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AWS Security Agent Setup

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Easily configure your AWS Security Agent environment.

by aws2.3k stars on aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws
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Updated Aug 10, 2026
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Free · Opens the source repo

What AWS Security Agent Setup does

The AWS Security Agent Setup skill is designed to streamline the configuration of the AWS Security Agent for your workspace. This skill ensures that you have a functioning agent space, an appropriate IAM service role, and a linked S3 bucket, all necessary components for running security scans and pentests. It is triggered when users request to set up or configure their security agent, making it an essential tool for anyone looking to enhance their AWS security posture.

When you initiate this skill, it first checks for an existing configuration in the .security-agent/config.json file. If no configuration exists, it will guide you through creating a new agent space or reusing an existing one. The skill intelligently handles the creation of the IAM role and S3 bucket, ensuring that all necessary permissions and policies are applied correctly. This minimizes the risk of configuration drift and ensures that your setup is consistent and compliant with best practices.

The skill is particularly useful for developers and security professionals who need to set up or maintain their security scanning environment in AWS. By automating the configuration process, it saves time and reduces the potential for human error. This skill is ideal for first-time users setting up their security agent or for experienced users who need to verify or reconfigure their existing setup.

However, it is important to note that this skill focuses solely on the setup process and does not include the actual scanning or pentesting functionalities. Users will need to utilize additional skills for those tasks once the environment is properly configured. Overall, the AWS Security Agent Setup skill is a practical solution for ensuring that your AWS security environment is correctly established and ready for use.

When to use it

Use this skill when you need to set up or configure the AWS Security Agent for your workspace, particularly before running scans or pentests.

When not to use it

This skill is not suitable for executing security scans or pentests; it only handles the setup of the necessary components.

What you can build with it

First-time Security Agent Setup

Use this skill to configure your AWS Security Agent environment for the first time, ensuring all components are in place.

Reconfiguring Existing Setup

If your security environment needs adjustments, this skill can help verify and update your existing configurations.

Preparing for Security Scans

Before running any security scans or pentests, use this skill to ensure your AWS Security Agent is correctly configured.

How to install AWS Security Agent Setup

View source

1. Install with the skills CLI

npx skills add aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws/setup-security-agent --agent claude-code

2. Or install it manually

Download the skill folder and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or .claude/skills/ to scope it to one repo. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new skill.

Anthropic's agentic coding CLI, and the reference implementation of Agent Skills. Drop a skill folder into ~/.claude/skills and Claude Code loads it automatically whenever a task matches the skill's description. Claude Code docs

Inside SKILL.md

Written by aws

AWS Security Agent — Setup

This skill handles ONE thing: making sure the workspace has a working agent space, IAM service role, and S3 bucket linked together. Scans and pentests live in separate skills and assume this is done.


Local state convention

All Security Agent skills share workspace-local state at .security-agent/:

  • config.json{ "agent_space_id": "as-...", "region": "us-east-1", "code_reviews": { "<abs_path>": "cr-..." } }. Account ID, role ARN, and bucket name are derived by convention. The code_reviews map lets scans reuse the same CodeReview for a workspace.
  • scans.json — array of { scan_id, code_review_id, job_id, agent_space_id, scan_type, title, started_at, status, path } (keep last 50)
  • pentests.json — same shape, for pentest jobs
  • .gitignore — contents * so this directory stays untracked
  • findings-{scan_id}.md — written by the scan skill after each scan completes

This skill's job is to populate config.json and create .gitignore.

Derived values (convention over config)

Other skills compute these on each invocation rather than reading them from config.json:

ValueConvention
ACCOUNTaws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text
REGIONconfig.region (default us-east-1)
service_role_arnarn:aws:iam::${ACCOUNT}:role/SecurityAgentScanRole
s3_bucketsecurity-agent-scans-${ACCOUNT}-${REGION}

Why minimal config: the role name and bucket name are deterministic, so storing them adds drift risk (a user re-creating a role manually would silently use a stale path). Only agent_space_id is stored because users may have multiple agent spaces and we don't want to ask which one every session.


Workflow

  1. Check existing state: read .security-agent/config.json if it exists.

  2. Caller identity + region:

    export ACCOUNT=$(aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text)
    export REGION="${AWS_REGION:-us-east-1}"
    
  3. Agent space:

    • If config.agent_space_id is set, verify with:

      aws securityagent batch-get-agent-spaces --agent-space-ids <id>
      

      If the response shows it doesn't exist, treat as missing.

    • If missing, list existing:

      aws securityagent list-agent-spaces
      
      • If any exist → show them to the user with name + id and ask: "Would you like to reuse one of these, or should I create a new one?" Wait for the answer. Do not auto-select.

      • If user picks one, use that agentSpaceId.

      • If user wants new, or none exist:

        aws securityagent create-agent-space --name security-scans
        

        Capture returned agentSpaceId.

  4. Service role (SecurityAgentScanRole, ARN arn:aws:iam::$ACCOUNT:role/SecurityAgentScanRole):

    • Probe:

      aws iam get-role --role-name SecurityAgentScanRole
      
    • If NoSuchEntity is returned, create the role. Idempotency note: create-role will fail with EntityAlreadyExists if the role already exists. If that happens, fall through to update-assume-role-policy to ensure the trust policy is correct.

      # Trust policy — includes aws:SourceAccount confused-deputy guard
      cat > /tmp/sa-trust.json <<EOF
      {"Version":"2012-10-17","Statement":[{"Effect":"Allow","Principal":{"Service":"securityagent.amazonaws.com"},"Action":"sts:AssumeRole","Condition":{"StringEquals":{"aws:SourceAccount":"${ACCOUNT}"}}}]}
      EOF
      # Permissions policy (S3 + CloudWatch Logs)
      cat > /tmp/sa-perms.json <<EOF
      {"Version":"2012-10-17","Statement":[
        {"Effect":"Allow","Action":["s3:GetObject","s3:GetObjectVersion","s3:ListBucket"],"Resource":["arn:aws:s3:::security-agent-scans-${ACCOUNT}-${REGION}","arn:aws:s3:::security-agent-scans-${ACCOUNT}-${REGION}/*"]},
        {"Effect":"Allow","Action":["logs:CreateLogGroup","logs:CreateLogStream","logs:PutLogEvents"],"Resource":"arn:aws:logs:*:${ACCOUNT}:log-group:/aws/securityagent/*"}
      ]}
      EOF
      
      aws iam create-role --role-name SecurityAgentScanRole --assume-role-policy-document file:///tmp/sa-trust.json
      # if EntityAlreadyExists:
      aws iam update-assume-role-policy --role-name SecurityAgentScanRole --policy-document file:///tmp/sa-trust.json
      # always (re)apply permissions:
      aws iam put-role-policy --role-name SecurityAgentScanRole --policy-name SecurityAgentCodeReviewAccess --policy-document file:///tmp/sa-perms.json
      
  5. S3 bucket (security-agent-scans-$ACCOUNT-$REGION):

    • Probe:

      BUCKET="security-agent-scans-${ACCOUNT}-${REGION}"
      aws s3api head-bucket --bucket "$BUCKET"
      
    • If 404, create:

      # us-east-1: no LocationConstraint
      aws s3api create-bucket --bucket "$BUCKET"
      # other regions:
      aws s3api create-bucket --bucket "$BUCKET" --create-bucket-configuration LocationConstraint="$REGION"
      
    • Always (re)apply public access block + 30-day lifecycle:

      aws s3api put-public-access-block --bucket "$BUCKET" \
        --public-access-block-configuration BlockPublicAcls=true,IgnorePublicAcls=true,BlockPublicPolicy=true,RestrictPublicBuckets=true
      
      cat > /tmp/sa-lifecycle.json <<'EOF'
      {"Rules":[{"ID":"AutoDeleteUploads","Status":"Enabled","Filter":{"Prefix":""},"Expiration":{"Days":30}}]}
      EOF
      aws s3api put-bucket-lifecycle-configuration --bucket "$BUCKET" --lifecycle-configuration file:///tmp/sa-lifecycle.json
      
  6. Register role + bucket on the agent space (idempotent):

    • Read existing resources:

      aws securityagent batch-get-agent-spaces --agent-space-ids <id>
      

      Look at agentSpaces[0].awsResources.iamRoles and awsResources.s3Buckets.

    • If the role ARN or the bucket name is missing from those lists, merge and update:

      aws securityagent update-agent-space --agent-space-id <id> --name <existing-name> \
        --aws-resources iamRoles=[<arn1>,<arn2>...],s3Buckets=[<bucket1>,<bucket2>...]
      
  7. Persist to .security-agent/config.json (minimal — account/role/bucket are derived):

    {
      "agent_space_id": "as-xxxxx",
      "region": "us-east-1"
    }
    
  8. Create gitignore if missing:

    mkdir -p .security-agent
    echo '*' > .security-agent/.gitignore
    
  9. Confirm to user: "Setup complete. You can run security scans or pentests now."


Rules

  • Never auto-select an agent space when multiple exist — always ask the user
  • Never disable safety protections (the public-access-block stays on)
  • Trust policy must allow securityagent.amazonaws.com (production service principal) and include the aws:SourceAccount confused-deputy guard
  • If the user provides their own role name or bucket name (different from the conventional defaults), tell them: this plugin uses convention-based defaults (SecurityAgentScanRole / security-agent-scans-${ACCOUNT}-${REGION}). Either accept those defaults or extend the skill — the other skills derive these names rather than reading them from config.
  • The scan and pentest skills can call this skill inline if config.json is missing — first-time users don't need to run setup separately.

Troubleshooting

  • AccessDenied calling iam:CreateRole → user lacks IAM permissions. Ask them to run setup with their own role ARN, or to grant iam:CreateRole + iam:PutRolePolicy.
  • AccessDenied on s3api create-bucket → either the bucket name is taken globally, or the user lacks s3:CreateBucket. Suggest using an existing bucket they own and pass it explicitly.
  • Role exists but trust policy is wrongupdate-assume-role-policy (step 4 fallback). If they don't want that role updated, ask them for a different role ARN.
  • Agent space exists but in a different region → tell the user; suggest using the right region or creating a new space in the current region.

Frequently asked questions about AWS Security Agent Setup

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