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Virtual Dimensions let you allocate cloud costs to teams, products, or business units using any billing metadata: Kubernetes namespace, resource name, account, region, or tags. They work even when resources have no tags at all. Costory’s Virtual Dimensions are composable: each dimension can reference another, forming an allocation hierarchy. Change one mapping and every downstream allocation updates automatically.
Walkthrough of creating a virtual dimension that maps resources to teams using namespace and tag rules

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Key terms

  • Virtual Dimension: A custom, rule-based grouping that maps cloud resources to business-meaningful categories like teams, products, or environments.
  • Standard Columns: Costory’s unified billing schema. All normalized fields are prefixed with cos_ for cross-provider querying.
  • Feature Engineering: Costory’s automatic tag cleanup process. See Feature Engineering.
See the Glossary for a full list of terms.

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Create a Virtual Dimension

1

Pick a dimension name

Navigate to Labels > Virtual Dimensions and click Create. Choose a name that matches your allocation concept, e.g., “Team”, “Business Unit”, or “Environment”.
2

Define rules using billing metadata

Add rules that map resources to values. Each rule uses conditions based on available metadata:
3

Order your rules

Rules are evaluated top-to-bottom. The first rule that matches a resource determines the value. Drag rules to set priority.
4

Save

Costory reprocesses all historical data with the new allocation. Results appear in the Cost Explorer within minutes.

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Data sources for rules

Virtual Dimensions can combine multiple data sources to build a complete allocation model:
SourceExamplesWhen to use
Standard ColumnsProvider, namespace, resource name, service, account, regionAllocate based on billing metadata that’s always present
Feature-engineered tagsUnified environment, team, or project tagsUse clean tags after merging duplicates
Other Virtual DimensionsA “Team” dimension referenced by a “Business Unit” dimensionBuild hierarchies where one allocation feeds into the next

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Complete existing tags with fallback rules

Already have a team tag on 70% of your resources? You don’t need to start from scratch. Virtual Dimensions can extend existing tags by filling in the gaps with rules based on namespace, resource name, or account. Your existing tags stay intact; Costory fills in the untagged portion.
Rule editor adding fallback allocation rules to fill gaps in an existing tag
This is useful when:
  • You have partial tag coverage and want to reach 100% allocation without re-tagging in your cloud console
  • Certain resource types (e.g., network costs, marketplace purchases) cannot be tagged natively
  • Different teams use different tagging conventions and you need a unified view

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Composable allocation rules

Costory’s Virtual Dimensions are layered: each dimension can reference another, forming an allocation hierarchy. This means you can:
  • Define namespace -> team once
  • Define team -> business unit on top of it
  • Define business unit -> P&L line on top of that
Change the namespace-to-team mapping, and every downstream allocation updates automatically. No manual updates, no stale data, no duplicated logic.

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Version control with JSON Schema

Virtual Dimensions can be created and updated using a JSON Schema. Export your dimension configuration, store it in Git, and apply changes through the UI. This gives you an audit trail and the ability to review allocation changes before they take effect.

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Next Steps

Split Shared Costs

Distribute shared infrastructure costs based on actual usage metrics

Feature Engineering

Clean up your tags before building allocations

Explore Your Costs

Use your new allocations in the multi-cloud Cost Explorer

Automate FinOps Reports

Send cost-per-team reports to Slack automatically
Last modified on March 16, 2026