| name | aws-sst-development |
| description | SST v4 (Ion) expert for managing AWS resources as code with the Pulumi-backed framework. Use when writing or editing sst.config.ts, building infra/ modules (sst.aws.Function/Bucket/Dynamo/Cron/Service |
| category | Development & Code Tools |
| source | antigravity |
| tags | ["python","typescript","node","api","mcp","claude","ai","template","security","aws"] |
| url | https://github.com/sickn33/antigravity-awesome-skills/tree/main/skills/aws-sst-development |
SST v4 for AWS
When to Use
Use this skill when you need sST v4 (Ion) expert for managing AWS resources as code with the Pulumi-backed framework. Use when writing or editing sst.config.ts, building infra/ modules (sst.aws.Function/Bucket/Dynamo/Cron/Service/Router, sst.Secret, sst.Linkable, raw aws.* Pulumi resources), wiring resource links,...
SST v4 (the "Ion" engine) is a Pulumi-backed IaC framework: you describe AWS
resources in TypeScript and SST/Pulumi reconciles them into your account. It
gives you high-level sst.aws.* components (Function, Bucket, Dynamo, Cron,
Service, …) that expand into many underlying resources, plus an escape hatch to
any raw Pulumi aws.* resource for the long tail. This skill encodes a
production-proven way to author, link, test, deploy, and troubleshoot SST
stacks on AWS — distilled from real multi-stack projects that have paid for
each lesson with a prod incident.
SST and Pulumi are third-party — verify current syntax with Context7
(resolve-library-id → query-docs for sst or pulumi-aws) when you're
unsure about a component's options. Verify AWS-side facts (service limits,
model IDs, IAM action names, region availability) with the AWS docs MCP, never
from memory. The patterns here are the how; the docs are the what.
When you're invoked
Figure out which mode you're in and jump to the right reference:
| Situation | Go to |
|---|
| New project, or adding a resource/module to an existing SST app | Author → references/authoring.md |
| Wiring one module's output into another (links, SSM, IAM scope) | Author → references/authoring.md § Sharing |
| Writing tests for infra so changes don't silently break | Test → references/testing.md |
| Running a deploy, or a deploy just failed | Deploy/Operate → references/deploy-and-troubleshoot.md |
| Migrating a resource between Pulumi types, renaming a physical name | Deploy/Operate → references/deploy-and-troubleshoot.md § Migrations |
Always read the relevant reference before editing — they carry the why behind
each rule, which matters more than the rule itself.
Orientation: read the repo before you touch it
SST projects are conventional but not identical. Before editing, build a quick
map so your change matches the house style instead of fighting it:
sst.config.ts — the app name, home, providers/region, defaultTags,
any global $transform (Node runtime pin, bundle fixups), and the order in
which run() imports infra/ modules. The import order is the dependency
order; respect it.infra/ — one file per domain (storage, functions, api, observability…).
This is where resources are declared. Check for an infra/CLAUDE.md — these
projects keep IaC-specific rules there, and it's the single most valuable
file to read first.infra/tests/ — source-level Vitest assertions that pin resource
invariants. If they exist, your change must keep them green and probably
needs a new assertion.package.json / .nvmrc — package manager (npm vs pnpm), Node version,
and the sst/pulumi versions actually installed.
Run npx sst version to confirm you're on v4/Ion (the $config + .sst/platform/
signature). v2/v3 ("SST Classic", CDK-based) is a different framework — these
patterns don't apply there.
The conventions, and which are universal vs tunable
The projects this skill is built from share a deliberate house style. Some of it
is universal (true for any SST v4 + AWS project — apply it everywhere); some
is project-specific (a sensible default these projects chose — adopt it for
consistency, but recognize a project may differ).
Universal — these principles hold for any SST v4 + AWS project:
- Control the Node runtime deliberately, in one place. Don't leave it to
whatever the installed SST happens to default to. The idiom is a single global
$transform(sst.aws.Function, (args) => { args.runtime ??= "nodejs24.x" }) in
run() — ??= is correct here (the transform runs before the component
applies its own default, so it fills in only when the user didn't set one).
Recent SST already defaults to a current Node runtime, so check the installed
default first (Context7); the transform is then version-independence insurance
so a future SST downgrade can't silently move your fleet. See
references/authoring.md.
- Never interpolate a Pulumi
Output<T> into a plain JS template literal.
Use $interpolate (or pulumi.interpolate). A bare top-level
`${bucket.arn}/*` stringifies the Output to a [Output<T>] placeholder
and produces a broken ARN that only fails at deploy time (it type-checks and
sst dev runs fine). The fix is $interpolate`${bucket.arn}/*`. This
has caused prod deploy outages. See references/authoring.md § Outputs.
- Migrating a resource between Pulumi types should default to two PRs —
Pulumi creates-before-de
