Vantage Launches FOCUS-Compatible Data Exports

Today, Vantage is launching the FOCUS-Compatible Data Exports, allowing Vantage customers to export their cloud cost and usage data in the FinOps Foundation’s open-source FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification (FOCUS) format. This allows Vantage users to retrieve all of their Vantage-integrated providers in the FOCUS format for additional analysis, including vendors that do not support FOCUS exports natively.

Previously, customers who wanted to perform their own analysis outside of Vantage on their cloud cost and usage data had to work with raw exports from each cloud provider or Vantage’s own data schema. If working off of cloud providers’ exports, these formats often required extensive data engineering work to normalize fields, unify service categories, and apply consistent tagging logic— as only 5 vendors today support FOCUS. Vantage’s export schema is uniform for all vendors, but not standardized outside of Vantage.

Now, with FOCUS-Compatible Data Exports, users can export their own cost and usage data in a structured format that conforms to the FinOps FOCUS format. Vantage customers can set their schema to FOCUS when downloading any Cost Report in the console, or by sending a POST request to /costs/data_exports and setting schema=focus. Vantage will return a CSV with normalized FOCUS fields such as Provider, ServiceName, SubAccountId, ChargePeriodStart, ChargePeriodEnd, and BilledCost.

To get started, head to the Vantage console and click Exports from any Cost Report. To export via API endpoint, review the API docs. For information on exporting Cost Reporting in Vantage, see the product documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is being launched today?

Vantage is launching FOCUS-Compatible Data Exports, allowing customers to export all cost and usage data integrated into Vantage in the FinOps FOCUS schema.

2. Who is the customer?

Developers and finance teams who need to export and analyze cost data at scale.

3. How much does this cost?

There is no additional cost for FOCUS-Compatible Data Exports.

4. What is FOCUS?

FOCUS stands for the FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification. It’s an open-source schema maintained by the FinOps Foundation that standardizes cost and usage data across cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP. You can learn more at https://focus.finops.org/.

5. What does a FOCUS export look like?

Below is a sample export of the CSV file generated for a cost report with multiple providers:

6. How do I export my data in FOCUS format in the Vantage Console?

When viewing any Cost Report, click the export icon in the top right. From the modal, select Advanced export, and then select “FOCUS” as the export schema. Set any additional parameters, including email that the export will be sent to, and click “Export”. The report will be sent to the email(s) specified once available.

7. How do I export my data in FOCUS format in the API?

Send a POST request to the /costs/data_exports endpoint. Notice here that the -i flag is specified to return headers, which is necessary to expose the URL that the file will be available at, once it is ready for download. In this specific example, a custom request is created to return all aws costs for a two-week time period in a specific workspace.

curl -X POST "https://api.vantage.sh/v2/costs/data_exports" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d @- -i **<<EOF
{
  "workspace_token": "wrkspc_12345",
  "start_date": "2025-03-01",
  "end_date": "2025-03-15",
  "filter": "costs.provider = 'aws'",

  "schema": "focus"
}
EOF

In a successful 202 response, the data export has been queued for processing and will be available where specified in the location header:

HTTP/2 202
date: Mon, 31 Mar 2025 21:03:54 GMT
content-type: application/json
content-length: 3
location: https://api.vantage.sh/v2/data_exports/dta_xprt_12345
...

You can check the status of the export by sending a GET request to the /data_exports/{data_export_token} endpoint. Use the token from the location header (the part of the URL that starts with dta_xprt) as the {data_export_token}:

curl --request GET \
     --url https://api.vantage.sh/v2/data_exports/dta_xprt_12345 \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'authorization: Bearer TOKEN'

In a successful 200 response, you are provided with the S3 location of the CSV file. You can navigate to that location to download the file. A 202 response indicates that the export is still generating, and you should check back again.

{"token": "dta_xprt_1234",
  "status": "completed",
  "created_at": "2025-03-31T21:18:05Z",
  "export_type": "cost_report",
  "manifest": {"files": ["https://s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.vantage.sh/..."
    ],
...

8. Is the URL shareable so that the file can be downloaded by others?

Because the URL is connected to a public S3 bucket, you can share the link with other individuals to download a data export.

9. How many times can the URL be used to download the same file?

There is no limit to the number of times the file can be downloaded prior to the valid_until date.

10. How do I authenticate with the API?

The Vantage API uses API tokens for authentication. You can create both user and service tokens in the console. An API key can be assigned Read and Write scopes. See the API documentation for details on how to get started with API keys.

11. Who has permission to use the API?

All users can generate Read API keys. Using the API key, you can retrieve unit costs for any Cost Report the user that creates the API keys has access to in the Vantage console.

12. What are some resources I can use to get started with the API?

Vantage provides multiple resources for getting started with the API:

• The Vantage API documentation site contains information about available API endpoints and provides a tool for running API calls directly on the site.
• The product documentation contains details on how to use VQL.
• The “FinOps as Code” repository contains tutorials and code samples for getting started with the Vantage API.

13. Will Vantage keep the FOCUS schema up to date as it evolves?

Yes, Vantage will continue to track and support updates to the FOCUS spec to ensure compatibility as it evolves.