected monthly savings
Implementation difficulty level
One-click export to Jira/ServiceNow

Resource Explorer

Browse all your cloud resources with advanced filtering by tags, regions, cost, and utilization metrics.

Reports & Alerts

Automated Reports

Schedule reports to be delivered via email:

Daily: Cost changes and anomalies
Weekly: Comprehensive cost analysis with trends
Monthly: Executive summary with ROI metrics

Alert Configuration

Set up alerts for:

Budget threshold breaches
Anomalous spending patterns
New high-impact recommendations
Resource utilization changes

API Access

Available on Professional and Enterprise plans. Access your data programmatically:

Authentication

curl https://api.cloudcostai.tech/v1/costs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Example: Get Monthly Costs

GET /v1/costs?start_date=2026-01-01&end_date=2026-01-31

Response:
{
  "total_cost": 18429.50,
  "currency": "USD",
  "breakdown": {
    "compute": 8234.20,
    "storage": 3102.40,
    "networking": 2891.10,
    "database": 4201.80
  }
}

Full API documentation available at api.cloudcostai.tech/docs

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does initial setup take?

Account creation and cloud connection takes about 5 minutes. Initial analysis completes within 30-60 minutes.

Can you access my cloud resources?

No. We only request read-only access to billing and metadata. We cannot create, modify, or delete any resources.

How accurate are the savings recommendations?

Our AI models are trained on millions of cloud resources and have 95%+ accuracy. Savings estimates are conservative.

Can I export recommendations?

Yes. Export to CSV, PDF, or push directly to Jira, ServiceNow, or other ticketing systems via our integrations.

Do you support multi-cloud?

Yes. Professional and Enterprise plans include AWS, Azure, and GCP with unified cost visibility.

Still have questions? Contact our support team

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