AWS SES Deep Management Skill

Advanced monitoring and management of AWS Simple Email Service.

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always discover identities, configuration sets, and account status before querying metrics.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash
REGION="${AWS_REGION:-us-east-1}"

echo "=== Account Sending Status ==="
aws sesv2 get-account --region "$REGION" \
  --query '{ProductionAccess:ProductionAccessEnabled,SendingEnabled:SendingEnabled,Quota:SendQuota,EnforcementStatus:EnforcementStatus}' \
  --output json | jq '.'

echo ""
echo "=== Verified Identities ==="
aws sesv2 list-email-identities --region "$REGION" \
  --query 'EmailIdentities[].{Identity:IdentityName,Type:IdentityType,Sending:SendingEnabled,Verification:VerificationStatus}' \
  --output table

echo ""
echo "=== Configuration Sets ==="
aws sesv2 list-configuration-sets --region "$REGION" \
  --query 'ConfigurationSets[]' --output table

echo ""
echo "=== Dedicated IPs ==="
aws sesv2 get-dedicated-ips --region "$REGION" \
  --query 'DedicatedIps[].{IP:Ip,Warmup:WarmupStatus,WarmupPct:WarmupPercentage,Pool:PoolName}' \
  --output table 2>/dev/null || echo "No dedicated IPs"

echo ""
echo "=== Suppression List Summary ==="
aws sesv2 list-suppressed-destinations --region "$REGION" \
  --query 'SuppressedDestinationSummaries | length(@)' --output text | \
  xargs -I{} echo "Suppressed addresses: {}"

Phase 1 outputs: Account status, identities, config sets, IPs, suppressions

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Reputation Metrics ==="
aws sesv2 get-account --region "$REGION" \
  --query '{BounceRate:Details.BounceRate,ComplaintRate:Details.ComplaintRate,ReviewStatus:Details.ReviewDetails.Status}' \
  --output json | jq '.'

echo ""
echo "=== DKIM/DMARC Status per Identity ==="
for id in $(aws sesv2 list-email-identities --region "$REGION" --query 'EmailIdentities[].IdentityName' --output text); do
  dkim=$(aws sesv2 get-email-identity --email-identity "$id" --region "$REGION" \
    --query '{DKIM:DkimAttributes.Status,DMARC:Policies.Dmarc}' --output json 2>/dev/null)
  echo "$id | $dkim"
done

echo ""
echo "=== Event Destinations ==="
for cs in $(aws sesv2 list-configuration-sets --region "$REGION" --query 'ConfigurationSets[]' --output text); do
  aws sesv2 get-configuration-set-event-destinations --configuration-set-name "$cs" --region "$REGION" \
    --query "EventDestinations[].{Name:Name,Events:MatchingEventTypes,Enabled:Enabled}" --output table 2>/dev/null
done

echo ""
echo "=== Sending Stats (last 7 days) ==="
aws cloudwatch get-metric-statistics --namespace AWS/SES --metric-name Send \
  --start-time "$(date -u -v-7d +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ 2>/dev/null || date -u -d '7 days ago' +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
  --end-time "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
  --period 86400 --statistics Sum --region "$REGION" \
  --query 'Datapoints | sort_by(@, &Timestamp)' --output table

Output Format

AWS SES DEEP STATUS
===================
Region: {region} | Production Access: {yes/no}
Sending Quota: {used}/{max} per day
Bounce Rate: {rate}% | Complaint Rate: {rate}%
Identities: {verified}/{total} verified
DKIM: {compliant}/{total} | DMARC: {status}
Dedicated IPs: {count} ({warmup_status})
Config Sets: {count} | Event Destinations: {count}
Suppressions: {count}
Issues: {list_of_warnings}

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

• Sandbox mode: New accounts are sandboxed — can only send to verified addresses
• Bounce rate threshold: AWS warns at 5%, suspends at 10% — monitor closely
• Complaint rate: Must stay below 0.1% — check feedback loop setup
• SES v1 vs v2: Use sesv2 CLI commands — v1 is deprecated
• Cross-region: SES identities are regional — verify in each sending region