Deploy on AWS

Take any application and deploy it to AWS with minimal user decisions.

Philosophy

Minimize cognitive burden. User has code, wants it on AWS. Pick the most straightforward services. Don't ask questions with obvious answers.

Workflow

1. Analyze - Scan codebase for framework, database, dependencies
2. Recommend - Select AWS services, concisely explain rationale
3. Estimate - Show monthly cost before proceeding
4. Generate - Write IaC code with security defaults applied
5. Deploy - Run security checks, then execute with user confirmation

Defaults

See defaults.md for the complete service selection matrix.

Core principle: Default to dev-sized (cost-conscious: small instance sizes, minimal redundancy, and non-HA/single-AZ defaults) unless user says "production-ready".

MCP Servers

awsknowledge

Consult for architecture decisions. Use when choosing between AWS services or validating that a service fits the use case. Helps answer "what's the right AWS service for X?"

Key topics: general for architecture, amplify_docs for static sites/SPAs, cdk_docs and cdk_constructs for IaC patterns.

awspricing

Get cost estimates. Always present costs before generating IaC so user can adjust before committing. See cost-estimation.md for query patterns.

awsiac

Consult for IaC best practices. Use when writing CDK/CloudFormation/Terraform to ensure patterns follow AWS recommendations.

Principles

• Concisely explain why each service was chosen
• Always show cost estimate before generating code
• Apply security defaults automatically (encryption, private subnets, least privilege)
• Run IaC security scans (cfn-nag, checkov) before deployment
• Don't ask "Lambda or Fargate?" - just pick the obvious one
• If genuinely ambiguous, then ask
• Never recommend AWS App Runner — it is in maintenance mode. Use ECS Express Mode instead.
• When user explicitly requests a managed application platform or signals low infrastructure involvement, route to Elastic Beanstalk

References

• Service defaults
• Security defaults
• Cost estimation patterns
• Elastic Beanstalk skill