AWS Amplify Management Skill

Analyze and manage AWS Amplify applications, deployments, and hosting configurations.

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always list apps and branches before querying specific resources.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash
export AWS_PAGER=""

echo "=== Amplify Apps ==="
aws amplify list-apps --output text \
  --query 'apps[].[appId,name,defaultDomain,platform,repository]'

echo ""
echo "=== App Branches ==="
for app_id in $(aws amplify list-apps --output text --query 'apps[].appId'); do
  aws amplify list-branches --app-id "$app_id" --output text \
    --query "branchSummaries[].[\"$app_id\",branchName,stage,activeJobId,lastDeployTime]" &
done
wait

echo ""
echo "=== Domain Associations ==="
for app_id in $(aws amplify list-apps --output text --query 'apps[].appId'); do
  aws amplify list-domain-associations --app-id "$app_id" --output text \
    --query "domainAssociations[].[\"$app_id\",domainName,domainStatus,certificateVerificationDNSRecord]" &
done
wait

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash
export AWS_PAGER=""

echo "=== Recent Build Jobs ==="
for app_id in $(aws amplify list-apps --output text --query 'apps[].appId'); do
  for branch in $(aws amplify list-branches --app-id "$app_id" --output text --query 'branchSummaries[].branchName'); do
    aws amplify list-jobs --app-id "$app_id" --branch-name "$branch" --max-items 3 --output text \
      --query "jobSummaries[].[\"$app_id\",\"$branch\",jobId,status,startTime,endTime]" &
  done
done
wait

echo ""
echo "=== Backend Environments ==="
for app_id in $(aws amplify list-apps --output text --query 'apps[].appId'); do
  aws amplify list-backend-environments --app-id "$app_id" --output text \
    --query "backendEnvironments[].[\"$app_id\",environmentName,stackName,deploymentArtifacts]" 2>/dev/null &
done
wait

echo ""
echo "=== Webhooks ==="
for app_id in $(aws amplify list-apps --output text --query 'apps[].appId'); do
  aws amplify list-webhooks --app-id "$app_id" --output text \
    --query "webhooks[].[\"$app_id\",webhookId,branchName,webhookUrl]" 2>/dev/null &
done
wait

Output Format

• Target ≤50 lines per output
• Use --output text --query for all commands
• Tab-delimited fields: AppId, Name, Branch, Status
• Aggregate build results by status when listing many jobs
• Never dump full build logs -- extract key error lines only

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative

Common Pitfalls

• Build logs: Use get-job to retrieve build steps, not CloudWatch Logs
• Branch auto-detection: Amplify may auto-detect branches from repo -- check enableAutoBranchCreation
• Custom domains: Domain verification can take time -- check domainStatus before assuming failure
• Webhooks: Each branch can have its own webhook -- list per branch, not per app
• Platform field: Values are WEB (static) or WEB_DYNAMIC (SSR) -- affects build behavior