🚧 The Problem
Cloud cost surprises are painful.
Teams only discover cost issues after deployment — when it's too late and too expensive to fix.
FinOps tools exist, but they’re reactive, complex, and outside the developer’s workflow.
I wanted something simpler:
👉 Cost visibility inside the IDE
👉 Cost analysis that runs on save
👉 No dashboards, no terminals, no scripts
Just instant FinOps inside Kiro.
⚡ Introducing PocketDC
PocketDC is a real-time FinOps guardrail built directly into the Kiro IDE.
Whenever I save a service spec:
A Kiro Hook fires
It reads my service design
It calls an MCP cost-engine
It rewrites a “FinOps Report” block at the top of the file
It warns me if my service is OVER_BUDGET
This transforms a simple Markdown file into a living, cost-aware document.
🧩 How I Built It (Kiro = Magic)
PocketDC stitches together:
Kiro Hooks – triggers logic when saving .service.md
Specs – single source of truth
MCP – external cost engine returning estimates
Kiro Chat – orchestrating everything
This combination allowed me to build a fully automated cost-check system within the IDE.
Here’s the workflow:
Save service spec →
Hook triggers →
MCP server estimates cost →
Kiro rewrites FinOps Report →
Developer instantly sees budget status
Simple. Beautiful. Powerful.
đź› Example: Saving a File
Before saving:
service_name: my-web-service
max_cost: 50
runtime: node18
After saving:
# PocketDC Report:
# estimated_cost: 80 USD/month
# max_cost: 50 USD/month
# status: OVER_BUDGET
# over_by: 30 USD
Kiro automatically updated the file and suggested optimizations.
🔥 What I Learned
MCP is incredibly powerful for integrating external tools
Hooks turn Kiro into an event-driven automation engine
Specs as source-of-truth lead to predictable, maintainable workflows
“Shift-Left FinOps” is more valuable than I expected — catching issues early saves real money
🚀 What’s Next
Real AWS/GCP/Azure cost APIs
Auto-optimization engine
PR-blocking for over-budget services
System-level cost modeling
PocketDC started as an experiment but now feels like a real FinOps platform.
Kiro made it possible — and made it fun.
âś” Conclusion
PocketDC shows that IDEs can be more than text editors.
With Kiro’s Hooks, Specs, and MCP, the IDE becomes a smart, automated partner that helps developers build better — and cheaper — systems.
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