If finops setup doesn't auto-configure, run:

finops setup claude

Or add manually to claude_desktop_config.json:

With uvx (recommended):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nable": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["--python", "3.12", "finops-mcp"] }
  }
}

With absolute path:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nable": { "command": "/usr/local/bin/finops-mcp" }
  }
}

Use the path from which finops-mcp.

Config file locations:

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

Why uvx? Claude Desktop is a GUI app and doesn't inherit your shell's PATH. uvx runs finops-mcp in its own isolated environment. It's the most reliable option on corporate machines with managed Python installs.

nable is not just tools your agent reads from. It is a pre-action gate your agent calls before it makes a cost-affecting change: it prices the change, checks it against your budget, and offers a cheaper path. It never applies anything itself. Propose-only, your agent proposes and a human approves.

Add one line to your agent's system prompt (Claude Code, Cursor, or any MCP client):

Before you apply any infrastructure change (a terraform apply, a helm upgrade, creating or resizing a resource) or start an expensive job, first call check_action_policy with the action and the change (a terraform plan, a helm diff, or a monthly_delta_usd). Relay the verdict, the dollar impact, and the cheaper path when one is offered. Never apply a block or an escalate action; surface it to the human. nable is advisory and propose-only.

The gate returns allow / warn / block / escalate against your policy, the monthly and annual dollar impact, and a spot alternative when the change is compute. One-way doors (delete, terminate, buy a commitment) and over-budget changes always escalate to a human.

And a budget for the agent itself. Run finops ai-budget once, it asks whether you are on a flat plan or a metered API and what you pay, then remembers. On a flat plan it tracks how much subsidized compute you pull for your fixed fee and warns before you run low; on metered it gates on a dollar spend cap. check_ai_budget does the same for the agent mid-task. It reads your Claude Code usage locally, nothing uploaded. Add to your system prompt:

Before starting a large task, call check_ai_budget. If it returns warn or over, tell me where I stand before continuing.

It reports your real usage and burn rate against your budget, not a fabricated percentage of a plan's hidden rate limit.

Azure roles. The Azure tools span three RBAC roles, granted to the service principal on each subscription (run finops doctor to check):

# repeat per subscription
az role assignment create --assignee <client-id> --role 'Cost Management Reader' --scope /subscriptions/<sub-id>
az role assignment create --assignee <client-id> --role Reader --scope /subscriptions/<sub-id>
az role assignment create --assignee <client-id> --role 'Monitoring Reader' --scope /subscriptions/<sub-id>

Is nable free? Yes. The terminal scan, every cost query, anomaly detection, all waste and rightsizing findings, and every connector are free forever. The agent team, ticket auto-creation, scheduled digests, and commitment recommendations are Pro.

Does my billing data leave my machine? No. nable is local-first and read-only by default. It reads your cost data on your machine and never uploads it, and you can confirm the no-egress behavior in the source.

What clouds and providers does it support? AWS, Azure, GCP, and Vertex; Kubernetes (Kubecost, OpenCost); AI and LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock, OpenRouter, LiteLLM, Modal, Together, Replicate, Cohere, Mistral, Langfuse); data platforms (Databricks, Snowflake, MongoDB); and SaaS (Datadog, New Relic, Cloudflare, Twilio, Vercel, Stripe).

How is it different from AWS Cost Explorer? Cost Explorer is AWS-only and console-bound. nable is cross-cloud, runs in your terminal and in Claude/Cursor, covers AI and GPU spend no cloud console shows, and proposes fixes as pull requests. nable scan also makes zero paid API calls by default.

Is there an open-source alternative to Vantage or CloudHealth? nable is an open-source (Apache-2.0), local-first alternative for cost queries, waste detection, rightsizing, and AI/GPU cost, running on your machine instead of a hosted SaaS.