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Vantage MCP Server: Revolutionize Cloud Cost Management with AI-Driven Insights

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Vantage MCP Server: Revolutionizing Cloud Cost Management

In today’s digital age, cloud services have become indispensable for businesses. However, managing cloud costs effectively has emerged as a significant challenge. Vantage MCP Server, an open-source tool written in Golang, offers a smart solution to this problem. By bridging the gap between users and cloud cost data through MCP clients like Claude, Cursor, etc., it allows for natural language queries on cloud cost information. This makes cost analysis more intuitive and accessible. Let’s delve into the world of Vantage MCP Server and discover how it can transform your cloud cost management experience.

Understanding Vantage MCP Server

Vantage MCP Server is an open-source tool developed in Golang. It enables users to interact with cloud cost data via AI assistants and MCP clients. Currently, it’s only available as a locally run service using Standard Input/Output (stdio) Transport. This means it must be executed on your machine or server and integrated with an MCP client. By leveraging Vantage’s existing APIs, it empowers users to query cloud spend data using natural language.

Key Features of Vantage MCP Server

Vantage MCP Server boasts a variety of powerful tools to meet your cloud cost management needs. Here are some of its key features:

  • Query-Costs: This is a general-purpose tool for fetching cost data using VQL. It provides flexibility in querying cost data based on different criteria, such as time ranges and specific resources.
  • List-Costs: It displays all the costs in an associated cost report, allowing users to clearly see the details and composition of various costs.
  • List-Cost-Reports: Enables users to quickly understand the available cost reports and select the appropriate data source based on their needs.
  • Get-Cost-Report-Forecast: Analyzes cost data to provide spending forecasts related to cost reports. This helps users plan budgets in advance and avoid cost overruns.
  • List-Cost-Integrations: Shows all cost provider integrations (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and their associated accounts. This facilitates the unified management of cost data from different cloud service providers.
  • List-Cost-Providers: Presents a list of cost providers shared with the current workspace, allowing users to know which cloud service providers’ cost data can be queried and analyzed.
  • List-Cost-Services: Lists all services and their associated providers shared with the workspace. This helps users understand the cost distribution of different cloud services.
  • List-Budgets: Displays all available budgets and compares them with cost reports to track spending. When actual expenses approach or exceed the budget, it promptly issues warnings.
  • List-Dashboards: Shows all dashboards created in the Vantage account. These dashboards visually present cost data, enabling users to quickly grasp cost trends and key metrics.
  • List-Tags and List-Tag-Values: Tags are commonly used for cost classification and filtering in cloud cost management. These two features respectively list the tags and tag values that can be used to filter cost reports, allowing for more precise cost data screening.
  • List-Anomalies: Detects and lists anomalies in cost reports. These anomalies may arise from abnormal resource usage or billing errors. Identifying and addressing them promptly helps prevent unnecessary cost waste.
  • List-Unit-Costs: Retrieves the unit costs for a given cost report, providing users with a deeper understanding of the cost structure of various resources.
  • Get-Myself: This tool lists available workspaces and checks the access level of the authentication token, ensuring that users operate within the correct permission scope when using Vantage MCP Server.
  • Submit-User-Feedback: Offers users a convenient channel to provide feedback on MCP or their overall Vantage experience to the Vantage team. This helps the Vantage team continuously improve the product and enhance user experience.

Getting Started with Vantage MCP Server

Before embarking on your journey with Vantage MCP Server, there are some prerequisites to consider. If you’re installing from source, ensure you have the following packages installed (refer to .tool-versions for exact versions):

  • Go: Install the Go programming language from the official Go website.
  • Node.js: Download and install Node.js from the official Node.js website. It’s utilized for certain front-end tasks and tools within the project.

Additionally, you’ll need to create a Read-Only Vantage API token. At this time, write operations are not supported. Follow the instructions in the Vantage API documentation to create a dedicated read-only API token for exclusive use with the MCP Server. This ensures data security and prevents unauthorized modifications.

Installation Methods

  • Using Homebrew: If you’re a macOS user and have Homebrew installed, simply run the command brew install vantage-sh/tap/vantage-mcp-server to install Vantage MCP Server. Homebrew will handle dependencies and complete the installation process automatically.
  • From Source: First, clone the Vantage MCP Server repository with the command git clone https://github.com/vantage-sh/vantage-mcp-server. Then, build the server and adjust permissions using the following commands:
go build -o vantage-mcp-server
chmod +x vantage-mcp-server

After pulling new changes from the repository, remember to rerun go build to rebuild the server and ensure you’re running the latest version. You can also debug using the MCP inspector with the command npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector -e VANTAGE_BEARER_TOKEN=<token> ./vantage-mcp-server.

Setting Up MCP Clients

Different MCP clients have varying setup procedures. Here are the setup instructions for some common clients:

Claude for Desktop

  1. Download Claude for Desktop from the official Claude website.

  2. Open Claude for Desktop, click Claude > Settings (keyboard shortcut Command + ,), and select Developer from the left menu in the Settings pane.

  3. Click Edit Config. The configuration file will be created at the following paths:

    • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
    • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

  4. Open the claude_desktop_config.json file and update its contents. Replace <path_to_compiled_vantage_mcp_server_binary> with the path to the compiled Vantage MCP Server binary and <personal_vantage_api_token> with your Vantage API token:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Vantage": {
      "command": "<path_to_compiled_vantage_mcp_server_binary>",
      "args": [],
      "env": { "VANTAGE_BEARER_TOKEN": "<personal_vantage_api_token>" }
    }
  }
}
  1. Save the configuration file and restart Claude. You’ll then see the available tools for the Vantage MCP Server in the bottom-right corner of the Claude input box. Each time you use a new tool, Claude will request your approval before proceeding.

Cursor

  1. Download Cursor from the official Cursor website.
  2. Open Cursor and click Cursor > Settings > Cursor Settings from the menu bar. Select MCP in the left pane.
  3. Click Add new global MCP Server and update the contents of the opened mcp.json file. Replace <path_to_compiled_vantage_mcp_server_binary> and <personal_vantage_api_token> with the actual path and token value:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Vantage": {
      "command": "<path_to_compiled_vantage_mcp_server_binary>",
      "args": [],
      "env": { "VANTAGE_BEARER_TOKEN": "<personal_vantage_api_token>" }
    }
  }
}

Goose

  1. Download Goose from the official Goose website.

  2. Open Goose and click Goose > Settings from the menu bar (keyboard shortcut Command + ,).

  3. Under the Extensions section, click Add custom extension. Fill in the following information:

    • ID: vantage-mcp-server
    • Name: Vantage
    • Description: Query costs and usage data.
    • Command: Enter the path to the Vantage MCP Server binary.
    • Environment Variables: Add a new variable named VANTAGE_BEARER_TOKEN and set its value to your Vantage API token.

  4. Click Add to complete the process.

Special Notes for MacOS Users

If you download a release from our GitHub page and encounter issues where the executable fails to run due to the “developer cannot be verified” message, follow these steps:

  1. Open your System Settings.
  2. Navigate to the “Privacy and Security” section.
  3. At the bottom of the page, you’ll see a message indicating that “vantage-mcp-server-macos” was blocked. Click the “Open Anyway” button. After completing this process, the executable should run without any issues.

Contributing to Vantage MCP Server

Vantage MCP Server is an open-source project that welcomes contributions from the community. If you have ideas for improvements, bug fixes, or new features, you can contribute by following these steps:

  1. Fork the Repository: Click the “Fork” button on the Vantage MCP Server project page to create a copy of the project under your GitHub account.
  2. Create a New Branch: In your forked repository, run the command git checkout -b feature/my-feature to create a new branch for your changes. This helps maintain a clear and organized version history.
  3. Make Changes: Implement your changes in the new branch. Ensure your code follows the project’s style guidelines and is well-documented.
  4. Format and Build: Use appropriate code formatting tools to format your code. Then, run the build command to verify that your changes compile and run successfully.
  5. Submit a Pull Request: Submit a pull request through GitHub. Provide a detailed description of your changes, including the purpose, functionality, and any issues they address. This helps the project maintainers review and merge your contribution more efficiently.

If you encounter any issues or have questions while using Vantage MCP Server, you can submit a bug report via the GitHub Issues page of the project. The project team will actively monitor and respond to help you resolve issues.

Conclusion

Vantage MCP Server is a game-changer in the field of cloud cost management. By integrating with MCP clients, it enables users to query and analyze cloud cost data using natural language, fully leveraging the advantages of AI technology in data processing and analysis. Whether you’re a professional cloud cost manager or a technically savvy user with some knowledge of cloud costs, Vantage MCP Server is an invaluable tool. It enhances the efficiency and accuracy of cloud cost management while lowering the barrier to entry. This empowers more businesses to take control of their cloud costs and achieve cost optimization and sustainable development during their digital transformation journey.

We hope this blog post has provided you with a comprehensive understanding of Vantage MCP Server and inspired you to leverage its powerful features in your work. If you have any questions or thoughts about Vantage MCP Server, feel free to leave a comment and join the discussion. Together, let’s explore the endless possibilities in this field.

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