aws-sdk-python-usage

An agent skill by aws, from aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws. Tags: api, cloud, python, sdk, validation.

What it does

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.

Install

With the skills CLI, which installs into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other agents:

npx skills add aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws --skill aws-sdk-python-usage

Or copy the skill folder into Claude Code's skills directory by hand (~/.claude/skills for every project, or .claude/skills inside one):

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws
cp -r agent-toolkit-for-aws/plugins/aws-core/skills/aws-sdk-python-usage ~/.claude/skills/aws-sdk-python-usage

Safety box score

Grade B, low risk: 21 of 100 risk points, rated 2026-10-15. The grade rates what the skill and its scripts can reach on the machine of whoever installs it, across eight categories from shell execution to secrets access. How the score works.

This is a documentation-only skill for writing Python with boto3/botocore. It does not ship executable scripts, but it does guide the agent to use local AWS credentials, make outbound AWS API calls, and optionally write SDK traffic to logs.

Category levels, from 0 (none) to 3 (high)
Category	Level	Why
Code & shell execution	0 (none)	The repository is plain Markdown with code examples only; there are no bundled shell scripts, installers, or runtime code to execute.
Network access	2 (moderate)	The skill is specifically about creating boto3 clients and making AWS API calls, including S3 upload/download and presigned URL flows, so generated code will contact remote AWS endpoints.
Filesystem reach	1 (low)	It points at user and system config files such as `~/.aws/credentials`, `~/.aws/config`, `~/.boto`, `/etc/boto.cfg`, and `/tmp/botocore.log`, but does not itself edit or delete them.
Secrets & credentials	2 (moderate)	The credential docs explicitly cover `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID`, `AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`, `AWS_SESSION_TOKEN`, named profiles, and STS `assume_role`, so the skill can use secrets already present on the machine.
Privilege & persistence	0 (none)	There is no sudo, service registration, shell startup editing, or other privilege-changing behavior in the skill.
Instruction hijack surface	0 (none)	No prompt-injection, hidden instructions, or requests to ignore higher-priority rules appear in the files.
Irreversible actions	0 (none)	The skill does not push, delete, deploy, post, pay, or book anything by itself; it only teaches SDK usage patterns.
Transparency	0 (none)	All shipped files are readable Markdown; there are no binaries, base64 blobs, or remotely fetched code.

Before installing

Verify the AWS profile or env vars on this machine are least-privilege and meant for the task.
Check whether you are comfortable with code that uploads/downloads S3 objects or generates presigned URLs.
Avoid enabling botocore debug logging unless you want request/response data written to `/tmp/botocore.log` or stderr.

Rated 2026-10-15 by an automated review of 8 files from the skill's repository.

Source

Repository: aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws (all skills from this repository)
Path: plugins/aws-core/skills/aws-sdk-python-usage/SKILL.md
Branch: main
Collection: aws-core
Updated: 2026-09-19

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