AWS Auth
Adds user authentication to web and mobile apps with Amazon Cognito (user pools and...
Install
npx skills add aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws --skill aws-auth -g -a claude-code -y- Repository
- aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws3.4k
- Category
- Design
- Updated
- 5d ago
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Context cost
- Mediumabout 3,000 tokens
- Runs scripts
- No, instructions only
What it does
Adds user authentication to web and mobile apps with Amazon Cognito (user pools and identity pools) and the AWS Amplify client auth libraries. Covers sign-up/sign-in flows and the login page (Cognito-hosted UI / managed login), MFA, password policies, OAuth 2.0 / OIDC flows (auth-code + PKCE, client credentials), social/SAML federation, tokens (ID/access/refresh, rotation, revocation, storage), Cognito Lambda triggers, identity pools (temp AWS creds), and gating API Gateway (or ALB) routes to signed-in users via Cognito/JWT authorizers. Applies when adding a login or sign-up page, configuring a user pool or app client, choosing user pool vs identity pool, wiring social/SAML, refreshing tokens, requiring sign-in on an API Gateway or ALB, or debugging redirect_uri/token/MFA/CORS/federation errors. Does NOT cover Amplify Gen2 backend definitions (defineAuth, npx ampx → aws-amplify), IAM/STS/Identity Center (→ aws-iam), or API Gateway/Lambda resource config beyond the authorizer (→ aws-serverless).
AWS Auth (Amazon Cognito)
Application-level user authentication and authorization with Amazon Cognito and the Amplify client auth libraries. Verify specific limits, quotas, and exact API shapes against official AWS documentation when precision matters; trust the docs over memory when they conflict.
Recommended: The AWS MCP server provides streamlined access to the AWS APIs used in this skill (Cognito user pool/app client/identity pool setup, API Gateway authorizers). If it is unavailable, the AWS CLI commands shown throughout work directly, the skill has no hard dependency on MCP.
When NOT to use: Amplify Gen2 backend code (defineAuth, amplify/auth.ts, npx ampx); IAM
policy/role/trust-policy authoring, STS, or IAM Identity Center console SSO; API Gateway
route/integration setup or Lambda function implementation (this skill covers only the Cognito/JWT
authorizer configuration and the purpose of Cognito Lambda triggers).
User Pool vs Identity Pool, pick first
These are different services that are frequently confused. Most apps need a user pool; add an identity pool only if the client must call AWS services directly.
| You need... | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-up / sign-in, user directory, issue JWTs | User pool | It authenticates users and is an OIDC IdP |
| The signed-in client to call S3/DynamoDB/etc. directly with AWS credentials | Identity pool | It exchanges a token for temporary AWS credentials via STS |
| Both (sign in, then hit AWS resources from the browser/app) | User pool → identity pool | Identity pool trusts the user pool as its IdP |
If your app only calls your own backend/API, you do not need an identity pool, send the user pool token to your API. See identity-pools.md.
