aws-solution-architect

name: aws-solution-architectdescription: >  Design AWS serverless architectures for startups with IaC. Use when designing serverless  architecture, writing CloudFormation, optimizing AWS costs, setting up CI/CD, or migrating  to AWS across Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB.license: MIT + Commons Clausemetadata:   version: 1.1.0  author: borghei  category: engineering  domain: cloud-architecture  updated: 2026-06-17  tags: [aws, serverless, cloudformation, cost-optimization]

AWS Solution Architect

Design scalable, cost-effective AWS architectures for startups with infrastructure-as-code templates — recommend the right pattern, generate CloudFormation/CDK/Terraform, and optimize spend.

Core Capabilities

• Architecture design — recommend serverless, three-tier, microservices, data-pipeline, GraphQL, IoT, or multi-region patterns from app type, scale, budget, and compliance needs.
• IaC generation — produce production-ready CloudFormation (SAM), CDK (TypeScript), and Terraform (HCL) with API Gateway, Lambda, DynamoDB, Cognito, IAM least-privilege, and CloudWatch.
• Cost optimization — analyze inventory for idle resources, right-sizing, Savings Plans, storage tiering, and NAT Gateway alternatives with prioritized savings.
• Service selection — decision matrices for compute, database, storage, networking, and security.
• Operational excellence — monitoring, alarming, disaster recovery (RTO/RPO), and security hardening.

When to Use

• Designing serverless / three-tier / microservices / data-pipeline / multi-region AWS architecture.
• Writing or generating CloudFormation, CDK, or Terraform infrastructure-as-code.
• Reducing AWS costs, right-sizing, or evaluating Savings Plans / Reserved capacity.
• Selecting AWS services (Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, Aurora, ECS/Fargate, EventBridge, AppSync).
• Setting up CI/CD (CodePipeline, CodeBuild) or migrating workloads to AWS.
• Hardening IAM, VPC, encryption, Cognito, WAF, or planning monitoring (CloudWatch, X-Ray).

Clarify First

Before designing the architecture, settle the inputs below. When one is missing or vague and would change the result, ask about it; when it wouldn't, use a sensible default and say which one you used.

• App type & scale: workload type and expected traffic (selects the pattern: serverless, three-tier, microservices, data-pipeline, or multi-region).
• IaC target: CloudFormation/SAM, CDK, or Terraform (sets the template format serverless_stack.py generates).
• Budget & compliance constraints: cost ceiling and any regulatory needs (drive service selection and the cost-optimization recommendations).

Ask about the two or three inputs that matter most for this request, not the whole list. If the user wants a result straight away, produce it and state your assumptions at the top.

Tools

Each script is a command-line tool and an importable class. Every CLI prints an input template with --example (or --help) and supports --format json. See references/tool-reference.md for full parameters, methods, and examples.

References

Load the reference that matches the task — keep this file lean and pull detail on demand:

• references/workflow-and-usage.md — the 6-step design→deploy→validate workflow, quick-start scenarios (MVP, scaling, cost optimization, IaC), input-requirements JSON, and output formats. Read when running an end-to-end design.
• references/architecture_patterns.md — the 6 detailed patterns (serverless, microservices, three-tier, data processing, GraphQL, multi-region) with full service specs. Read when selecting and designing a pattern.
• references/service_selection.md — decision matrices for compute, database, storage, and messaging. Read when choosing between AWS services.
• references/best_practices.md — serverless design, cost optimization, security hardening, scalability, plus service limitations, troubleshooting, and success criteria. Read before shipping an architecture.
• references/tool-reference.md — full Python API (constructors, methods, requirement/resource dictionaries, examples) for the three tools. Read when invoking the tools programmatically.

Scope & Limitations

This skill covers:

• AWS architecture design for startups and growth-stage companies (serverless, three-tier, microservices, data pipelines, IoT, multi-region patterns)
• Infrastructure-as-code generation for CloudFormation (SAM), CDK (TypeScript), and Terraform (HCL)
• Cost analysis, right-sizing recommendations, and Savings Plans evaluation
• Service selection guidance for compute, database, storage, networking, and security

This skill does NOT cover:

• Multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud architectures (Azure, GCP) -- see engineering/cloud-migration-specialist/ for cross-cloud strategies
• Application-level code, business logic, or framework-specific implementation -- see engineering/senior-fullstack/ for fullstack development
• Compliance audit execution or regulatory evidence collection -- see ra-qm-team/ for SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and ISO compliance skills
• AWS account management, organization policies, or billing disputes -- see AWS Support or engineering/ms365-tenant-manager/ for tenant administration patterns

Integration Points