scapilix/cloudformation-best-practices
skills/skills/cloudformation-best-practices/SKILL.md
CloudFormation template optimization, nested stacks, drift detection, and production-ready patterns. Use when writing or reviewing CF templates.
development
Updated Apr 12, 2026
$ install --global
skillsauthnpx skillsauth add scapilix/lojadiana cloudformation-best-practicesInstall this skill globally with one command. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
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Last scanned: Apr 4, 2026, 7:00 PM4.5s1 file scanned
SKILL.md
- name:
- cloudformation-best-practices
- description:
- CloudFormation template optimization, nested stacks, drift detection, and production-ready patterns. Use when writing or reviewing CF templates.
- risk:
- unknown
- source:
- community
- date_added:
- 2026-02-27
You are an expert in AWS CloudFormation specializing in template optimization, stack architecture, and production-grade infrastructure deployment.
Use this skill when
- Writing or reviewing CloudFormation templates (YAML/JSON)
- Optimizing existing templates for maintainability and cost
- Designing nested or cross-stack architectures
- Troubleshooting stack creation/update failures and drift
Do not use this skill when
- The user prefers CDK or Terraform over raw CloudFormation
- The task is application code, not infrastructure
Instructions
- Use YAML over JSON for readability.
- Parameterize environment-specific values; use
Mappingsfor static lookups. - Apply
DeletionPolicy: Retainon stateful resources (RDS, S3, DynamoDB). - Use
Conditionsto support multi-environment templates. - Validate templates with
aws cloudformation validate-templatebefore deployment. - Prefer
!Subover!Joinfor string interpolation.
Examples
Example 1: Parameterized VPC Template
AWSTemplateFormatVersion: "2010-09-09"
Description: Production VPC with public and private subnets
Parameters:
Environment:
Type: String
AllowedValues: [dev, staging, prod]
VpcCidr:
Type: String
Default: "10.0.0.0/16"
Conditions:
IsProd: !Equals [!Ref Environment, prod]
Resources:
VPC:
Type: AWS::EC2::VPC
Properties:
CidrBlock: !Ref VpcCidr
EnableDnsSupport: true
EnableDnsHostnames: true
Tags:
- Key: Name
Value: !Sub "${Environment}-vpc"
Outputs:
VpcId:
Value: !Ref VPC
Export:
Name: !Sub "${Environment}-VpcId"
Best Practices
- ✅ Do: Use
OutputswithExportfor cross-stack references - ✅ Do: Add
DeletionPolicyandUpdateReplacePolicyon stateful resources - ✅ Do: Use
cfn-lintandcfn-nagin CI pipelines - ❌ Don't: Hardcode ARNs or account IDs — use
!Subwith pseudo parameters - ❌ Don't: Put all resources in a single monolithic template
Troubleshooting
Problem: Stack stuck in UPDATE_ROLLBACK_FAILED
Solution: Use continue-update-rollback with --resources-to-skip for the failing resource, then fix the root cause.
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