Vantage MCP Server

What is Vantage MCP Server about?

The server acts as a bridge between Vantage's cost APIs and Model Context Protocol (MCP) clients. It translates natural‑language requests from tools such as Claude, Cursor, or Goose into VQL queries, returning structured cost, budgeting, and forecasting data.

How to use Vantage MCP Server?

1. Prerequisites – Install Go (exact version in .tool-versions) and Node.js. Generate a read‑only Vantage API token.
2. Build – Clone the repo, run go build -o vantage-mcp-server, and make the binary executable.
3. Run – Execute the binary directly or via the MCP inspector (npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector -e VANTAGE_BEARER_TOKEN=<token> ./vantage-mcp-server).
4. Configure a client – Add the server to Claude for Desktop, Cursor, or Goose by specifying the binary path and setting the VANTAGE_BEARER_TOKEN environment variable as shown in the README.

Key Features of Vantage MCP Server

• Query‑costs – Execute arbitrary VQL queries against cost data.
• List‑costs / list‑cost‑reports – Retrieve detailed cost rows and available reports.
• Forecasts, Budgets, Dashboards, Tags, Anomalies – Expose a comprehensive set of cost‑management tools.
• Provider & Service enumeration – Discover integrated cloud accounts (AWS, Azure, GCP) and their services.
• User feedback – Submit feedback directly from the MCP client.
• Self‑hosted – Runs locally via standard I/O transport, ensuring data never leaves your environment.

Use Cases of Vantage MCP Server

• Interactive cost exploration – Ask an AI assistant “What was our AWS spend last month?” and receive a formatted answer.
• Budget compliance checks – Quickly list budgets and compare them to actual spend.
• Forecast analysis – Retrieve spending forecasts for upcoming quarters.
• Tag‑driven cost allocation – Filter costs by custom tags to understand departmental spend.
• Anomaly detection review – Pull a list of cost anomalies for further investigation.

FAQ from Vantage MCP Server

Q: Do I need a write‑enabled token? A: No. A read‑only Vantage API token is sufficient; write operations are not supported.

Q: Can I run this server remotely? A: This repository provides the self‑hosted version. For a remote service, refer to the official Vantage MCP documentation.

Q: Which platforms are supported? A: Any OS that can run a Go binary. macOS users may need to allow the executable in System Settings if macOS blocks it.

Q: How do I update the server after pulling new changes? A: Re‑run go build to compile the latest version.

Q: What transport does the server use? A: Standard Input/Output (stdio) transport, compatible with MCP clients that support it.

Vantage MCP Server

About the Vantage MCP Server

The Vantage MCP Server is an open-source tool, written in Golang, that lets you interact with your cloud cost data through AI assistants and MCP clients. By acting as a bridge to Vantage's existing APIs, the Vantage MCP Server lets you query cloud spend data using natural language and makes cost analysis more intuitive.

📝 Note: The Vantage MCP Server is available in both self-hosted and remote forms. This repository supports the self-hosted version, which runs locally using Standard Input/Output (stdio) Transport. For a remote alternative, see the Vantage MCP documentation.

Available Tools

The Vantage MCP Server currently exposes the following tools, which can be invoked by any compatible MCP client (e.g., Claude, Cursor, Goose):

• query-costs

  • A general purpose way to fetch Cost data using VQL.

• list-costs

  • Display all the Costs in an associated Cost Report.

• list-cost-reports

  • List all Cost Reports available.

• get-cost-report-forecast

  • List all Forecasts of spending related to a Cost Report.

• list-cost-integrations

  • List all Cost Provider integrations (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) available to provide Costs data from and their associated accounts.

• list-cost-providers

  • List of just the Providers that the given Workspace has shared with it, for filtering in VQL queries.

• list-cost-services

  • Lists all the Services and their associated Provider that is shared with the given Workspace.

• list-budgets

  • List all Budgets available to compare against a Cost Report and track spending.

• list-dashboards

  • List all Dashboards created in the Vantage account.

• list-tags

  • List Tags that can be used to filter Cost Reports.

• list-tag-values

  • List Tag values that can be used to filter Cost Reports.

• list-anomalies

  • List Anomalies that were detected on Cost Reports.

• list-unit-costs

  • Retrieve the Unit Costs for a given Cost Report.

• get-myself

  • A utility to list available Workspaces and check the access level of your auth token.

• submit-user-feedback

  • A simple way to send feedback about the MCP or overall Vantage experience to the Vantage team.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

If you're installing from source, ensure the following packages are installed (see .tool-versions for exact versions):

• Go
• Node.js

You can use a version manager (e.g., asdf) or package manager (e.g., Homebrew) to install these dependencies.

You will also need to create a Read-Only Vantage API token (Write will not work at this time). Follow the instructions on the Vantage API documentation. We recommend creating a brand-new read-only API token for exclusive use with the MCP Server.

Installation

Using Homebrew

brew install vantage-sh/tap/vantage-mcp-server

From Source

1. Clone this repository.

git clone https://github.com/vantage-sh/vantage-mcp-server

2. Build the server and adjust permissions.

go build -o vantage-mcp-server
chmod +x vantage-mcp-server

📝 Note: If you pull down new changes from the repository, be sure to re-run go build to rebuild the server and ensure you're running the latest version.

3. Debug using the MCP inspector.

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector -e VANTAGE_BEARER_TOKEN=<token> ./vantage-mcp-server

Set Up MCP Clients

Setup instructions vary depending on which MCP client you use. Example clients include:

• Claude for Desktop
• Cursor
• Goose

See the MCP documentation for a list of available clients. Detailed instructions for Claude for Desktop, Cursor, and Goose are provided below.

Claude for Desktop

1. Download Claude for Desktop.
2. From the top of Claude for Desktop, click Claude > Settings (keyboard shortcut Command + ,).
3. In the left menu of the Settings pane, select Developer.
4. Click Edit Config. A configuration file is created at:

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

5. Open the claude_desktop_config.json file and update its contents. Make sure to replace the placeholders <path_to_compiled_vantage_mcp_server_binary> with the path where you downloaded the 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>" }
       }
     }
   }
   

6. Save the configuration file and restart Claude.

7. In the bottom-right corner of the Claude for Desktop input box, click the hammer icon to see the available tools for the Vantage MCP Server.

8. Once you've set up the configuration, you can start prompting Claude. Each time you use a new tool, Claude will ask for your approval before proceeding.

Cursor

1. Download Cursor.

2. Open Cursor and click Cursor > Settings > Cursor Settings from the menu bar.

3. In the left pane, select MCP.

4. Click Add new global MCP Server.

5. Update the contents of the opened mcp.json file. Make sure to replace the placeholders <path_to_compiled_vantage_mcp_server_binary> with the path where you downloaded the 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>" }
       }
     }
   }
   

Goose

1. Download Goose.
2. Open Goose and click Goose > Settings from the menu bar (keyboard shortcut Command + ,).
3. Under the Extensions section, click Add custom extension.
4. In the ID field, enter vantage-mcp-server.
5. In the Name field, enter Vantage.
6. In the Description field, enter Query costs and usage data.
7. In the Command field, enter the path to the Vantage MCP Server binary.
8. In the Environment Variables section, add a new variable with the name VANTAGE_BEARER_TOKEN and the value set to your Vantage API token.
9. Click Add.

Note for MacOS users

If you download a release from our Github page and the executable fails to run "because the developer cannot be verified", please open your System Settings. Then find the "Privacy and Security" section. Then scroll to the bottom and you should see a message that "vantage-mcp-server-macos" was blocked, click the "open anyway" button. After this flow, the executable should be able to be run without issue.

Contribution Guidelines

If you'd like to contribute to this project:

1. Fork this repository.
2. Create a new branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature.
3. Make your changes.
4. Ensure your code is formatted and builds cleanly.
5. Submit a pull request.

We welcome community contributions, improvements, and bug fixes. If you run into any issues, submit a bug report via this repository's GitHub Issues.

License

See the LICENSE.MD file for commercial and non-commercial licensing details.