Cash Flow Growth

Retrieve and analyze year-over-year growth in cash flow metrics for public companies using Octagon MCP.

Prerequisites

Ensure Octagon MCP is configured in your AI agent (Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, etc.). See references/mcp-setup.md for installation instructions.

Query Format

Retrieve cash-flow growth metrics for <TICKER>, limited to <N> records and filtered by period <FY|Q>.

MCP Call:

{
  "server": "octagon-mcp",
  "toolName": "octagon-agent",
  "arguments": {
    "prompt": "Retrieve cash-flow growth metrics for AAPL, limited to 5 records and filtered by period FY"
  }
}

Output Format

The agent returns a table with YoY growth percentages:

Data Source: octagon-financials-agent

Key Observations Pattern

After receiving data, generate observations:

1. Operating cash flow trends: Core business cash generation ability
2. Free cash flow health: Capital available for dividends, buybacks, M&A
3. Net cash flow direction: Overall liquidity position changes
4. Volatility assessment: Consistency of cash generation
5. Historical context: Multi-year patterns and inflection points

Metrics Reference

Analysis Tips

Strong Cash Generation

When Operating Cash Flow Growth > Revenue Growth:

• Efficient working capital management
• Strong collections and payables optimization
• Quality earnings (cash backing profits)

Free Cash Flow Divergence

When FCF Growth differs significantly from OCF Growth:

• Capex changes driving the difference
• Growth investments (negative) or harvesting (positive)
• Check capex as % of revenue trend

Net Cash Flow Volatility

Net Cash Flow often volatile due to:

• Large debt issuances or repayments
• Share buyback programs
• Dividend policy changes
• M&A activity

Working Capital Impact

Significant OCF swings often driven by:

• Inventory build/drawdown
• Receivables collection timing
• Payables management
• Deferred revenue changes

Quality of Earnings Check

Compare to income statement:

• OCF should track or exceed Net Income over time
• Persistent OCF < Net Income signals earnings quality concerns

Follow-up Queries

Based on results, suggest deeper analysis:

• "What drove the operating cash flow decline in [YEAR]?"
• "Break down [COMPANY]'s working capital changes for the last 3 years"
• "Compare [COMPANY]'s free cash flow yield to industry peers"
• "Analyze [COMPANY]'s capital expenditure trends and guidance"

---

Supporting file: marketplace.json

{
  "name": "cash-flow-growth",
  "description": "Retrieve year-over-year growth in cash flow metrics including Operating Cash Flow, Free Cash Flow, and Net Cash Flow for public companies.",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "author": "OctagonAI",
  "tags": ["octagon", "cash-flow", "yoy-growth", "free-cash-flow", "operating-cash-flow", "financial-analysis", "mcp"],
  "repository": "https://github.com/OctagonAI/skills"
}

---

Supporting file: README.md

Cash Flow Growth Skill

Retrieve year-over-year growth in Operating Cash Flow, Free Cash Flow, and Net Cash Flow for public companies using the Octagon MCP server.

Installation

npx skills add OctagonAI/skills --skill cash-flow-growth

<details> <summary>bun</summary>

bunx skills add OctagonAI/skills --skill cash-flow-growth

</details> <details> <summary>pnpm</summary>

pnpm dlx skills add OctagonAI/skills --skill cash-flow-growth

</details>

What This Skill Does

This skill retrieves cash flow growth metrics:

• Operating cash flow growth YoY
• Free cash flow growth trends
• Net cash flow changes
• Cash generation improvements

Example Usage

Retrieve YoY growth in Operating Cash Flow and Free Cash Flow for META

---

Octagon MCP Setup

This skill requires the Octagon MCP (https://github.com/OctagonAI/octagon-mcp) server to be configured in your AI agent.

Get Your API Key

1. Sign up at Octagon (https://app.octagonai.co/signup/?redirectToAfterSignup=https://app.octagonai.co/api-keys)
2. Navigate to API Keys from the left menu
3. Generate and save your API key

Configure Cursor

1. Open Cursor Settings → Features > MCP Servers
2. Click + Add New MCP Server
3. Enter:
   • Name: octagon-mcp
   • Type: command
   • Command: env OCTAGON_API_KEY=<your-api-key> npx -y octagon-mcp

Windows: cmd /c "set OCTAGON_API_KEY=<your-api-key> && npx -y octagon-mcp"

Configure Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "octagon-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "octagon-mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "OCTAGON_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Documentation

• Octagon Docs (https://docs.octagonagents.com)
• Octagon MCP GitHub (https://github.com/OctagonAI/octagon-mcp)

---

Supporting file: references/interpreting-results.md

Interpreting Cash Flow Growth

Reading the Output

Positive values = Growth vs prior year Negative values = Decline vs prior year

Key Patterns

Cash Flow Quality

When Operating Cash Flow Growth > Net Income Growth:

• Strong earnings quality
• Efficient working capital management
• Cash backing reported profits

Free Cash Flow Strength

When Free Cash Flow Growth > Operating Cash Flow Growth:

• Declining capex intensity
• Transitioning from growth to harvest phase
• More cash available for shareholders

Investment Mode

When Free Cash Flow Growth < Operating Cash Flow Growth:

• Increasing capital expenditures
• Investing in growth capacity
• Check if investments generating returns

Financing Activity Impact

When Net Cash Flow differs significantly from OCF:

• Debt issuance/repayment activity
• Share buyback programs
• Dividend payments
• M&A transactions

Cash Flow Health Indicators

Strong Position

• Consistent positive OCF growth
• FCF growth matching or exceeding OCF
• Stable net cash flow trajectory

Warning Signs

• Multiple years of OCF decline
• FCF persistently negative
• High volatility in all metrics
• OCF declining while Net Income grows (quality concern)

Connecting the Three Statements

Cash flow connects to:

1. Income Statement: Net Income is starting point for OCF
2. Balance Sheet: Cash changes flow to balance sheet
3. Working Capital: Receivables, inventory, payables impact OCF

Common Drivers of Cash Flow Changes

Operating Cash Flow

• Revenue growth/decline
• Working capital efficiency
• Non-cash expense changes (D&A)
• Deferred revenue timing

Free Cash Flow

• All OCF drivers plus
• Capital expenditure decisions
• Maintenance vs growth capex mix

Net Cash Flow

• All FCF drivers plus
• Debt issuance/repayment
• Equity issuance/buybacks
• Dividend payments

Follow-up Analysis

Break down AAPL's working capital changes for the last 5 fiscal years

Compare AAPL's free cash flow conversion ratio to MSFT and GOOGL

Analyze AAPL's capital allocation between buybacks, dividends, and reinvestment

---

Supporting file: references/mcp-setup.md

Octagon MCP Setup for Cursor

Prerequisites

Install Node.js (includes npm and npx):

macOS:

brew install node

Windows: Download from https://nodejs.org/ (LTS version)

Verify:

node -v && npm -v && npx -v

Get Octagon API Key

1. Sign up at https://app.octagonai.co/signup/?redirectToAfterSignup=https://app.octagonai.co/api-keys
2. Navigate to API Keys in left menu
3. Generate and save your key

Configure Cursor

1. Open Cursor Settings
2. Go to Features > MCP Servers
3. Click + Add New MCP Server
4. Enter:
   • Name: octagon-mcp
   • Type: command
   • Command: env OCTAGON_API_KEY=<your-api-key> npx -y octagon-mcp

Windows:

cmd /c "set OCTAGON_API_KEY=<your-api-key> && npx -y octagon-mcp"

Verify

Refresh MCP server list. Test with:

Retrieve the current stock price for AAPL

Documentation

https://docs.octagonagents.com