aws-serverless

name	aws-serverless
description	Builds, deploys, manages, debugs, configures, and optimizes serverless applications on AWS using Lambda, API Gateway, Step Functions, EventBridge, and SAM/CDK. Covers cold starts, CORS debugging, event source mappings, troubleshooting, concurrency, SnapStart, Powertools, function URLs, EventBridge Scheduler, Lambda layers, and production readiness. Triggers on mentions of Lambda, API Gateway, Step Functions, SAM templates, CDK serverless stacks, DynamoDB stream triggers, SQS event sources, cold starts, timeouts, 502/504 errors, throttling, concurrency, CORS, Powertools, or any event-driven architecture on AWS, even without the word "serverless." Does not apply to EC2, ECS/Fargate containers, or Amplify hosting.
version	1
metadata	{"service":["lambda","api-gateway","step-functions","eventbridge","dynamodb","sqs","sns","s3","kinesis"],"task":["build","deploy","debug","optimize"],"persona":["developer","devops"],"workload":["serverless"]}

AWS Serverless

Overview

Domain expertise for building serverless applications on AWS. Covers Lambda configuration, API Gateway debugging, Step Functions orchestration, EventBridge patterns, event source mappings, concurrency tuning, cold start optimization, deployment with SAM/CDK, production readiness, and troubleshooting across all serverless services.

Works best with the AWS MCP server — enables running CLI commands, querying CloudWatch, and validating configurations directly. All guidance also works with standard AWS CLI access.

Note: Reference files contain specific runtime versions, quota values, and feature matrices that may change. When precision matters (e.g., deploying to production, choosing a runtime, or checking a quota), confirm values against current AWS documentation rather than relying solely on the values in these files.

Routing

User need	Action
Building a new serverless app	Read architecture.md for pattern selection, then deployment.md for SAM/CDK templates
Debugging an error	Read troubleshooting.md — starts with the 5 most common fixes
Optimizing performance or cost	Read lambda.md for cold starts and memory tuning, production.md for readiness checklist
Configuring event sources (SQS, DDB Streams, SNS)	Read event-sources.md
Step Functions, EventBridge, or orchestration	Read orchestration.md
Concurrency configuration	Read concurrency.md
API Gateway setup	Read api-gateway.md
Common anti-patterns	Read the anti-patterns section in production.md
Starting with Powertools	Use powertools-handler.py as a template
Lambda Managed Instances, LMI, capacity providers, EC2-backed Lambda, PerExecutionEnvironmentMaxConcurrency	Use the aws-lambda-managed-instances skill instead
Durable functions, durable execution, checkpoint-and-replay	Use the aws-lambda-durable-functions skill instead
Firecracker microVMs, strong tenant isolation, sandboxed/untrusted code execution, long-lived sessions, suspend/resume, port-listening servers, snapshot-resumable compute	Use the aws-lambda-microvms skill instead
Spans multiple areas	Read the most specific reference first, then consult others as needed

Files

File	Content
lambda.md	Runtime, memory/CPU, cold starts, SnapStart, layers, containers
api-gateway.md	REST vs HTTP API, stages, auth, throttling, mapping
event-sources.md	SQS, DDB Streams, SNS, S3, Kinesis triggers
orchestration.md	Step Functions, EventBridge rules/pipes/scheduler
concurrency.md	Reserved vs provisioned, scaling, ESM concurrency
architecture.md	Patterns, reference architectures, service selection
deployment.md	SAM/CDK resource types, globals, fast iteration
production.md	Readiness checklist, observability, anti-patterns
troubleshooting.md	Error → cause → fix for all serverless services