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Analysis & spreadsheets48k · #3634

monte-carlo-storage-cost-analysis

Analyzes data storage costs by identifying unused or redundant tables. It classifies waste and helps optimize usage.

What it does

This tool analyzes your data warehouse to find unused or redundant tables, helping to reduce storage costs. It classifies waste patterns and suggests which tables can be safely removed.

When to use it

  • ✓When you want to reduce your data warehouse costs.
  • ✓To find old or no longer needed tables.
  • ✓When planning storage space optimization.

Example of what to ask your AI

“Which tables can I remove to save money on storage?”

Want more? Open the sections below.

How to use

The easiest way: copy the message below and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any AI. It reads the skill and follows the instructions.

Skill link

https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/blob/main/plugins/agentic-awesome-skills-claude/skills/monte-carlo-storage-cost-analysis/SKILL.md

Ready-to-paste message

Use this skill to help me: https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/blob/main/plugins/agentic-awesome-skills-claude/skills/monte-carlo-storage-cost-analysis/SKILL.md Read the SKILL.md file at that link and follow its instructions for my task.
How it works

The tool connects to your data warehouse and uses an analysis to identify tables that haven't been read or used for a long time. It groups these tables by waste type and category, calculating a safety score for removal.

Installation

Easiest way: copy the skill link and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor asking it to follow the instructions.

In the terminal (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor), in your project folder:

npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill monte-carlo-storage-cost-analysis

Or download just the file:

curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/main/plugins/agentic-awesome-skills-claude/skills/monte-carlo-storage-cost-analysis/SKILL.md -o SKILL.md
Technical content (original SKILL.md)

Original text by the author, straight from GitHub.

Bundled upstream support

Supporting files are included at skill-relative paths. See UPSTREAM-NOTICE.md for their pinned sources, licenses, hashes, and import changes.

Monte Carlo Storage Cost Analysis Skill

This skill analyzes a data warehouse for stale tables that can be removed to reduce storage costs. It delegates classification, safety scoring, and formatting to the analyze_storage_costs MCP tool, then presents the pre-formatted result verbatim and handles follow-up questions (category drill-downs, lineage checks).

Monte Carlo tool routing (required): Always call Monte Carlo MCP tools through this plugin's bundled server, whose fully-qualified tool names are mcp__plugin_mc-agent-toolkit_monte-carlo-mcp__<tool> (e.g. mcp__plugin_mc-agent-toolkit_monte-carlo-mcp__get_alerts). Bare tool names used in this skill (get_alerts, search, get_table, …) refer to that bundled server. If the session also has a separately-configured monte-carlo-mcp server, do not route to it — it may point at a different endpoint or credentials.

Reference file (use the Read tool to access it):

  • Output contract and category keywords: references/output-structure.md

When to activate this skill

Activate when the user:

  • Asks about storage costs, waste, or cleanup opportunities
  • Wants to find unused, unread, or stale tables
  • Asks "which tables can I drop?" or "what's costing us money?"
  • Mentions storage optimization, cost reduction, or warehouse cleanup
  • Wants to identify zombie tables, dead-end pipelines, or temporary/archive tables

When NOT to activate this skill

Do not activate when the user is:

  • Just querying data or exploring table contents
  • Creating or modifying monitors (use the monitoring-advisor skill)
  • Investigating data quality incidents (use the prevent skill)
  • Looking at pipeline performance or query cost (use the performance-diagnosis skill)

Prerequisites

The following MCP tools must be available (connect to Monte Carlo's MCP server):

  • analyze_storage_costs -- runs the full analysis pipeline and returns pre-formatted output
  • get_asset_lineage -- used only for follow-up lineage checks

The analyze_storage_costs tool supports Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, and Databricks warehouses only. Other warehouse types are out of scope.

Workflow

Important: These steps are internal instructions for you. Do NOT expose step numbers, step names, or the procedural structure to the user. Just act naturally.

Step 1: Identify the warehouse

You need a warehouse to proceed.

  • If the user specified a warehouse (by name or UUID), use it.
  • If not: call analyze_storage_costs with no warehouse_id. The tool will either auto-pick when only one supported warehouse exists, or return a list of supported warehouses — let the user choose one, then call the tool again with the chosen warehouse_id.

Step 2: Run the analysis

Call analyze_storage_costs with:

  • warehouse_id: the warehouse UUID

The tool fetches candidates, classifies them into waste patterns (Unread, Write-only, Dead-end, Static waste, Zombie, Other stale) and table categories (Temporary, Archive/Snapshot, Production, Other), computes safety tiers, and returns a formatted analysis.

  • If the tool returns an error, report it to the user and stop.
  • If no candidates are found, tell the user and stop.

Step 3: Present the initial summary

The tool output contains two regions:

  1. A <!-- PRESENT_AS_IS --> block with a condensed summary, a Top-N table, and a drill-down prompt.
  2. A <!-- CATEGORY_DETAILS --> block with per-category tables wrapped in <!-- CATEGORY:<key> --> markers. Do NOT present these yet.

Present ONLY the <!-- PRESENT_AS_IS --> block — copy it verbatim, preserving every column, row, and value. Add a brief intro sentence if needed, then paste the block unchanged. The user will see the summary and top tables, then choose a category to drill into.

CRITICAL — do NOT call any other tool after analyze_storage_costs succeeds. No search, no get_table, no troubleshooting agents, no cross-checks. The analysis result IS the final answer; your only remaining job is to present the <!-- PRESENT_AS_IS --> block verbatim.

…

FAQ

What types of databases are supported?

Currently, the tool supports Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, and Databricks.

What are 'zombie tables'?

These are tables that are no longer used by any process or user but still occupy space and incur costs.

Can I see who uses a table before removing it?

Yes, the tool can check a table's lineage to show what depends on it, helping you decide if it's safe to remove.

Details

Original description by the author

Analyze a warehouse for stale, unused, or redundant tables via the analyze_storage_costs MCP tool. Classifies waste patterns and table categories, computes safety tiers, and handles category drill-downs and lineage follow-ups.

repo: sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills

Popularity

GitHub stars
48k
Ranking position
#3634
License
MIT
Updated
10/15/2026

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