AWS Cloud Operations Skill

Installation

The skill invokes the AWS CLI v2. Install and configure:

• Linux x86: Download AWS CLI v2, unzip, then sudo ./aws/install

• macOS: curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/AWSCLIV2.pkg" -o "AWSCLIV2.pkg" then run the installer

• Windows: Download MSI from AWS CLI v2 or use msiexec ; or install via package managers

Configure: aws configure (access key, secret, region). Verify: aws --version

Cheat Sheet & Best Practices

Identity & config: aws sts get-caller-identity — who am I; aws configure list-profiles — list profiles.

S3: aws s3 ls ; aws s3 cp <local> s3://bucket/ ; aws s3 sync ./dir s3://bucket/ ; aws s3 rm s3://bucket/key .

Lambda: aws lambda list-functions ; aws lambda invoke --function-name X output.json ; aws lambda get-function --function-name X .

CloudWatch: aws cloudwatch list-metrics ; aws cloudwatch get-metric-statistics ; aws cloudwatch describe-alarms ; put-metric-alarm for alerts.

EC2: aws ec2 describe-instances ; start-instances /stop-instances /terminate-instances with --instance-ids .

Best practices: Use IAM roles over long-lived keys; set AWS_REGION /AWS_PROFILE ; use --output json and --query to limit response size; run destructive ops only after describe to confirm resources.

Certifications & Training

Free: AWS Skill Builder — exam prep, Cloud Quest, Cloud Essentials. Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02): Cloud concepts, security/compliance, technology/services, billing (~6 months exposure). Solutions Architect Associate: Next step; prep on Skill Builder.

Skill data: Map to S3, Lambda, CloudWatch, EC2, IAM; security best practices; no hardcoded credentials.

Hooks & Workflows

Suggested hooks: Pre-deploy: validate credentials (aws sts get-caller-identity ). Cost-tracking hook: optional CloudWatch/billing checks. No mandatory hook; use when devops is routed for AWS tasks.

Workflows: Use with devops (contextual: aws_project ). Flow: detect AWS project → load aws-cloud-ops → run CLI via skill script. See operations/incident-response if debugging AWS resources.

Overview

Provides 90%+ context savings vs raw AWS MCP server. Multi-service support with progressive disclosure by service category.

Requirements

• AWS CLI v2

• Configured credentials (AWS_PROFILE or ~/.aws/credentials)

• AWS_REGION environment variable

Tools (Progressive Disclosure)

CloudWatch Operations

Tool Description Confirmation

logs-groups List log groups No

logs-tail Tail log stream No

logs-filter Filter log events No

metrics-list List metrics No

metrics-get Get metric data No

alarm-list List alarms No

alarm-create Create alarm Yes

S3 Operations

Tool Description Confirmation

s3-ls List buckets/objects No

s3-cp Copy objects Yes

s3-sync Sync directories Yes

s3-rm Delete objects Yes

Lambda Operations

Tool Description Confirmation

lambda-list List functions No

lambda-get Get function details No

lambda-invoke Invoke function Yes

lambda-logs Get function logs No

EC2 Operations

Tool Description Confirmation

ec2-list List instances No

ec2-describe Describe instance No

ec2-start Start instance Yes

ec2-stop Stop instance Yes

sg-list List security groups No

IAM Operations (Read-Only)

Tool Description Confirmation

iam-users List users No

iam-roles List roles No

iam-policies List policies No

Quick Reference

List EC2 instances

aws ec2 describe-instances --output table

Tail CloudWatch logs

aws logs tail /aws/lambda/my-function --follow

List S3 buckets

aws s3 ls

Invoke Lambda

aws lambda invoke --function-name my-func output.json

Configuration

• AWS_PROFILE: Named profile to use

• AWS_REGION: Target region (e.g., us-east-1)

• AWS_DEFAULT_OUTPUT: Output format (json/table/text)

Security

⚠️ Never hardcode credentials ⚠️ Use IAM roles when possible ⚠️ IAM write operations are blocked

Agent Integration

• devops (primary): Cloud operations

• cloud-integrator (primary): Multi-cloud

• incident-responder (secondary): Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution

Access denied Check IAM permissions

Region error Set AWS_REGION

Credentials Run aws configure

Memory Protocol (MANDATORY)

Before starting: Read .claude/context/memory/learnings.md

After completing:

• New pattern -> .claude/context/memory/learnings.md

• Issue found -> .claude/context/memory/issues.md

• Decision made -> .claude/context/memory/decisions.md

ASSUME INTERRUPTION: If it's not in memory, it didn't happen.