Awsclaw General

Awsclaw General

Awsclaw is a VS Code extension that provides AI-assisted AWS management capabilities. It allows users to interact with AWS services using natural language prompts directly within VS Code.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user:

• Asks how to connect to AWS or configure credentials
• Wants to switch AWS profiles, regions, or endpoints
• Needs to test AWS connectivity
• Asks about awsclaw extension capabilities or features
• Wants to perform local file operations (read, write, zip)
• Needs to understand cross-service relationships (e.g., which services produce CloudWatch logs)
• Asks about safety, permissions, or readonly mode
• Wants to manage session settings

Extension Capabilities

Natural Language AWS Management

• Ask questions about your AWS resources in plain English
• Execute AWS API calls through chat prompts
• Automatic pagination handling with "Load More" in chat

UI Features

• S3 Explorer: Interactive bucket browser via OpenS3Explorer command
• CloudWatch Log Viewer: Interactive log viewer via OpenCloudWatchLogView command
• Command History: Panel showing all API calls with responses
• Service Access View: Enable/​disable individual tools per workspace
• Status Bar: Quick selectors for AWS profile and region

MCP Support

• Built-in for VS Code / GitHub Copilot (no setup needed)
• Stdio MCP bridge for Google Antigravity, Windsurf, Cursor, and other editors
• Up to 3 concurrent MCP sessions
• Tool availability controlled via awsclaw.mcp.disabledTools setting

Safety Model

• Read-only operations (list, describe, get): Execute automatically without confirmation
• Mutating operations (put, post, upload, delete, create, update, invoke, start, execute): Require user confirmation before execution
• Readonly mode: Available via SetAwsReadonlyMode to block all write operations

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AWS Connectivity & Session Management

How Credentials Work

Awsclaw uses the standard AWS SDK credential provider chain:

1. Environment variables (AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY)
2. AWS SSO (Single Sign-On) via aws sso login
3. Shared credentials file (~/​.aws/​credentials)
4. Shared config file (~/​.aws/​config)

Important: No credentials are ever sent to AI services. All API calls execute locally.

Quick Setup Steps

1. Install the awsclaw extension in VS Code
2. Use TestAwsConnectionTool to verify connectivity
3. Use SessionTool with ListProfiles to see available profiles
4. Use SessionTool with SetSession to configure profile and region
5. Start using any AWS service tool via chat

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Tool: SessionTool

Get or set AWS session values (AwsProfile, AwsEndPoint, AwsRegion), list available profiles, or refresh cached credentials.

Commands

GetSession

Read current session values (profile, region, endpoint).

{ "command": "GetSession", "params": {} }

Parameters: None required.

SetSession

Update session values. Omit any param to leave it unchanged.

{ "command": "SetSession", "params": { "AwsProfile": "my-profile", "AwsRegion": "us-west-2" } }

Parameters:

ListProfiles

Return profile names detected from AWS config/​credentials files.

{ "command": "ListProfiles", "params": {} }

Parameters: None required.

RefreshCredentials

Clear and reload cached credentials. Use after aws sso login or credential rotation.

{ "command": "RefreshCredentials", "params": {} }

Parameters: None required.

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Tool: FileOperationsTool

Perform local file operations: read, write, append, get metadata, list directories, create zip archives.

Commands

ReadFile

Read file content with optional encoding.

{ "command": "ReadFile", "params": { "filePath": "/​path/​to/​file.txt" } }

Parameters:

WriteFile

Create or overwrite a file.

{ "command": "WriteFile", "params": { "filePath": "/​path/​to/​file.txt", "content": "Hello World" } }

Parameters:

AppendFile

Append content to an existing file.

{ "command": "AppendFile", "params": { "filePath": "/​path/​to/​file.txt", "content": "new line" } }

Parameters:

ReadFileStream

Get file metadata (size, type, modified date) without reading content.

{ "command": "ReadFileStream", "params": { "filePath": "/​path/​to/​file.txt" } }

Parameters:

ReadFileAsBase64

Read file content as Base64 encoded string.

{ "command": "ReadFileAsBase64", "params": { "filePath": "/​path/​to/​image.png" } }

Parameters:

GetFileInfo

Get file statistics (size, creation time, modification time, etc.).

{ "command": "GetFileInfo", "params": { "filePath": "/​path/​to/​file.txt" } }

Parameters:

ListFiles

List contents of a directory.

{ "command": "ListFiles", "params": { "dirPath": "/​path/​to/​dir", "recursive": true } }

Parameters:

ZipTextFile

Create a zip archive of a file or directory.

{ "command": "ZipTextFile", "params": { "filePath": "/​path/​to/​dir" } }

Parameters:

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Tool: TestAwsConnectionTool

Tests AWS connectivity using STS GetCallerIdentity. Returns true if the connection is successful.

{ "region": "us-east-1" }

Parameters:

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Cross-Service Discovery Guide

Many AWS services produce logs, metrics, and resources that can be found through other services. Use this guide to navigate between related services.

CloudWatch Log Group Naming Conventions

Service Relationship Map

Tips for Finding Related Resources

1. Start with CloudFormation: If infrastructure is managed by CloudFormation, use DescribeStackResources to discover all related resources in a stack
2. Check IAM roles: Use IAMTool GetRole and ListAttachedRolePolicies to understand what services a role can access
3. Use tags: Many services support tags — use tag-based queries to find related resources across services
4. Follow ARNs: When a service response includes ARNs to other resources, use the appropriate tool to inspect those resources