Delegating to AWS Agent

Delegating to AWS Agent

Core Principle

Never handle AWS operations directly. Always delegate to a specialized sub-agent to keep your context clean and costs low.

Recognition Patterns

Delegate when user says:

• "list ec2 instances"
• "show s3 buckets"
• "what access keys does user X have?"
• "deploy SERVICE to production"
• "show running instances"
• "what's in bucket X?"
• Any mention of: aws, ec2, s3, iam, ecs, lambda, cloudwatch, rds, bucket, instance

How to Delegate

Use the Task tool with a specialized prompt:

Task(
  subagent_type: "general-purpose",
  description: "Query AWS infrastructure",
  prompt: "<full agent instructions from AGENT-INSTRUCTIONS.md>"
)

Agent Prompt Template

When delegating, include:

1. The complete agent instructions (see AGENT-INSTRUCTIONS.md)
2. The user's specific request
3. Clear output format requirements

Example:

You are an AWS infrastructure specialist. Your job is to query AWS using shell wrappers and return clean results.

<AGENT INSTRUCTIONS HERE>

USER REQUEST: List all running EC2 instances

Return a clean summary with:
- Instance IDs
- Names
- States
- Instance types
- IP addresses

After Agent Returns

1. Present results cleanly to user
2. Offer follow-up if relevant (e.g., "Would you like details on instance i-abc123?")
3. Don't expose mechanics (aws commands, authentication, profiles) to user

Benefits

• ✅ Main context stays clean
• ✅ Cheaper queries (sub-agent uses less expensive model)
• ✅ Specialized knowledge isolated
• ✅ Scalable pattern for other services

Example Flow

User: "list running ec2 instances"

Main Assistant: [Recognizes AWS query]
              → Invokes Task tool with agent instructions
              → Agent runs cloud-ec2-list --state running
              → Agent returns formatted results

Main Assistant: "Found 22 running instances:
                - i-0abc123 (production-web) [running] t3.medium
                - i-0def456 (staging-api) [running] t3.small
                ..."

Red Flags

DON'T:

• ❌ Try to run cloud-* scripts yourself
• ❌ Construct aws CLI commands in main session
• ❌ Load detailed AWS API knowledge
• ❌ Handle authentication/profiles directly

DO:

• ✅ Immediately delegate on AWS keywords
• ✅ Trust the sub-agent's results
• ✅ Present clean summaries to user

Version History

• 1.0.0 (2025-10-14): Initial delegation skill created to reduce context pollution