Guide · Agent skill
How to use the AWS Cloud Services Expert agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The aws skill is a set of instructions that teaches an AI agent to answer Amazon Web Services questions and plan deployments using secure, cost-aware defaults. It is written for developers, small teams and engineers who want an agent to think about IAM, networking, backups and cost while working on EC2, S3, Lambda and related services. After this guide you will know what the skill does, how to install it, how to ask for help with it and what to check before letting an agent touch a real AWS account.
AWS Cloud Services ExpertRightNow-AI/openfang · Apache-2.0 Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the ZIP. Download the aws skill ZIP from this page and unzip it so the folder contains SKILL.md.
- 2Place the folder. Move the aws folder into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into .claude/skills/ in a project directory.
- 3Or upload it in the Claude apps. Go to Settings → Capabilities → Skills and upload the skill if you use the Claude apps.
- 4Set up the AWS CLI if needed. Install the AWS CLI and configure credentials locally if you want the agent to run commands against an account.
- 5Ask a natural question. Describe your AWS task in plain language, naming the services and your goal.
- 6Confirm account and region. Run aws sts get-caller-identity and aws configure get region to check where commands will run.
- 7Review before changes. Read each suggested command and approve only the steps you understand.
What the aws skill makes the agent do
An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file with instructions that the agent reads when a task matches the skill. This one turns the agent into an AWS cloud services specialist covering compute, storage, networking, security and serverless, using the AWS CLI, CloudFormation, CDK and the AWS console.
- Confirm the AWS region and account before making changes
- Apply least-privilege IAM policies and prefer roles with temporary credentials
- Recommend infrastructure as code rather than manual console changes for production
- Suggest secure defaults such as private subnets, closed security groups and S3 encryption and versioning
- Point out cost measures such as right-sizing, billing alerts and deleting unused resources
Install the aws skill from the ZIP download
Download the ZIP for the aws skill from this page and unzip it. The folder should contain SKILL.md. Then place it in one of the locations below. Use the personal folder to make the skill available in all your projects, or the project folder to share it with one codebase.
If you prefer the Claude apps, you can upload the skill instead under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
- Personal: ~/.claude/skills/ (the aws folder goes inside this directory)
- Project: .claude/skills/ inside your project directory
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the skill
Trigger the skill with natural requests
You do not need a special command. Ask about AWS in plain language and mention the services or task involved. The agent should load the skill when your request matches its description, which covers EC2, S3, Lambda, IAM and the AWS CLI.
Be specific about your goal, your region if you know it, and whether you want advice only or commands. Asking for a review of your setup usually gives more useful answers than a general question.
- Design a three-tier web app on AWS with private subnets for the database
- Review this IAM policy for least privilege and suggest a narrower version
- Which EC2 instance family fits a memory-heavy analytics job?
- Check my S3 bucket settings for public access and encryption
- Suggest AWS CLI commands to list unattached EBS volumes so I can clean them up
Set up what the skill needs
The skill itself runs no scripts and makes no network calls. It is guidance only. If you want the agent to run AWS commands against your account, you need the AWS CLI and an AWS account, with credentials configured in your local environment. The source's own checks use aws sts get-caller-identity to confirm the account and aws configure get region to confirm the region, so these are useful to run yourself first.
- AWS CLI installed locally, for commands the agent runs against your account
- An AWS account, if you want the agent to work with live resources
- AWS credentials configured in the local environment before any live changes
aws sts get-caller-identity
aws configure get regionReview every command before it runs
The skill tells the agent to avoid the root account, use roles instead of long-lived keys, and never hardcode credentials in source code. Those are good habits, but the skill cannot stop an agent from running a command that deletes or changes resources. If an agent runs AWS CLI commands with your credentials, review each step first and confirm the account and region shown in the output.
Treat the skill as a reviewer and planner. Let it draft commands and explain tradeoffs, then run the changes yourself or approve each one.
- Check the account and region output before any change
- Read every destructive command (delete, terminate, modify) before approving it
- Prefer a sandbox or test account for experiments
What people use it for
- Planning a secure VPC layout with private subnets for backend services and restricted security groups
- Reviewing an existing IAM setup for overly broad policies such as Resource set to *
- Choosing EC2 instance families and checking whether Auto Scaling would add resilience
- Setting S3 buckets to encrypted, versioned and private by default, with lifecycle rules for cost
- Finding cost waste such as unattached EBS volumes, old snapshots and idle load balancers
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the aws agent skill?
Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it so the folder contains SKILL.md. Place the aws folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or in .claude/skills/ inside a project. In the Claude apps, you can instead upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
What do I need to use the aws skill?
The skill itself needs nothing beyond an agent that supports skills. If you want the agent to run AWS CLI commands against your account, you also need the AWS CLI, an AWS account and credentials configured in your local environment.
Is the aws skill free?
The source does not state pricing or licence terms beyond the Apache-2.0 licence listed for the repository this skill comes from. Check that licence for the terms that apply to you.
Does the aws skill run scripts or connect to AWS?
No. The skill is guidance only. It contains no scripts and does not itself connect to AWS. Any AWS activity would come from commands the agent runs using your local AWS CLI and credentials.
Can I trust the aws skill for a compliance or security audit?
Not on its own. The content is general guidance and may not match current AWS features or pricing, so use it to plan and learn, and verify findings against authoritative AWS documentation for audits.
Does the skill work for Azure, Google Cloud or on-premise setups?
No. The content covers only Amazon Web Services. For other clouds or on-premise environments you would need a different skill or resource.
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Our verdict
Use the aws skill if you are a developer or small team setting up AWS and want secure, cost-aware defaults, or if you are learning which practices AWS engineers consider good. Skip it for unattended production changes, formal compliance audits or any cloud other than AWS, and review every command an agent wants to run against a live account.
Download the skill