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title: Usage Guide & Prompts
description: Learn how to drive Alephant MCP using natural language or slash commands
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## 1. Interaction Principles

When using Alephant MCP via AI assistants (such as Cursor Agent), it is recommended to follow these principles:

1. **Specify the Scope**: The current virtual key, workspace, a specific Agent (you can paste the UUID), or a department.
2. **Specify the Time Window**: Such as "last 24 hours / 7 days / 30 days / this billing cycle", which corresponds to the tool parameters `24h`, `7d`, `30d`, `billing_cycle`.
3. **Be Explicit for Write Operations**: Creating/modifying budgets/revoking keys, or modifying workspace budget policies (alert vs. block) — require the assistant to call the corresponding tool rather than hallucinating.
4. **Force Invocation**: If the model does not call MCP, you can explicitly say: **"Please use the enabled Alephant MCP tools to query, do not guess."**

## 2. Natural Language Examples

| Intent            | English Example                                     |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| **Usage Summary** | "Show usage summary for the current billing cycle." |
| **Trends**        | "Daily cost trend for the last 7 days."             |
| **Model Costs**   | "Cost by model for the last 30 days."               |
| **VK Scope**      | "What scope is my virtual key bound to?"            |
| **Budget**        | "How much budget is left this billing cycle?"       |
| **Management**    | "List all virtual keys and their budgets."          |
| **Audit**         | "Generate a weekly cost audit report."              |

## 3. "/" Slash Command Templates

*Hint: The MCP protocol does not register real slash commands in the chat box; the following commands are suggested prefixes for you to copy and send to the Agent.*

### Shared Between Both Modes (VK + Manager)

| Template                                                           | Mapped Tool                                  |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------- |
| `/alephant-usage Show usage summary for this billing cycle`        | `get_usage_summary` (period=billing\_cycle)  |
| `/alephant-usage Total consumption and trends for the last 7 days` | `get_usage_summary` + `get_daily_costs` (7d) |
| `/alephant-usage How much was spent by model in the last 30 days`  | `get_cost_by_model` (30d)                    |
| `/alephant-models List currently available models`                 | `list_available_models`                      |

### VK Mode Only

| Template                                                      | Mapped Tool     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- |
| `/alephant-vk What is the scope bound to my current key`      | `get_my_scope`  |
| `/alephant-vk How much budget is left for this billing cycle` | `get_my_budget` |

### Manager Mode Only

| Template                                                                          | Mapped Tool                              |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| `/alephant-mgr Workspace overview`                                                | `get_workspace_overview`                 |
| `/alephant-mgr List all virtual keys and budgets`                                 | `list_virtual_keys`                      |
| `/alephant-mgr List all departments`                                              | `list_departments`                       |
| `/alephant-mgr Department {uuid} analytics for the last 30 days`                  | `get_department_analytics`               |
| `/alephant-mgr List Agents`                                                       | `list_agents`                            |
| `/alephant-mgr Agent {uuid} consumption for the last 7 days`                      | `get_agent_analytics`                    |
| `/alephant-mgr Current subscription and billing cycle info`                       | `get_subscription_info`                  |
| `/alephant-mgr Workspace budget policy: amount {cents}, alert only when exceeded` | `set_budget_policy` (action=alert\_only) |
| `/alephant-mgr Workspace budget policy: amount {cents}, block when exceeded`      | `set_budget_policy` (action=block)       |

*Note: When creating/updating/revoking a virtual key, provide parameters like `label`, `master_key_id`, `budget_cents`, and `rate_limit_rpm` in the conversation to facilitate the corresponding tool call.*

## 4. MCP Prompts (Audit & Optimization)

| Prompt Name         | Mode             | Description                                |
| ------------------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| `cost_audit_report` | VK + Manager     | Weekly/monthly/quarterly cost audit report |
| `cost_optimization` | **Manager Only** | Data-driven cost optimization suggestions  |

In host environments that support **Prompts**, you can directly request: "Run Alephant's `cost_audit_report` with a weekly period."

## 5. Agent Collaboration Tips

* Add this document to the Agent's context to reduce missed tool calls.
* In workspace rules (like `.cursorrules`), you can prompt: **Prioritize** using Alephant MCP for questions involving budget, consumption, virtual keys, and department/Agent analytics.
* When complex charts or persistent dashboards are needed, it is recommended to use the **Alephant Cockpit** within the product for a better experience.