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CUR Issues

Guardian Pro's Cost Intelligence module relies on AWS Cost and Usage Reports (CUR) for accurate cost data. This page helps you diagnose and resolve issues related to CUR configuration, data synchronization, and missing cost data.

Understanding CUR Status​

The CUR status indicator on the Cost Intelligence page tells you the current state of your CUR integration:

StatusMeaningAction Needed
ActiveCUR is configured and data is syncing normallyNone -- cost analysis is fully operational
Pending DataCUR is configured but AWS has not delivered the first report yetWait up to 24 hours for the first data delivery
Not ConfiguredCUR has not been set up in your AWS accountFollow the CUR Setup Guide
ErrorCUR is configured but data cannot be read or processedSee troubleshooting steps below

CUR Not Configured​

Symptoms​

  • The Cost Intelligence page shows "CUR Not Configured" or "No cost data available."
  • The CUR status card shows "Not Configured."
  • Cost summary on the dashboard shows zero or no data.

Solution​

CUR must be configured in your AWS account before Guardian Pro can analyse your costs. Follow the CUR Setup Guide to configure CUR. The key steps are:

  1. Navigate to the AWS Billing Console > Cost and Usage Reports.
  2. Create a new report with the settings specified in the setup guide.
  3. Configure the S3 bucket delivery destination.
  4. Ensure the report is set to deliver in Parquet format for optimal performance.
  5. Return to Guardian Pro and verify the CUR status updates.
info

CUR setup is a one-time configuration per AWS account (or per management account if using consolidated billing). Once configured, data delivery is automatic.

Data Not Syncing​

Symptoms​

  • CUR status shows "Pending Data" for more than 24 hours.
  • CUR was previously active but cost data has stopped updating.
  • The most recent cost data is stale (more than 48 hours old).

Troubleshooting Steps​

1. Verify CUR Report Exists in AWS​

  1. Sign in to the AWS Billing Console.
  2. Navigate to Cost and Usage Reports.
  3. Confirm that a CUR report is listed and its status is Active.
  4. Check the Last delivery timestamp -- it should be within the last 24 hours.
note

AWS delivers CUR data multiple times per day, but the first delivery after initial setup can take up to 24 hours.

2. Check S3 Bucket Delivery​

  1. Navigate to the S3 Console and open the bucket configured for CUR delivery.
  2. Verify that report files exist in the expected path structure.
  3. Check that the bucket policy allows the CUR service to write reports.
  4. Ensure the bucket has not been modified, emptied, or had its policy changed since CUR was configured.

3. Verify S3 Bucket Permissions​

The CUR delivery bucket requires a specific bucket policy that allows the AWS billing service to deliver reports. If this policy was modified or removed:

  1. Navigate to the S3 bucket's Permissions tab.
  2. Verify the bucket policy includes the necessary permissions for the billing service.
  3. If the policy is missing, re-configure CUR through the AWS Billing Console, which automatically sets the correct policy.

4. Check Guardian Pro Access​

Guardian Pro needs read access to the CUR delivery bucket to ingest report data. Verify that:

  • The Guardian Pro IAM role in the account has read access to the CUR S3 bucket.
  • The bucket is in a region accessible to the Guardian Pro role.
  • No S3 bucket policies or VPC endpoints are blocking access.

If the IAM role does not have the necessary permissions, see IAM Issues.

5. Verify Report Format​

Guardian Pro works best with CUR reports delivered in Parquet format. If your report is configured to deliver in CSV format:

  • Cost analysis will still work, but ingestion may be slower for large datasets.
  • Consider creating a new CUR report in Parquet format for better performance.
  • The existing CSV report can remain active alongside the new Parquet report.

Missing Cost Data​

Symptoms​

  • Cost data appears for some services but not others.
  • Recent days show zero costs despite active workloads.
  • Historical data has gaps.

Troubleshooting Steps​

Partial Data​

If cost data is present but incomplete:

  • CUR data granularity: Ensure your CUR report is configured with hourly or daily granularity. Monthly granularity provides less detail.
  • Resource-level data: For per-resource cost attribution, ensure your CUR report includes resource IDs.
  • New services: If you recently started using a new AWS service, cost data for that service will appear in the next CUR delivery cycle.

Data Gaps​

If there are gaps in historical data:

  • CUR data is delivered prospectively. Historical data before CUR was configured is not available.
  • If CUR was temporarily disabled and re-enabled, there will be a gap for the period it was disabled.
  • Check the AWS Billing Console for any billing anomalies or credits that might explain unexpected zero-cost periods.

Consolidated Billing Considerations​

If your AWS Organization uses consolidated billing:

  • CUR can be configured in the management account to cover all member accounts.
  • Each member account's costs will be broken out in the consolidated report.
  • If you configured CUR in a member account instead of the management account, you will only see that account's costs.
tip

For organizations with multiple accounts, we recommend configuring CUR in the management account. This provides cost visibility across all accounts without requiring CUR setup in each individual account.

Cost Analysis Not Running​

Symptoms​

  • Clicking "Run Analysis" does not start the analysis.
  • The analysis progress indicator does not appear.
  • The analysis starts but fails partway through.

Troubleshooting Steps​

  1. Check CUR status: Cost analysis requires CUR to be in Active status with synced data. If CUR is not active, analysis cannot run.
  2. Previous analysis in progress: Only one analysis can run at a time per account. Wait for any in-progress analysis to complete before starting a new one.
  3. Check error messages: If the analysis fails, the progress monitor will display an error message with details. Note the correlation ID for support.
  4. Verify IAM permissions: The Guardian Pro role needs permission to read from the CUR S3 bucket. See IAM Issues.

Anomaly Detection Not Working​

Symptoms​

  • No anomalies are reported despite known spending spikes.
  • The anomaly banner never appears on the Cost Intelligence page.

Possible Causes​

  • Insufficient history: Anomaly detection requires at least 14 days of cost data to establish a baseline. If CUR was recently configured, wait for sufficient data to accumulate.
  • Small variations: Anomaly detection identifies statistically significant deviations from your normal spending patterns. Small fluctuations within normal variance are not flagged.
  • New services: When you start using a new AWS service, the initial costs may be detected as anomalies. These are legitimate alerts since the service is new to your environment.

Budget Alerts Not Triggering​

Symptoms​

  • Budget thresholds have been exceeded but no alerts were sent.

Troubleshooting Steps​

  1. Verify your budget configuration in Cost Intelligence > Budgets.
  2. Check that notification preferences are enabled for budget alerts in Settings > Notifications.
  3. Ensure the budget's time period matches the current billing cycle.
  4. Budget evaluation runs on a scheduled cycle -- alerts are not instantaneous. Allow up to a few hours for alerts to trigger after a threshold is exceeded.

CUR Cost​

info

AWS does not charge separately for creating a CUR report. However, the S3 storage used to store the report files incurs standard S3 storage charges. For most organizations, this cost is negligible (typically a few cents to a few dollars per month).

Next Steps​