sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/aws-ecs-fargate

Claude Code and agent skill by sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills

Trust tier 2
  • community
LLM review pending
Source check pending

Checking that the SKILL.md file is still in the repository.

Deploy containers on ECS and Fargate. Configure task definitions, services,

Install

npx vskill@latest install sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/aws-ecs-fargate

SKILL.md

AWS ECS & Fargate

Run containerized applications on Amazon ECS with Fargate serverless compute or EC2 launch type.

When to Use This Skill

  • Deploying Docker containers to AWS without managing servers (Fargate)
  • Running microservices with service discovery and load balancing
  • Setting up blue/green or rolling deployments for containerized apps
  • Configuring auto-scaling for container workloads
  • Migrating from docker-compose or Kubernetes to ECS
  • Troubleshooting task failures, health check issues, or networking problems

Prerequisites

  • AWS CLI v2 installed and configured
  • Docker installed for building and pushing images
  • Least-privilege IAM permissions for the selected ECS/ECR/ELB/log operations and iam:PassRole restricted to the exact task roles
  • An ECR repository for storing container images
  • A VPC with subnets and an ALB (see aws-vpc (aws-vpc))

Confirm account, region, budget, cluster/service ownership, deployment window and rollback before changes. Use immutable image digests or versioned tags for reproducible deployments. Private tasks need verified NAT or VPC endpoint access for ECR, logs, secrets and SSM as used. Fargate ALB target groups must use target type ip. Execution roles fetch image/log/secret dependencies; task roles grant application and optional ECS Exec permissions. ECS Exec also requires a supported task platform, SSM channels and authorized audited access; enabling a flag is insufficient. The examples reference roles, networking, discovery and ALB resources that are not defined here.

Cluster Setup

bash
# Create an ECS cluster with Container Insights enabled
aws ecs create-cluster \
--cluster-name production \
--capacity-providers FARGATE FARGATE_SPOT \
--default-capacity-provider-strategy '[
{"capacityProvider": "FARGATE", "weight": 1, "base": 2},
{"capacityProvider": "FARGATE_SPOT", "weight": 3}
]' \
--settings '[{"name": "containerInsights", "value": "enabled"}]'
# List clusters
aws ecs list-clusters
# Describe cluster details
aws ecs describe-clusters --clusters production --include STATISTICS ATTACHMENTS

Push Image to ECR

bash
# Create ECR repository
aws ecr create-repository \
--repository-name myapp \
--image-scanning-configuration scanOnPush=true \
--encryption-configuration encryptionType=KMS
# Authenticate Docker to ECR
aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 | \
docker login --username AWS --password-stdin 123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
# Build, tag, and push
docker build -t myapp:latest .
docker tag myapp:latest 123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/myapp:latest
docker push 123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/myapp:latest

Task Definition

json
{
"family": "myapp",
"networkMode": "awsvpc",
"requiresCompatibilities": ["FARGATE"],
"cpu": "512",
"memory": "1024",
"executionRoleArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/ecsTaskExecutionRole",
"taskRoleArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/ecsTaskRole",
"containerDefinitions": [
{
"name": "myapp",
"image": "123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/myapp:latest",
"essential": true,
"portMappings": [
{
"containerPort": 8080,
"protocol": "tcp"
}
],
"environment": [
{"name": "NODE_ENV", "value": "production"},
{"name": "PORT", "value": "8080"}
],
"secrets": [
{
"name": "DB_PASSWORD",
"valueFrom": "arn:aws:secretsmanager:us-east-1:123456789012:secret:myapp/db-password"
},
{
"name": "API_KEY",
"valueFrom": "arn:aws:ssm:us-east-1:123456789012:parameter/myapp/api-key"
}
],
"healthCheck": {
"command": ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -f http://localhost:8080/health || exit 1"],
"interval": 30,
"timeout": 5,
"retries": 3,
"startPeriod": 60
},
"logConfiguration": {
"logDriver": "awslogs",
"options": {
"awslogs-group": "/ecs/myapp",
"awslogs-region": "us-east-1",
"awslogs-stream-prefix": "ecs",
"awslogs-create-group": "true"
}
},
"ulimits": [
{"name": "nofile", "softLimit": 65536, "hardLimit": 65536}
]
}
]
}
bash
# Register the task definition
aws ecs register-task-definition --cli-input-json file://task-definition.json
# List task definition revisions
aws ecs list-task-definitions --family-prefix myapp
# Deregister an old revision
aws ecs deregister-task-definition --task-definition myapp:1

Create Service with ALB

bash
# Create the CloudWatch log group first
aws logs create-log-group --log-group-name /ecs/myapp
aws logs put-retention-policy --log-group-name /ecs/myapp --retention-in-days 30
# Create ECS service with load balancer
aws ecs create-service \
--cluster production \
--service-name myapp \
--task-definition myapp:2 \
--desired-count 3 \
--launch-type FARGATE \
--platform-version LATEST \
--deployment-configuration '{
"deploymentCircuitBreaker": {"enable": true, "rollback": true},
"maximumPercent": 200,
"minimumHealthyPercent": 100
}' \
--network-configuration '{
"awsvpcConfiguration": {
"subnets": ["subnet-private-a", "subnet-private-b"],
"securityGroups": ["sg-app"],
"assignPublicIp": "DISABLED"
}
}' \
--load-balancers '[{
"targetGroupArn": "arn:aws:elasticloadbalancing:us-east-1:123456789012:targetgroup/myapp-tg/abc123",
"containerName": "myapp",
"containerPort": 8080
}]' \
--service-registries '[{
"registryArn": "arn:aws:servicediscovery:us-east-1:123456789012:service/srv-abc123"
}]' \
--enable-execute-command \
--propagate-tags SERVICE

Deployments

bash
# Rolling update - update task definition and force new deployment
aws ecs update-service \
--cluster production \
--service myapp \
--task-definition myapp:3 \
--force-new-deployment
# Watch deployment progress
aws ecs describe-services \
--cluster production \
--services myapp \
--query "services[0].deployments[].{Status:status,Running:runningCount,Desired:desiredCount,TaskDef:taskDefinition}" \
--output table
# Wait for service to stabilize
aws ecs wait services-stable --cluster production --services myapp
# Exec into a running container for debugging
aws ecs execute-command \
--cluster production \
--task arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task/production/abc123 \
--container myapp \
--interactive \
--command "/bin/sh"

Auto Scaling

bash
# Register ECS service as a scalable target
aws application-autoscaling register-scalable-target \
--service-namespace ecs \
--resource-id service/production/myapp \
--scalable-dimension ecs:service:DesiredCount \
--min-capacity 2 \
--max-capacity 20
# Target tracking policy - scale on CPU utilization
aws application-autoscaling put-scaling-policy \
--service-namespace ecs \
--resource-id service/production/myapp \
--scalable-dimension ecs:service:DesiredCount \
--policy-name cpu-target-tracking \
--policy-type TargetTrackingScaling \
--target-tracking-scaling-policy-configuration '{
"PredefinedMetricSpecification": {
"PredefinedMetricType": "ECSServiceAverageCPUUtilization"
},
"TargetValue": 70.0,
"ScaleInCooldown": 300,
"ScaleOutCooldown": 60
}'
# Scale on request count per target (ALB)
aws application-autoscaling put-scaling-policy \
--service-namespace ecs \
--resource-id service/production/myapp \
--scalable-dimension ecs:service:DesiredCount \
--policy-name request-count-tracking \
--policy-type TargetTrackingScaling \
--target-tracking-scaling-policy-configuration '{
"PredefinedMetricSpecification": {
"PredefinedMetricType": "ALBRequestCountPerTarget",
"ResourceLabel": "app/my-alb/abc123/targetgroup/myapp-tg/def456"
},
"TargetValue": 1000.0,
"ScaleInCooldown": 300,
"ScaleOutCooldown": 60
}'

Terraform ECS Fargate Service

hcl
resource "aws_ecs_cluster" "main" {
name = "production"
setting {
name = "containerInsights"
value = "enabled"
}
}
resource "aws_ecs_task_definition" "myapp" {
family = "myapp"
network_mode = "awsvpc"
requires_compatibilities = ["FARGATE"]
cpu = 512
memory = 1024
execution_role_arn = aws_iam_role.ecs_execution.arn
task_role_arn = aws_iam_role.ecs_task.arn
container_definitions = jsonencode([{
name = "myapp"
image = "${aws_ecr_repository.myapp.repository_url}:latest"
essential = true
portMappings = [{
containerPort = 8080
protocol = "tcp"
}]
logConfiguration = {
logDriver = "awslogs"
options = {
awslogs-group = aws_cloudwatch_log_group.myapp.name
awslogs-region = "us-east-1"
awslogs-stream-prefix = "ecs"
}
}
healthCheck = {
command = ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -f http://localhost:8080/health || exit 1"]
interval = 30
timeout = 5
retries = 3
startPeriod = 60
}
}])
}
resource "aws_ecs_service" "myapp" {
name = "myapp"
cluster = aws_ecs_cluster.main.id
task_definition = aws_ecs_task_definition.myapp.arn
desired_count = 3
launch_type = "FARGATE"
deployment_circuit_breaker {
enable = true
rollback = true
}
network_configuration {
subnets = aws_subnet.private[*].id
security_groups = [aws_security_group.app.id]
assign_public_ip = false
}
load_balancer {
target_group_arn = aws_lb_target_group.myapp.arn
container_name = "myapp"
container_port = 8080
}
enable_execute_command = true
propagate_tags = "SERVICE"
}

Viewing Logs

bash
# Tail logs from CloudWatch
aws logs tail /ecs/myapp --follow --since 1h
# Get logs for a specific task
aws logs get-log-events \
--log-group-name /ecs/myapp \
--log-stream-name "ecs/myapp/abc123def456" \
--start-from-head
# Filter logs for errors
aws logs filter-log-events \
--log-group-name /ecs/myapp \
--filter-pattern "ERROR" \
--start-time $(date -d '1 hour ago' +%s000)

Troubleshooting

ProblemCauseFix
Task stuck in PROVISIONINGNo available capacity in subnetsCheck subnet availability and capacity provider
Task fails immediatelyContainer crashes on startupCheck CloudWatch logs; run image locally first
Health check failingApp not ready within startPeriodIncrease startPeriod; verify health endpoint
Cannot pull ECR imageExecution role missing ECR permissionsAttach AmazonECSTaskExecutionRolePolicy
Service stuck at 0 runningSecurity group blocks ALB health checkAllow ALB SG to reach container port
Exec command failsSSM agent not initializedEnsure enableExecuteCommand is true; check task role
High Fargate costsNot using Fargate Spot for tolerant workloadsAdd FARGATE_SPOT capacity provider
Container OOM killedMemory limit too lowIncrease memory in task definition; check for leaks
Slow deploymentsminimumHealthyPercent too highTune only after validating available capacity and minimum serving availability; lowering it can reduce healthy capacity

Related Skills

  • docker-management (docker-management) - Container fundamentals
  • container-registries (container-registries) - ECR and image management
  • aws-vpc (aws-vpc) - Networking for ECS tasks
  • aws-iam (aws-iam) - Task and execution roles
  • terraform-aws (terraform-aws) - Infrastructure as Code deployment

Limitations

  • Infrastructure commands can disrupt services: confirm target host/scope and have backups/snapshots before mutating state.
  • Docs-only import: upstream scripts and templates not bundled.

Security

  • Security scanPassed, 100 of 100Pattern checks on the skill's files.
  • Model reviewNot runA model review is scheduled for the next rescan.

Quality evaluation

  • Task evaluationNot runNo evaluation yet. Run one in Skill Studio.

Source

Popularity

Repository stars
47,054
Repository forks
6,853
7-day trend score
54

Stars and forks are for the whole GitHub repository, not this skill alone. Not refreshed yet.

Works with

Any agent vskill installs to: 56 targets in all. These 39 have a page on this site.

  • Claude Code
  • Cursor
  • GitHub Copilot
  • Windsurf
  • Codex
  • Gemini CLI
  • Cline
  • Amp
  • Roo Code
  • Goose
  • Continue
  • Kilo Code
  • Junie
  • Trae
  • OpenHands
  • Qwen Code
  • AI Agent
  • Tabnine Chat
  • Sourcegraph Cody
  • Amazon Q
  • Firebase Genkit
  • Sweep
  • Devin
  • Phind
  • Mentat
  • Claude Desktop
  • Aider
  • GPT Pilot
  • Plandex
  • bolt.new
  • v0
  • Replit Agent
  • Anse
  • TypingMind
  • BetterChatGPT
  • LibreChat
  • Warp AI
  • Pieces
  • Fig AI
Embed badge
vskill VERIFIED badge
[![vskill VERIFIED](https://verified-skill.com/api/v1/skills/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/aws-ecs-fargate/badge)](https://verified-skill.com/skills/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/aws-ecs-fargate)

Something wrong with this skill or its page? Tell us.