launching-ec2-instance-with-best-practices

Launches an EC2 instance with secure, cost-efficient defaults including AMI selection, burstable instance sizing, least-privilege IAM roles, hardened security groups, encrypted EBS volumes, and comprehensive tagging. Use when deploying new EC2 instances following AWS best practices for security and cost optimization.

Quality

85%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Quality

Content

78%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

The body is a well-disciplined overview that practices genuine progressive disclosure: lean sections, a single real reference file carrying the detailed 17-step procedure, and concrete troubleshooting commands inline. Its weaknesses are minor — redundant restatement of the description across the Overview and bullet list, and no inline executable snippet or validation checkpoint for the core launch flow.

Suggestions

Collapse the Overview paragraph and the 'The procedure handles' bullet list into one non-duplicated summary — both currently restate the frontmatter description almost verbatim.

Add one minimal inline quick-start element (e.g., a single launch command or a compact parameter table pointer) so the core task has concrete guidance without opening the reference.

Surface the procedure's key validation checkpoint (post-launch verification step) in the body so the workflow's feedback loop is visible at the overview level.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The ~40-line body is lean and assumes competence, but the Overview paragraph ('Domain expertise for launching EC2 instances with sensible defaults optimized for security, cost-efficiency...') largely duplicates the frontmatter description, and the 'The procedure handles' bullet list repeats it a third time. Not 5 because of this trimmable redundancy; not 3 because there is no padding or explanation of things Claude already knows.	4 / 5
Actionability	Concrete inline commands appear in troubleshooting ('aws ec2 get-console-output', key permissions '400', 't3a instead of t3'), and the main procedure is delegated to a real, detailed reference ('follow the procedure exactly. See [EC2 instance launch procedure]'). Not 5 because the body itself contains no executable example for the core launch task — everything concrete for it lives one level deeper.	4 / 5
Workflow Clarity	The coverage list conveys a logical sequence (defaults, network validation, AMI, IAM, security groups, storage, tagging, post-launch verification) and the body explicitly notes the procedure includes 'Post-launch verification and connection instructions'. Not 5 because no validation checkpoint is surfaced inline and the numbered sequence with checkpoints is entirely deferred to the reference file.	4 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	Textbook structure: a concise overview body with a single clearly signaled, one-level-deep reference (verified to exist at references/launch-ec2-instance-with-best-practices.md, ~64KB, with no nested .md references), linked twice with clear context for each link. Matches the clear-overview anchor exactly.	5 / 5
	Total	17 / 20 Passed

Description

92%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

A strong description: concrete, comprehensive capability list in third person, paired with an explicit 'Use when' trigger clause. The only weakness is modest keyword variation — a few natural synonyms for EC2 deployment scenarios are missing.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple specific concrete capabilities — 'AMI selection, burstable instance sizing, least-privilege IAM roles, hardened security groups, encrypted EBS volumes, and comprehensive tagging' — giving comprehensive coverage of the launch workflow; not 4 because there are no meaningful coverage gaps, and it uses third person ('Launches').	5 / 5
Completeness	Explicitly answers both: 'what' via 'Launches an EC2 instance with secure, cost-efficient defaults including...' and 'when' via the concrete trigger clause 'Use when deploying new EC2 instances following AWS best practices for security and cost optimization.'	5 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	Good natural keyword coverage — 'EC2 instance', 'deploying', 'AWS best practices', 'security and cost optimization' — phrases users would naturally say. Not 5 because common synonyms and variations ('cloud server', 'VM', 'instance setup', 'provision') are absent.	4 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Occupies a clear niche (EC2 instance launching) with distinct triggers ('EC2', 'deploying new EC2 instances'); unlikely to fire for unrelated skills, matching the minimal-conflict anchor.	5 / 5
	Total	19 / 20 Passed

Validation

93%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 15 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	15 / 16 Passed

Repository: aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws
Path: skills/specialized-skills/ec2-skills/launching-ec2-instance-with-best-practices/SKILL.md
Commit: b8171ad

Reviewed: 5 days ago

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