AWS API: services, SDKs and use with AI agents
AWS exposes practically all of its services through an API, reached directly, through SDKs or through the command line. Engineering, DevOps and data teams use it to automate infrastructure and operations. Access is controlled by IAM, with detailed permissions per action and resource.
What the AWS API offers
Storage (S3)
Read, write and list objects in buckets.
Compute (EC2 and Lambda)
Query, start and stop instances and invoke functions.
Monitoring (CloudWatch)
Read metrics, logs and alarms.
Costs
Query spend and usage by service.
Identity (IAM)
Manage users, roles and access policies.
Queues and events
Publish and consume messages in services such as SQS and SNS.
How to access the AWS API
- With your company’s credentialsRequest signing with IAM credentials. The recommended setup is a role with minimum permissions and temporary credentials, instead of fixed user keys.
- Prefer temporary credentials and minimum permissions in IAM.
- Write actions can take services down or create cost, so require approval.
- Some API calls carry their own charges.
Official documentation: docs.aws.amazon.com
What an iTeam agent does with the AWS API
Alarm triage
When an alarm fires, the agent reads metrics and logs, summarizes the likely cause and opens the incident in Slack.
Cost control
The agent compares daily spend with the average and points to services and resources that moved out of the normal range.
Idle resources
The agent lists stopped instances, orphaned volumes and old snapshots, and asks for approval to clean up.
Access requests
The agent receives the request, drafts the permission change and applies it only after the owner approves.
From the credential to the agent at work, with approval
Create an IAM role
Create a role with a minimum permissions policy, starting with read-only.
iTeam vault
Store the credential in the vault and define per agent which services and actions it can call.
Approval for changes
Actions that change infrastructure go through human approval, with audit and a cost cap.
Ready-made AI teams for this work
Questions about the AWS API
Is the AWS API free?
It depends on the service. Most calls carry no separate charge, but the services you use are billed by consumption, and some APIs charge per request.
Do I need to code to use the AWS API with iTeam?
Not necessarily. iTeam's HTTP tool reads the API documentation and learns the endpoints, and the deployment team sets up credentials, permissions and tests with you.
What is the difference between the AWS API, SDK and CLI?
They all reach the same APIs. The SDK makes it easier to use from code, the CLI works in the terminal, and iTeam's HTTP tool can call the APIs with the IAM credential.
