understand-cloudzero-organization

Understand CloudZero Organization

Purpose

This foundational skill retrieves organization-specific context from CloudZero that is essential for accurate cost analysis. It should be invoked once at the beginning of any cost analysis session to understand the organization's unique dimensions, workflows, and business context.

When to Use

• MANDATORY: At the start of any cost analysis conversation or workflow
• Before any other cost analysis skill is invoked
• When switching to analyze a different organization
• When you need to understand available custom dimensions

Note: Once organization context is retrieved in a conversation, other skills should reference the cached information rather than re-reading it.

What Organization Context Provides

Organization context from get_org_context includes:

1. Custom Dimension Definitions

• User:Defined: dimensions specific to this organization
• Business meanings and mappings (e.g., "User:Defined:Team" = engineering teams)
• Hierarchical relationships (Business Unit → Product → Team)
• How dimensions map to organizational structure

2. Organization-Specific Workflows

• Preferred analysis patterns for this organization
• Standard time periods for reporting (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
• Typical cost review processes
• Key stakeholders and reporting requirements

3. Team Structures and Ownership

• How teams/products are organized
• Cost center mappings
• Budget owners and accountability structure
• Showback/chargeback policies

4. Cost Allocation Policies

• How shared costs are allocated
• Tagging standards and requirements
• Required tags for resources
• Cost attribution rules

5. Important Business Context

• Seasonal factors affecting costs (e.g., year-end processing)
• Known planned changes (migrations, new projects)
• Business events that impact spending
• Growth patterns and expectations

How to Use This Skill

Step 1: Check if Context Already Retrieved

Before calling the MCP tool, check the conversation history:

• Has get_org_context been called already in this conversation?
• If YES: Reference the previously retrieved context
• If NO: Proceed to Step 2

Step 2: Retrieve Organization Context

Call the CloudZero MCP server tool:

get_org_context()

This returns comprehensive organization-specific information.

Step 3: Analyze and Internalize Context

Review the returned context to understand:

• What custom dimensions exist (e.g., teams, products, cost centers)
• What the organization's priorities are (optimization, allocation, governance)
• Any specific guidance or workflows for this organization
• Important context that affects cost interpretation

Step 4: Make Context Available to Other Skills

Store key insights from organization context for reference by subsequent skills:

• List of available custom dimensions
• Key team/product names
• Cost allocation rules
• Any special considerations

Output Format

After retrieving organization context, provide a concise summary:

Organization Profile

Organization Name: [If available] Primary Focus: [Optimization / Allocation / FinOps / etc.]

Available Custom Dimensions

• User:Defined:Team: [Number of teams or example values]
• User:Defined:Product: [Number of products or example values]
• User:Defined:CostCenter: [If available]
• [Other custom dimensions...]

Key Insights

• [Important context point 1]
• [Important context point 2]
• [Special considerations]

Recommended Analysis Approach

Based on organization context:

• [Recommended dimension to start with]
• [Preferred time periods]
• [Key stakeholders or reporting needs]

Integration with Other Skills

All other cost analysis skills should follow this pattern:

## Prerequisites
Before using this skill, ensure organization context has been retrieved via the
[Understand CloudZero Organization](../understand-cloudzero-organization/SKILL.md) skill.

If not already done in this conversation:
1. Use the understand-cloudzero-organization skill first
2. Then proceed with this skill's analysis

If organization context was already retrieved, reference that information.

Efficiency Note

Avoid redundant calls: Once get_org_context is called in a conversation, DO NOT call it again. Other skills should reference the previously retrieved context rather than making duplicate API calls.

Example Usage

User request: "Analyze my cloud costs"

Assistant response:

I'll start by understanding your CloudZero organization context, then analyze your costs.

[Calls get_org_context]

I can see your organization uses custom dimensions for Teams and Products.
You have 8 engineering teams and 3 main products. Your cost allocation
policy requires Environment and Team tags on all resources.

Now let me analyze your top cost drivers using these dimensions...
[Proceeds with cost analysis using appropriate dimensions]

When Context Changes

Re-invoke this skill if:

• Switching to analyze a different CloudZero organization
• User mentions recent changes to custom dimensions or team structure
• Analysis results seem inconsistent with expected organization structure
• Explicitly requested by user

Best Practices

1. Call once per conversation - Cache the results for subsequent skills
2. Reference, don't repeat - Other skills should reference cached context
3. Validate assumptions - If analysis seems off, verify context is current
4. Respect organization conventions - Use their terminology and preferred dimensions
5. Consider business context - Factor in seasonal patterns, planned changes

See Also

• CloudZero Tools Reference
• Dimensions Reference
• All other cost analysis skills depend on this foundational skill