itsmostafa/aws-agent-skills/cloudformation

Name: cloudformation
Author: itsmostafa

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AWS CloudFormation infrastructure as code for stack management. Use when writing templates, deploying stacks, managing drift, troubleshooting deployments, or organizing infrastructure with nested stacks.

Install

npx vskill@latest install itsmostafa/aws-agent-skills/cloudformation

SKILL.md

AWS CloudFormation

AWS CloudFormation provisions and manages AWS resources using templates. Define infrastructure as code, version control it, and deploy consistently across environments.

Core Concepts
Common Patterns
CLI Reference
Best Practices
Troubleshooting
References

Core Concepts

Templates

JSON or YAML files defining AWS resources. Key sections:

Parameters: Input values
Mappings: Static lookup tables
Conditions: Conditional resource creation
Resources: AWS resources (required)
Outputs: Return values

Stacks

Collection of resources managed as a single unit. Created from templates.

Change Sets

Preview changes before executing updates.

Stack Sets

Deploy stacks across multiple accounts and regions.

Common Patterns

Basic Template Structure

yaml

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'
Description: My infrastructure template
 
Parameters:
  Environment:
    Type: String
    AllowedValues: [dev, staging, prod]
    Default: dev
 
Mappings:
  EnvironmentConfig:
    dev:
      InstanceType: t3.micro
    prod:
      InstanceType: t3.large
 
Conditions:
  IsProd: !Equals [!Ref Environment, prod]
 
Resources:
  MyBucket:
    Type: AWS::S3::Bucket
    Properties:
      BucketName: !Sub 'my-app-${Environment}-${AWS::AccountId}'
      VersioningConfiguration:
        Status: !If [IsProd, Enabled, Suspended]
 
Outputs:
  BucketName:
    Description: S3 bucket name
    Value: !Ref MyBucket
    Export:
      Name: !Sub '${AWS::StackName}-BucketName'

Deploy a Stack

AWS CLI:

bash

# Create stack
aws cloudformation create-stack \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --template-body file://template.yaml \
  --parameters ParameterKey=Environment,ParameterValue=prod \
  --capabilities CAPABILITY_IAM
 
# Wait for completion
aws cloudformation wait stack-create-complete --stack-name my-stack
 
# Update stack
aws cloudformation update-stack \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --template-body file://template.yaml \
  --parameters ParameterKey=Environment,ParameterValue=prod
 
# Delete stack
aws cloudformation delete-stack --stack-name my-stack

Use Change Sets

bash

# Create change set
aws cloudformation create-change-set \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --change-set-name my-changes \
  --template-body file://template.yaml \
  --parameters ParameterKey=Environment,ParameterValue=prod
 
# Describe changes
aws cloudformation describe-change-set \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --change-set-name my-changes
 
# Execute change set
aws cloudformation execute-change-set \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --change-set-name my-changes

Lambda Function

yaml

Resources:
  LambdaFunction:
    Type: AWS::Lambda::Function
    Properties:
      FunctionName: !Sub '${AWS::StackName}-function'
      Runtime: python3.12
      Handler: index.handler
      Role: !GetAtt LambdaRole.Arn
      Code:
        ZipFile: |
          def handler(event, context):
              return {'statusCode': 200, 'body': 'Hello'}
      Environment:
        Variables:
          ENVIRONMENT: !Ref Environment
 
  LambdaRole:
    Type: AWS::IAM::Role
    Properties:
      AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
        Version: '2012-10-17'
        Statement:
          - Effect: Allow
            Principal:
              Service: lambda.amazonaws.com
            Action: sts:AssumeRole
      ManagedPolicyArns:
        - arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/service-role/AWSLambdaBasicExecutionRole

VPC with Subnets

yaml

Resources:
  VPC:
    Type: AWS::EC2::VPC
    Properties:
      CidrBlock: 10.0.0.0/16
      EnableDnsHostnames: true
      Tags:
        - Key: Name
          Value: !Sub '${AWS::StackName}-vpc'
 
  PublicSubnet1:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Subnet
    Properties:
      VpcId: !Ref VPC
      AvailabilityZone: !Select [0, !GetAZs '']
      CidrBlock: 10.0.1.0/24
      MapPublicIpOnLaunch: true
 
  PrivateSubnet1:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Subnet
    Properties:
      VpcId: !Ref VPC
      AvailabilityZone: !Select [0, !GetAZs '']
      CidrBlock: 10.0.10.0/24
 
  InternetGateway:
    Type: AWS::EC2::InternetGateway
 
  AttachGateway:
    Type: AWS::EC2::VPCGatewayAttachment
    Properties:
      VpcId: !Ref VPC
      InternetGatewayId: !Ref InternetGateway
 
  PublicRouteTable:
    Type: AWS::EC2::RouteTable
    Properties:
      VpcId: !Ref VPC
 
  PublicRoute:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Route
    DependsOn: AttachGateway
    Properties:
      RouteTableId: !Ref PublicRouteTable
      DestinationCidrBlock: 0.0.0.0/0
      GatewayId: !Ref InternetGateway
 
  PublicSubnet1RouteTableAssociation:
    Type: AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssociation
    Properties:
      SubnetId: !Ref PublicSubnet1
      RouteTableId: !Ref PublicRouteTable

DynamoDB Table

yaml

Resources:
  OrdersTable:
    Type: AWS::DynamoDB::Table
    Properties:
      TableName: !Sub '${AWS::StackName}-orders'
      AttributeDefinitions:
        - AttributeName: PK
          AttributeType: S
        - AttributeName: SK
          AttributeType: S
        - AttributeName: GSI1PK
          AttributeType: S
        - AttributeName: GSI1SK
          AttributeType: S
      KeySchema:
        - AttributeName: PK
          KeyType: HASH
        - AttributeName: SK
          KeyType: RANGE
      GlobalSecondaryIndexes:
        - IndexName: GSI1
          KeySchema:
            - AttributeName: GSI1PK
              KeyType: HASH
            - AttributeName: GSI1SK
              KeyType: RANGE
          Projection:
            ProjectionType: ALL
      BillingMode: PAY_PER_REQUEST
      PointInTimeRecoverySpecification:
        PointInTimeRecoveryEnabled: true

CLI Reference

Stack Operations

Command	Description
`aws cloudformation create-stack`	Create stack
`aws cloudformation update-stack`	Update stack
`aws cloudformation delete-stack`	Delete stack
`aws cloudformation describe-stacks`	Get stack info
`aws cloudformation list-stacks`	List stacks
`aws cloudformation describe-stack-events`	Get events
`aws cloudformation describe-stack-resources`	Get resources

Change Sets

Command	Description
`aws cloudformation create-change-set`	Create change set
`aws cloudformation describe-change-set`	View changes
`aws cloudformation execute-change-set`	Apply changes
`aws cloudformation delete-change-set`	Delete change set

Template

Command	Description
`aws cloudformation validate-template`	Validate template
`aws cloudformation get-template`	Get stack template
`aws cloudformation get-template-summary`	Get template info

Best Practices

Template Design

Use parameters for environment-specific values
Use mappings for static lookup tables
Use conditions for optional resources
Export outputs for cross-stack references
Add descriptions to parameters and outputs

Security

Use IAM roles instead of access keys
Enable termination protection for production
Use stack policies to protect resources
Never hardcode secrets — use Secrets Manager

bash

# Enable termination protection
aws cloudformation update-termination-protection \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --enable-termination-protection

Organization

Use nested stacks for complex infrastructure
Create reusable modules
Version control templates
Use consistent naming conventions

Reliability

Use DependsOn for explicit dependencies
Configure creation policies for instances
Use update policies for Auto Scaling groups
Implement rollback triggers

Troubleshooting

Stack Creation Failed

bash

# Get failure reason
aws cloudformation describe-stack-events \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --query 'StackEvents[?ResourceStatus==`CREATE_FAILED`]'
 
# Common causes:
# - IAM permissions
# - Resource limits
# - Invalid property values
# - Dependency failures

Stack Stuck in DELETE_FAILED

bash

# Identify resources that couldn't be deleted
aws cloudformation describe-stack-resources \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --query 'StackResources[?ResourceStatus==`DELETE_FAILED`]'
 
# Retry with resources to skip
aws cloudformation delete-stack \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --retain-resources ResourceLogicalId1 ResourceLogicalId2

Drift Detection

bash

# Detect drift
aws cloudformation detect-stack-drift --stack-name my-stack
 
# Check drift status
aws cloudformation describe-stack-drift-detection-status \
  --stack-drift-detection-id abc123
 
# View drifted resources
aws cloudformation describe-stack-resource-drifts \
  --stack-name my-stack

Rollback Failed

bash

# Continue update rollback
aws cloudformation continue-update-rollback \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --resources-to-skip ResourceLogicalId1

References

Security

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Quality evaluation

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Source

SKILL.md in the repositoryCheckingskills/cloudformation/SKILL.md

Popularity

Repository stars: 1,050
Repository forks: 437
7-day trend score: 35

Stars and forks are for the whole GitHub repository, not this skill alone. Refreshed 22 Mar 2026, 7 months ago.

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Install

SKILL.md

AWS CloudFormation

Table of Contents

Core Concepts

Templates

Stacks

Change Sets

Stack Sets

Common Patterns

Basic Template Structure

Deploy a Stack

Use Change Sets

Lambda Function

VPC with Subnets

DynamoDB Table

CLI Reference

Stack Operations

Change Sets

Template

Best Practices

Template Design

Security

Organization

Reliability

Troubleshooting

Stack Creation Failed

Stack Stuck in DELETE_FAILED

Drift Detection

Rollback Failed

References

Security

Quality evaluation

Source

Popularity

Works with