Agent skill
aws-troubleshoot
Troubleshoot AWS services using the AWS CLI. Focus on EKS, S3, ECR, EC2, SSM, networking, site-to-site VPNs, IAM Identity Center, and IAM.
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/timbuchinger/loadout/tree/main/skills/aws-troubleshoot
SKILL.md
AWS Troubleshooting Skill
General Guidance
Use AWS CLI commands for all AWS service interactions, logs, metrics, and audit events.
Important: When constructing AWS CLI commands, always append --profile <profile-name> to the end of the command if a specific AWS profile is needed. This ensures commands can be easily added to auto-allow lists with wildcard prefixes.
Example: aws s3 ls s3://my-bucket --profile production
All investigations should:
- Scope log queries by log group and time window
- Check CloudTrail for failed API calls
- Use service-specific metrics before guessing
- Recommend minimal corrections
Core Services Covered
EKS
Common issues:
- Image pull errors
- Pod pending (CNI/IP exhaustion)
- CrashLoopBackOff
- Node NotReady
Investigations:
- Query pod logs
- Query pod events
- Inspect node status and cluster metrics
S3
Common issues:
- AccessDenied
- Incorrect KMS key
- BlockPublicAccess conflicts
Investigations:
- Query S3 server access logs
- Inspect CloudTrail for denied events
ECR
Common issues:
- Token expiration
- Missing permissions
- Architecture mismatch
Investigations:
- Search CloudTrail for
ecr:*denied actions - Inspect repository push/pull failures
EC2
Common issues:
- Failed instance boot
- ENI/network issues
- IMDSv2 access failures
Investigations:
- Check EC2 instance status checks
- Inspect system logs and VPC configuration
SSM (Systems Manager)
Common issues:
- Agent not running
- Missing IAM permissions
- Instance not registered
- Command execution failures
Investigations:
- Check SSM agent status on instances
- Query command execution history
- Inspect CloudTrail for SSM API failures
- Validate instance profile permissions
Networking & VPN
Common issues:
- Route mismatches
- NACL/Security Group blocks
- VPN tunnel down
Investigations:
- Query CloudWatch metrics for VPN TunnelState
- Validate routing tables and security groups
IAM Identity Center (SSO)
Common issues:
- User not assigned
- Permission set mismatch
Investigations:
- Inspect activity logs for SSO authentication issues
- Validate permission sets
IAM
Common issues:
- AccessDenied
- Incorrect role assumption
Investigations:
- Query CloudTrail for denied API events
- Identify missing permissions
Workflow
- Identify service
- Query scoped logs
- Query CloudTrail for denied API calls
- Query metrics when relevant
- Diagnose using AWS-specific heuristics
- Provide safe remediation steps
Recommended Agent Skills
Expand your agent's capabilities with these related and highly-rated skills.
timbuchinger/loadout
brainstorming
Use when creating or developing, before writing code or implementation plans - refines rough ideas into fully-formed designs through collaborative questioning, alternative exploration, and incremental validation. Don't use during clear 'mechanical' processes
timbuchinger/loadout
add-note
Use this skill whenever important information is learned during a task or when the user explicitly asks to store something. Use when users ask to remember. Triggers on "remember this", "update memory", "share" or any persistent storage request.
timbuchinger/loadout
user-story
Creates well-structured user stories for software development and project management. Use when the user asks to write, create, or format a user story, or needs to document requirements, features, or tasks in user story format.
timbuchinger/loadout
test-driven-development
Use when implementing any feature or bugfix, before writing implementation code - write the test first, watch it fail, write minimal code to pass; ensures tests actually verify behavior by requiring failure first
timbuchinger/loadout
kubernetes-troubleshoot
Troubleshoot and manage Kubernetes clusters, including resource inspection, debugging, pod logs, events, and cluster operations. Use when the user needs to diagnose issues, inspect workloads, analyze pod failures, or perform Kubernetes cluster operations.
timbuchinger/loadout
writing-plans
Use when design is complete and you need detailed implementation tasks - creates comprehensive implementation plans with exact file paths, complete code examples, and verification steps assuming minimal codebase familiarity
Didn't find tool you were looking for?