setting-up-ec2-instance-profiles

Configures EC2 instances to securely call AWS services by creating and attaching IAM roles via instance profiles, eliminating hardcoded credentials. Use when an EC2 instance needs permissions to access AWS services like S3, DynamoDB, SQS, or CloudWatch through temporary credentials.

Quality

92%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Quality

Content

85%

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

A well-structured, lean skill body that uses progressive disclosure effectively: overview plus a single clearly-signaled reference holding the full validated procedure, with concrete troubleshooting inline. The only gap is that the core configuration task has no inline quick-start command, so the body is not self-sufficiently actionable for its primary task.

Suggestions

Add a minimal inline quick-start for the core task in the 'Configure an EC2 instance profile' section (e.g. the 2-3 key aws-cli/iam commands or a short code block) so the body is actionable before opening the reference.

Include a brief inline numbered summary of the procedure's main steps with its validation checkpoint, so the workflow sequence is visible at a glance in the body rather than only in the reference.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is lean: a brief domain-orientation overview, a one-line delegation to the procedure, and tight troubleshooting bullets; it assumes Claude's competence and never explains what AWS/EC2/IAM are.	3 / 3
Actionability	Troubleshooting gives concrete executable commands (e.g. `aws ec2 describe-instances --region <region>`, named env vars), but the headline "Configure an EC2 instance profile" task has no inline executable command or quick-start in the body — the actual setup commands live only in the reference.	2 / 3
Workflow Clarity	The referenced procedure is a numbered multi-step SOP with explicit validation checkpoints and feedback loops (verify dependencies, verify instance/role exists, validate policy attachment, handle errors and re-verify), and the body correctly directs to it with "follow the procedure exactly".	3 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	A concise overview delegates the detailed procedure to one clearly-signaled, one-level-deep reference (references/ec2-instance-profile-setup.md, verified to exist with no nested .md references); navigation is easy and content is appropriately split.	3 / 3
	Total	11 / 12 Passed

Description

100%

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: third-person voice, concrete multi-action capability statement, explicit 'Use when' trigger with named services, and a distinct niche. It is slightly padded with the benefit claim 'eliminating hardcoded credentials' but remains clear and specific.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	"creating and attaching IAM roles via instance profiles, eliminating hardcoded credentials" names multiple specific concrete actions (create, attach, eliminate) rather than vague language.	3 / 3
Completeness	It answers both what ("Configures EC2 instances to securely call AWS services...") and when via an explicit "Use when an EC2 instance needs permissions to access AWS services like S3, DynamoDB, SQS, or CloudWatch" trigger clause.	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	"EC2 instance", "IAM roles", "instance profiles", "S3, DynamoDB, SQS, or CloudWatch", "temporary credentials" are natural terms an AWS user would say when needing this skill.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	"EC2 instance profiles" is a clear niche with distinct AWS-specific triggers unlikely to conflict with other skills.	3 / 3
	Total	12 / 12 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/setting-up-ec2-instance-profiles/SKILL.md
Commit: 222ce56

Reviewed: 3 days ago

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