Engine Cost-Optimization Policies Reference

Feature Overview

This reference is part of CoreStack's FinOps module and lists every policy the CoreStac kpolicy engine runs to generate Optimize Configurations, Manage Idle, and Manage Orphaned recommendations. When you need to confirm exactly which resource types and services a given recommendation category covers, or whether a specific recommendation is generated by CoreStack's own policy engine versus ingested from a cloud provider's native advisor service.

This reference is most valuable to FinOps Practitioners and Platform Engineers who need to audit, cross-validate, or explain the source of a cost-optimization recommendation.

How It Works

CoreStack's Policy Marketplace runs on several distinct engines, only one of which is proprietary to CoreStack. CoreStack Policy is CoreStack's own DSL (domain-specific language), used across all governance categories — no component of the Policy Marketplace runs on Cloud Custodian. Other engine types in the Marketplace (AWS Config, Azure Policy, Oracle Cloud Guard, GCP Policy/GCP Organization Policy, AWS Organization Policy, Kubernetes Policy) orchestrate each provider's own native policy service instead.

Within cost optimization specifically, a recommendation's Source is either policy (runs on the CoreStack DSL engine), Custom (a CoreStack custom remediation playbook), or advisor-sourced (ingested from the provider's own native advisor service, not individually named). The tables below cover the 236 named policy and Custom entries; advisor-sourced recommendations are summarized by count only, since they don't have individual CoreStack policy names.

Prerequisites

Before using this reference, ensure the following:

• Role: You have the FinOps Practitioner role assigned in CoreStack.
• Access: You can access FinOps > Cost > Cost Optimizer > Guardrails - Policies in the CoreStack navigation.
• Prior setup: The relevant cloud account(s) are onboarded with FinOps product access, since these policies only generate recommendations for onboarded, in-scope accounts.

Policy Reference by Recommendation Type

Navigate to FinOps > Cost > Cost Optimizer > Guardrails - Policies to view the live Polic yMarketplace. The tables below are the complete reference for the three cost-optimization
recommendation categories.

Optimize Configurations (85 policies — 32 AWS, 32 Azure, 20 GCP, 1 OCI)

8 additional AWS recommendations in this category are ingested from AWS's native advisor service and aren't individually named as policies.

Manage Idle (82 policies — 25 AWS, 36 Azure, 15 GCP, 6 OCI)

All 82 Manage Idle recommendations are individually named policies — none are advisor-sourced.

Manage Orphaned (71 policies — 21 AWS, 31 Azure, 14 GCP, 5 OCI)

All 71 Manage Orphaned recommendations are individually named policies — none are advisor-sourced.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does any of this run on Cloud Custodian?

No. No component of the CoreStack Policy Marketplace runs on Cloud Custodian. CoreStack Policy is CoreStack's own proprietary DSL. Other engine types in the Marketplace (AWS Config, Azure Policy, Oracle Cloud Guard, GCP Policy, AWS Organization Policy, Kubernetes Policy) each orchestrate the relevant provider's own native policy service instead.

Q: What's the difference between "policy" and "Custom" in the Source column?

Policy means the recommendation runs on CoreStack's proprietary DSL engine as a standard, platform-shipped policy. Custom means it's a CoreStack custom remediation playbook — built for a more specific scenario than a standard policy covers, but still running on CoreStack's own engine, not a third-party tool.

Q: Why don't I see AWS's advisor-sourced recommendations listed individually?

Advisor-sourced recommendations are ingested directly from AWS's (or GCP's) own native advisor service rather than generated by a CoreStack policy. Because they don't have a CoreStack policy name, they're excluded from these tables and summarized by count only.

Q: I found a recommendation in the platform that isn't in this list — what happened?

Policies are added, renamed, and deprecated across releases. Checkdocs/policy-changes-as-per-release for the release notes covering policy name changes and deprecations before assuming this reference is out of date.

Q: Does this list match the total policy count shown in the Policy Marketplace UI?

Not necessarily, and that's a known open item: the whole-marketplace CoreStack Policy count and the sum of per-provider counts filtered in the Marketplace UI don't currently match. This reference's 238-policy count is independently sourced and internally consistent, and covers only the three cost-optimization categories — it isn't affected by that broader reconciliation issue.

Troubleshooting

A policy I expected to see for my provider isn't in this list

Cause: The policy may be advisor-sourced (not individually named), deprecated in a recent release, or scoped to a resource type your account doesn't have onboarded.

Solution:

1. Check whether the recommendation category (Optimize Configurations, Manage Idle, Manage Orphaned) includes an advisor-sourced count for your provider in the tables above.
2. Check docs/policy-changes-as-per-release for recent deprecations or renames.
3. Confirm the relevant service is in scope for your onboarded account.

If the issue persists, contact CoreStack support with the provider, service, and the recommendation text you expected to trace back to a policy name.

The policy count in the live Policy Marketplace doesn't match this reference

Cause: This reference covers only the 238 cost-optimization policies (Optimize Configurations, Manage Idle, Manage Orphaned). The Policy Marketplace's total count spans all governance categories, not just cost optimization, so the two numbers are expected to differ.

Solution: Compare only the cost-optimization subset in the Marketplace UI (filter by category) against the tables above, rather than the whole-platform total.