AWS Architecture Diagram Skill

A reusable skill for generating AWS architecture diagrams in draw.io format. Works with both Kiro CLI and Claude Code.

Generates production-quality .drawio files using official AWS Architecture Icons with proper styling, layout, and color coding.

Features

• Left-to-right flow — UI/Frontend on left, data sources on right
• Official AWS icons — from draw.io's built-in mxgraph.aws4 stencil library (sourced from AWS Architecture Icons)
• Verified icon catalog — only icons confirmed to render correctly
• Consistent styling — 78px icons, strokeWidth=2 edges, proper AWS color palette
• Export support — PNG/SVG/PDF via draw.io Desktop CLI with embedded XML

Installation

Claude Code (Plugin — recommended)

/plugin marketplace add vidanov/aws-architecture-diagram-skill
/plugin install aws-architecture-diagram@vidanov-skills

Then use it:

/aws-architecture-diagram:aws-architecture-diagram

Or just ask naturally — the skill activates automatically when you mention AWS architecture diagrams.

Claude Code (Manual)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/aws-architecture-diagram
cp claude/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/aws-architecture-diagram/SKILL.md
cp -r references ~/.claude/skills/aws-architecture-diagram/references

Kiro CLI

# Global (all projects)
mkdir -p ~/.kiro/skills/aws-architecture-diagram
cp kiro/SKILL.md ~/.kiro/skills/aws-architecture-diagram/SKILL.md
cp -r references ~/.kiro/skills/aws-architecture-diagram/references

# Per-project
mkdir -p .kiro/skills/aws-architecture-diagram
cp kiro/SKILL.md .kiro/skills/aws-architecture-diagram/SKILL.md
cp -r references .kiro/skills/aws-architecture-diagram/references

Usage

Just ask to create an AWS architecture diagram:

Create an AWS architecture diagram for a serverless API with Lambda, DynamoDB, and API Gateway

Or with export:

Create an AWS architecture diagram as PNG for a real-time data pipeline with Kinesis, Lambda, and S3

Example Output

Event-Driven Order Processing

"Create an event-driven order processing architecture with SQS, Lambda, DynamoDB, and EventBridge"

Download .drawio

Real-Time IoT Analytics

"Create a real-time IoT analytics pipeline with Kinesis, Lambda, S3 data lake, and DynamoDB"

Download .drawio

3-Tier Web Application

"Create a 3-tier web application with CloudFront, ALB, ECS Fargate, Aurora, and ElastiCache"

Download .drawio

Structure

aws-architecture-diagram-skill/
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── kiro/
│   └── SKILL.md                        # Kiro CLI version
├── claude/
│   └── SKILL.md                        # Claude Code version
└── references/
    ├── aws-icons-compute.md            # Lambda, EC2, ECS, EKS, Fargate (25+ icons)
    ├── aws-icons-database.md           # DynamoDB, RDS, Aurora, ElastiCache (40+ icons)
    ├── aws-icons-integration.md        # API GW, SQS, SNS, EventBridge, Step Functions (35+ icons)
    ├── aws-icons-networking.md         # CloudFront, Route 53, VPC, ELB (40+ icons)
    ├── aws-icons-storage.md            # S3, EFS, EBS, Glacier, Backup (40+ icons)
    ├── aws-icons-security.md           # IAM, Cognito, KMS, WAF, Shield (45+ icons)
    ├── aws-icons-analytics-ml.md       # Kinesis, Athena, Bedrock, SageMaker (45+ icons)
    └── aws-icons-common.md             # Groups, general resources, edge styles, base template

Key Insight: Two Icon Patterns

draw.io AWS icons have two patterns with opposite strokeColor rules:

Confusing these patterns is the #1 cause of broken icons in AI-generated diagrams.

Supported Services (270+ icons)

Known Broken Icons

These resIcon values do NOT render in draw.io — avoid them:

• mxgraph.aws4.dynamodb_table → use mxgraph.aws4.dynamodb instead
• mxgraph.aws4.dynamodb_stream → use mxgraph.aws4.dynamodb with label
• mxgraph.aws4.general_saml_token → use mxgraph.aws4.traditional_server

Comparison with Alternatives

Why this approach wins:

• No runtime dependencies. It's a markdown file, not a server.
• Output is native .drawio XML you can open, edit, and version-control.
• Verified icon catalog documents which mxgraph.aws4.* names actually render vs. silently break.
• Opinionated layout: left-to-right flow with consistent spacing, not random placement.
• Works in both Kiro CLI and Claude Code.

License

MIT