AWS SDK Python Usage

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Writing Python code that uses AWS services via boto3
• Python code imports boto3
• The user asks about AWS operations in Python

Example prompts

• “/aws-sdk-python-usage”

Requirements

• Python 3

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit bd49cc8. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are python).

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  No URLs in SKILL.md.

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

AWS SDK Python Usage loads about 2.1k tokens when it runs, and up to ~10k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 139 tokens; SKILL.md has 585 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~139

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~2.1k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~10k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws at commit bd49cc8, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© aws). 585 words, ~2,051 tokens.

name

aws-sdk-python-usage

description

AWS SDK for Python (boto3/botocore) development patterns. You MUST use this skill when writing Python code that uses AWS services via boto3 or botocore. This includes creating service clients or resources, configuring sessions and credentials, handling errors with ClientError, using paginators and waiters, S3 file transfers and presigned URLs, DynamoDB table operations, and any boto3/botocore client configuration. Use this skill whenever Python code imports boto3 or botocore, or when the user asks about AWS operations in Python.

import boto3

# Client - low-level, all services
s3_client = boto3.client("s3")
response = s3_client.list_buckets()
buckets = response["Buckets"]  # plain dicts

# Resource - high-level, select services
s3_resource = boto3.resource("s3")
for bucket in s3_resource.buckets.all():
    print(bucket.name)  # attribute access, not dict keys

import boto3

# Default session implicitly created
client = boto3.client("s3")
resource = boto3.resource("dynamodb")

# Explicit session use when you need to customize how
# clients are created, use an explicit profile, etc.
session = boto3.Session(
    profile_name="my-profile",
    region_name="us-west-2",
)
client = session.client("s3")

# Client - pass parameters as keyword arguments, get dicts back
response = client.get_object(Bucket="my-bucket", Key="my-key")
data = response["Body"].read()

# Resource - use object methods and attributes
obj = s3_resource.Object("my-bucket", "my-key")
response = obj.get()
data = response["Body"].read()

lambda_client = boto3.client("lambda")

def get_function_config(name: str) -> dict | None:
    """Return function configuration, or None if it doesn't exist."""
    try:
        return lambda_client.get_function_configuration(FunctionName=name)
    except lambda_client.exceptions.ResourceNotFoundException:
        return None  # actionable: convert missing function to None
    # Everything else propagates - caller or main() handles it

from botocore.exceptions import ClientError

def main() -> int:
    try:
        result = do_the_work()
        print(result)
        return 0
    except ClientError as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
        return 1

def main() -> int:
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("bucket")
    args = parser.parse_args()

    try:
        do_the_work(args.bucket)
        return 0
    except ClientError as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
        return 1

if __name__ == "__main__":
    sys.exit(main())

paginator = iam.get_paginator("list_users")
for name in paginator.paginate().search("Users[].UserName"):
    print(name)

# Filter and project
for arn in paginator.paginate().search("Users[?Path == '/admin/'][].Arn"):
    print(arn)

for page in paginator.paginate():
    for user in page.get("Users", []):
        process(user)

waiter = client.get_waiter("bucket_exists")
waiter.wait(
    Bucket="my-bucket",
    WaiterConfig={"Delay": 5, "MaxAttempts": 20},
)

from botocore.config import Config

config = Config(
    retries={"total_max_attempts": 2, "mode": "adaptive"},
    connect_timeout=5,
    read_timeout=10,
    max_pool_connections=50,
)
client = boto3.client("s3", config=config)

# Quick: log all botocore wire-level details to stderr
boto3.set_stream_logger("")  # root logger -- everything
boto3.set_stream_logger("botocore")  # just botocore

# Botocore, log all botocore details
import logging

from botocore.session import Session

session = Session()

session.set_stream_logger('botocore', logging.DEBUG)
# OR: Configure logging to a file.
session.set_file_logger(logging.DEBUG, '/tmp/botocore.log')

© aws, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 7 other files (references) in skills/core-skills/aws-sdk-python-usage of aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws.

• SKILL.md
• references/configuration.md
• references/credentials.md
• references/dynamodb.md
• references/error-handling.md
• references/pagination.md
• references/s3.md
• references/waiters.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit bd49cc8

Used in 1 other repository

We found 2 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

• Kilo-Org/kilo-marketplaceskills/aws-sdk-python-usage