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▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄   Bicep Cost Estimator
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄   Estimate Azure costs directly from Bicep and ARM templates.
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄   title : Getting Started
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄   page  : https://bicepcostestimator.net/getting-started
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄   repo  : https://github.com/polatengin/washington
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This guide walks you through installing the CLI, published as  bce , and running your first cost estimate.

Prerequisites
──────────────────

• For the published install script: Linux or macOS with a bash-compatible shell
• For the Docker wrapper: Docker
• For source builds: .NET 10 SDK https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download and GNU Make
• Internet access so the estimator can query the public Azure Retail Prices API and, when needed, download a Bicep CLI release

You do not need to sign in to Azure or have an active Azure subscription just to run an estimate.

Installation
──────────────────

> Published CLI (Linux/macOS)

┌─ bash example ──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│curl -sL https://bicepcostestimator.net/install.sh | bash│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The installer uses  ~/.local/bin  on Linux,  /usr/local/bin  on Intel macOS, and  /opt/homebrew/bin  on Apple Silicon by default. Set  INSTALL_DIR  to override that choice. If the install directory is not on  PATH , the installer prints the  export PATH=...  command to run.

> Docker Wrapper

If you prefer not to install the CLI binary directly, add this function to your shell profile:

┌─ bash example ─────────────────────────────────────┐
│bce() {                                             │
│	docker run --rm \                                  │
│		-v "$PWD:/work" \                                 │
│		-w /work \                                        │
│		--entrypoint /app/bin/bce \                       │
│		ghcr.io/polatengin/washington:latest \            │
│		"$@"                                              │
│}                                                   │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Reload your shell, then use  bce  like a normal command.

> From Source

┌─ bash example ───────────────────────────────────────┐
│git clone https://github.com/polatengin/washington.git│
│cd washington                                         │
│make setup-cli                                        │
│make build-cli                                        │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The built binary will be at  src/cli/bin/Release/net10.0/bce .

First Estimate
──────────────────

┌─ bash example ─────────────────────────────────────┐
│bce estimate --file path/to/main.bicep              │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The output shows a table of resources with their estimated monthly costs.

Apply a  .bicepparam  file when your template depends on parameter values:

┌─ bash example ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│bce estimate --file path/to/main.bicep --params-file path/to/main.bicepparam│
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Choose a different output when you want to feed the result into automation or a report:

┌─ bash example ────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│bce estimate --file path/to/main.bicep --output json       │
│bce estimate --file path/to/main.arm.json --output markdown│
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Runtime Defaults
──────────────────

• Pricing responses are cached for 24 hours under  ~/.bicep-cost-estimator/cache .
• If a resource location cannot be resolved from the template, the estimator falls back to  eastus .
• Unsupported resources produce warnings instead of failing the whole estimate.

Choose Your Next Step
───────────────────────

• CLI Commands https://bicepcostestimator.net/cli/commands for every command and flag
• CLI Configuration https://bicepcostestimator.net/cli/configuration for compiler environment variables and runtime defaults
• Common Workflows https://bicepcostestimator.net/guides/common-workflows for practical recipes across the CLI, VS Code extension, GitHub Action, and docs browser
• Playground https://bicepcostestimator.net/playground if you want to paste a self-contained template into the browser
• VS Code Extension https://bicepcostestimator.net/vscode-extension if you want estimates while editing
• GitHub Action https://bicepcostestimator.net/github-action if you want CI or pull request checks
• Troubleshooting https://bicepcostestimator.net/guides/troubleshooting if your first estimate does not behave as expected