setting-up-cloudwatch-alarm-notifications

aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws

Set up encrypted SNS topics and subscriptions for CloudWatch alarm notifications with proper security controls.

What is setting-up-cloudwatch-alarm-notifications?

Configures notification channels for CloudWatch alarms using SNS topics and subscriptions. Use this skill when you need to route alarm notifications via email, SMS, or webhooks with encryption and access policies.

Create encrypted SNS topics for alarm notifications
Configure topic policies to grant CloudWatch access
Set up email, SMS, and webhook subscriptions
Link CloudWatch alarms to SNS notification actions
Verify subscription confirmations and alarm configuration

How to install setting-up-cloudwatch-alarm-notifications

npx skills add https://github.com/aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws --skill setting-up-cloudwatch-alarm-notifications

Prerequisites

AWS CLI configured with appropriate credentials
Existing CloudWatch alarms to link to notifications
Valid email addresses or phone numbers for subscriptions

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How to use setting-up-cloudwatch-alarm-notifications

1.Create an encrypted SNS topic for your alarm notifications
2.Configure the SNS topic policy to allow CloudWatch service access
3.Add subscriptions to the topic (email, SMS, or webhook endpoints)
4.Confirm email subscriptions by clicking the confirmation link
5.Link your CloudWatch alarms to the SNS topic via AlarmActions
6.Verify alarm configuration with aws cloudwatch describe-alarms

Use cases

Good for

Route critical CloudWatch alarms to on-call teams via email or SMS
Send infrastructure alerts to webhook endpoints for incident management systems
Configure multi-channel notifications (email + SMS) for high-priority alarms
Set up alarm notifications in a new AWS account with security best practices
Troubleshoot missing or failed alarm notifications

Who it's for

AWS DevOps engineers
Cloud infrastructure operators
SRE teams managing monitoring and alerting
AWS solution architects designing notification systems

setting-up-cloudwatch-alarm-notifications FAQ

Why aren't my email notifications arriving?

Verify the email subscription status is 'Confirmed' rather than 'PendingConfirmation' using aws sns list-subscriptions-by-topic. Check your email spam folder and confirm the subscription link if needed.

What phone number format is required for SMS notifications?

Phone numbers must be in E.164 format (e.g., +12345678901). Also verify that SMS is supported in your AWS region.

How do I verify my alarm is actually sending notifications?

Use aws cloudwatch describe-alarms to confirm the alarm has the correct SNS topic ARN in AlarmActions and that ActionsEnabled is set to true.

Can I send notifications to multiple channels at once?

Yes, add multiple subscriptions to the same SNS topic for different endpoints (email, SMS, webhooks) and all will receive notifications when the alarm triggers.

Is encryption required for SNS topics used with CloudWatch?

While not strictly required, encryption is a security best practice. This skill creates encrypted SNS topics by default.

Full instructions (SKILL.md)

Source of truth, from aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws.

name: setting-up-cloudwatch-alarm-notifications description: Sets up notification channels for CloudWatch alarms using SNS topics and subscriptions. Always use this skill when configuring alarm notifications — it creates encrypted SNS topics, configures topic policies for CloudWatch access, sets up email/SMS/webhook subscriptions, and links alarms to notification actions with proper security controls. version: 1

Setting Up CloudWatch Alarm Notifications

Overview

Domain expertise for configuring Amazon CloudWatch alarm notification channels using Amazon SNS topics and subscriptions. Covers creating encrypted SNS topics, setting up subscriptions for email, SMS, and webhook endpoints, configuring topic policies for CloudWatch access, and linking alarms to notification actions.

Set up alarm notifications

To configure notification channels for a CloudWatch alarm, follow the procedure exactly. See CloudWatch alarm notification setup procedure.

Troubleshooting

Email notifications not received

Verify the email subscription was confirmed. Use aws sns list-subscriptions-by-topic to check that the subscription status is "Confirmed" rather than "PendingConfirmation".

SMS notifications failing

Ensure the phone number is in E.164 format (e.g., +12345678901) and that SMS is supported in your AWS region.

Alarm not triggering notifications

Verify the alarm has the correct SNS topic ARN in its AlarmActions using aws cloudwatch describe-alarms, and ensure ActionsEnabled is set to true.

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