aws-serverless
aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws
Build, deploy, debug, and optimize serverless applications on AWS Lambda, API Gateway, Step Functions, and EventBridge.
What is aws-serverless?
Comprehensive domain expertise for AWS serverless architectures. Covers Lambda configuration, API Gateway setup, Step Functions orchestration, EventBridge patterns, event source mappings, concurrency tuning, cold start optimization, and production readiness. Use this when building or troubleshooting serverless applications, optimizing performance/cost, or configuring event-driven workflows.
- Build serverless applications using SAM and CDK templates with best-practice patterns
- Debug errors across Lambda, API Gateway, Step Functions, and EventBridge with structured troubleshooting
- Optimize cold starts, memory allocation, and concurrency for performance and cost
- Configure event sources (SQS, DynamoDB Streams, SNS, S3, Kinesis) and event mappings
- Orchestrate workflows with Step Functions and EventBridge rules, pipes, and scheduler
- Deploy and manage production-ready serverless stacks with observability and security
How to install aws-serverless
npx skills add https://github.com/aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws --skill aws-serverless- AWS account with appropriate IAM permissions for Lambda, API Gateway, and related services
- AWS CLI or AWS MCP server configured for running commands and querying CloudWatch
- SAM CLI or CDK installed for local development and deployment
How to use aws-serverless
- 1.Identify your use case: building new app, debugging error, optimizing performance, or configuring event sources
- 2.Consult the appropriate reference file (architecture.md for new builds, troubleshooting.md for errors, lambda.md for optimization)
- 3.Use provided templates and code examples to implement or fix your serverless application
- 4.Validate configuration against current AWS documentation for runtime versions and quotas
- 5.Deploy using SAM or CDK and monitor with CloudWatch and Powertools
Use cases
- Building a new serverless REST API with Lambda and API Gateway
- Debugging 502/504 errors, timeouts, or throttling issues in production
- Optimizing Lambda cold starts and memory configuration for cost reduction
- Setting up event-driven workflows with DynamoDB Streams or SQS triggers
- Orchestrating multi-step workflows with Step Functions or EventBridge
- Backend developers building serverless applications
- DevOps engineers deploying and managing Lambda-based systems
- Solutions architects designing event-driven architectures on AWS
- Teams optimizing serverless costs and performance
aws-serverless FAQ
Use this skill for Lambda, API Gateway, Step Functions, EventBridge, and event-driven architectures. Use aws-lambda-managed-instances for Lambda Managed Instances or capacity providers; aws-lambda-durable-functions for checkpoint-and-replay patterns; aws-lambda-microvms for strong isolation or long-lived sessions.
Yes, it covers Lambda container images. However, for ECS/Fargate container orchestration or EC2 workloads, use a different skill.
This skill works best with the AWS MCP server, which enables direct CLI execution and CloudWatch queries. It also works with standard AWS CLI access.
Consult lambda.md for cold start optimization techniques including SnapStart, provisioned concurrency, Lambda layers, and memory tuning. The skill provides specific configuration patterns for each approach.
Read production.md for a complete readiness checklist covering observability, anti-patterns, concurrency configuration, and deployment best practices.
Full instructions (SKILL.md)
Source of truth, from aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws.
name: aws-serverless description: Builds, deploys, manages, debugs, configures, and optimizes serverless applications on AWS using Lambda, API Gateway, Step Functions, EventBridge, and SAM/CDK. Covers cold starts, CORS debugging, event source mappings, troubleshooting, concurrency, SnapStart, Powertools, function URLs, EventBridge Scheduler, Lambda layers, and production readiness. Triggers on mentions of Lambda, API Gateway, Step Functions, SAM templates, CDK serverless stacks, DynamoDB stream triggers, SQS event sources, cold starts, timeouts, 502/504 errors, throttling, concurrency, CORS, Powertools, or any event-driven architecture on AWS, even without the word "serverless." Does not apply to EC2, ECS/Fargate containers, or Amplify hosting. version: 1 metadata: service: [lambda, api-gateway, step-functions, eventbridge, dynamodb, sqs, sns, s3, kinesis] task: [build, deploy, debug, optimize] persona: [developer, devops] workload: [serverless]
AWS Serverless
Overview
Domain expertise for building serverless applications on AWS. Covers Lambda configuration, API Gateway debugging, Step Functions orchestration, EventBridge patterns, event source mappings, concurrency tuning, cold start optimization, deployment with SAM/CDK, production readiness, and troubleshooting across all serverless services.
Works best with the AWS MCP server — enables running CLI commands, querying CloudWatch, and validating configurations directly. All guidance also works with standard AWS CLI access.
Note: Reference files contain specific runtime versions, quota values, and feature matrices that may change. When precision matters (e.g., deploying to production, choosing a runtime, or checking a quota), confirm values against current AWS documentation rather than relying solely on the values in these files.
Routing
| User need | Action |
|---|---|
| Building a new serverless app | Read architecture.md for pattern selection, then deployment.md for SAM/CDK templates |
| Debugging an error | Read troubleshooting.md — starts with the 5 most common fixes |
| Optimizing performance or cost | Read lambda.md for cold starts and memory tuning, production.md for readiness checklist |
| Configuring event sources (SQS, DDB Streams, SNS) | Read event-sources.md |
| Step Functions, EventBridge, or orchestration | Read orchestration.md |
| Concurrency configuration | Read concurrency.md |
| API Gateway setup | Read api-gateway.md |
| Common anti-patterns | Read the anti-patterns section in production.md |
| Starting with Powertools | Use powertools-handler.py as a template |
| Lambda Managed Instances, LMI, capacity providers, EC2-backed Lambda, PerExecutionEnvironmentMaxConcurrency | Use the aws-lambda-managed-instances skill instead |
| Durable functions, durable execution, checkpoint-and-replay | Use the aws-lambda-durable-functions skill instead |
| Firecracker microVMs, strong tenant isolation, sandboxed/untrusted code execution, long-lived sessions, suspend/resume, port-listening servers, snapshot-resumable compute | Use the aws-lambda-microvms skill instead |
| Spans multiple areas | Read the most specific reference first, then consult others as needed |
Files
| File | Content |
|---|---|
| lambda.md | Runtime, memory/CPU, cold starts, SnapStart, layers, containers |
| api-gateway.md | REST vs HTTP API, stages, auth, throttling, mapping |
| event-sources.md | SQS, DDB Streams, SNS, S3, Kinesis triggers |
| orchestration.md | Step Functions, EventBridge rules/pipes/scheduler |
| concurrency.md | Reserved vs provisioned, scaling, ESM concurrency |
| architecture.md | Patterns, reference architectures, service selection |
| deployment.md | SAM/CDK resource types, globals, fast iteration |
| production.md | Readiness checklist, observability, anti-patterns |
| troubleshooting.md | Error → cause → fix for all serverless services |
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