cloud-architect
Designs cloud architectures, creates migration plans, generates cost optimization recommendations, and produces disaster recovery strategies across AWS, Azure, and GCP. Use when designing cloud architectures, planning migrations, or optimizing multi-cloud deployments. Invoke for Well-Architected Framework, cost optimization, disaster recovery, landing zones, security architecture, serverless design.
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/jeffallan/claude-skills --skill cloud-architect- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads cloud-architect automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
Security audits
Independent scans of the skill's instructions and bundled files.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Cloud Architect
Core Workflow
- Discovery — Assess current state, requirements, constraints, compliance needs
- Design — Select services, design topology, plan data architecture
- Security — Implement zero-trust, identity federation, encryption
- Cost Model — Right-size resources, reserved capacity, auto-scaling
- Migration — Apply 6Rs framework, define waves, validate connectivity before cutover
- Operate — Set up monitoring, automation, continuous optimization
Workflow Validation Checkpoints
After Design: Confirm every component has a redundancy strategy and no single points of failure exist in the topology.
Before Migration cutover: Validate VPC peering or connectivity is fully established:
# AWS: confirm peering connection is Active before proceeding
aws ec2 describe-vpc-peering-connections \
--filters "Name=status-code,Values=active"
# Azure: confirm VNet peering state
az network vnet peering list \
--resource-group myRG --vnet-name myVNet \
--query "[].{Name:name,State:peeringState}"
After Migration: Verify application health and routing:
# AWS: check target group health in ALB
aws elbv2 describe-target-health \
--target-group-arn arn:aws:elasticloadbalancing:...
After DR test: Confirm RTO/RPO targets were met; document actual recovery times.
Reference Guide
Load detailed guidance based on context:
| Topic | Reference | Load When |
|---|---|---|
| AWS Services | references/aws.md | EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS, Well-Architected Framework |
| Azure Services | references/azure.md | VMs, Storage, Functions, SQL, Cloud Adoption Framework |
| GCP Services | references/gcp.md | Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions, BigQuery |
| Multi-Cloud | references/multi-cloud.md | Abstraction layers, portability, vendor lock-in mitigation |
| Cost Optimization | references/cost.md | Reserved instances, spot, right-sizing, FinOps practices |
Constraints
MUST DO
- Design for high availability (99.9%+)
- Implement security by design (zero-trust)
- Use infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation)
- Enable cost allocation tags and monitoring
- Plan disaster recovery with defined RTO/RPO
- Implement multi-region for critical workloads
- Use managed services when possible
- Document architectural decisions
MUST NOT DO
- Store credentials in code or public repos
- Skip encryption (at rest and in transit)
- Create single points of failure
- Ignore cost optimization opportunities
- Deploy without proper monitoring
- Use overly complex architectures
- Ignore compliance requirements
- Skip disaster recovery testing
Common Patterns with Examples
Least-Privilege IAM (Zero-Trust)
Rather than broad policies, scope permissions to specific resources and actions:
# AWS: create a scoped role for an application
aws iam create-role \
--role-name AppRole \
--assume-role-policy-document file://trust-policy.json
aws iam put-role-policy \
--role-name AppRole \
--policy-name AppInlinePolicy \
--policy-document '{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": ["s3:GetObject", "s3:PutObject"],
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-app-bucket/*"
}]
}'
# Terraform equivalent
resource "aws_iam_role" "app_role" {
name = "AppRole"
assume_role_policy = data.aws_iam_policy_document.trust.json
}
resource "aws_iam_role_policy" "app_policy" {
role = aws_iam_role.app_role.id
policy = jsonencode({
Version = "2012-10-17"
Statement = [{
Effect = "Allow"
Action = ["s3:GetObject", "s3:PutObject"]
Resource = "${aws_s3_bucket.app.arn}/*"
}]
})
}
VPC with Public/Private Subnets (Terraform)
resource "aws_vpc" "main" {
cidr_block = "10.0.0.0/16"
enable_dns_hostnames = true
tags = { Name = "main", CostCenter = var.cost_center }
}
resource "aws_subnet" "private" {
count = 2
vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id
cidr_block = cidrsubnet("10.0.0.0/16", 8, count.index)
availability_zone = data.aws_availability_zones.available.names[count.index]
}
resource "aws_subnet" "public" {
count = 2
vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id
cidr_block = cidrsubnet("10.0.0.0/16", 8, count.index + 10)
availability_zone = data.aws_availability_zones.available.names[count.index]
map_public_ip_on_launch = true
}
Auto-Scaling Group (Terraform)
resource "aws_autoscaling_group" "app" {
desired_capacity = 2
min_size = 1
max_size = 10
vpc_zone_identifier = aws_subnet.private[*].id
launch_template {
id = aws_launch_template.app.id
version = "$Latest"
}
tag {
key = "CostCenter"
value = var.cost_center
propagate_at_launch = true
}
}
resource "aws_autoscaling_policy" "cpu_target" {
autoscaling_group_name = aws_autoscaling_group.app.name
policy_type = "TargetTrackingScaling"
target_tracking_configuration {
predefined_metric_specification {
predefined_metric_type = "ASGAverageCPUUtilization"
}
target_value = 60.0
}
}
Cost Analysis CLI
# AWS: identify top cost drivers for the last 30 days
aws ce get-cost-and-usage \
--time-period Start=$(date -d '30 days ago' +%Y-%m-%d),End=$(date +%Y-%m-%d) \
--granularity MONTHLY \
--metrics "UnblendedCost" \
--group-by Type=DIMENSION,Key=SERVICE \
--query 'ResultsByTime[0].Groups[*].{Service:Keys[0],Cost:Metrics.UnblendedCost.Amount}' \
--output table
# Azure: review spend by resource group
az consumption usage list \
--start-date $(date -d '30 days ago' +%Y-%m-%d) \
--end-date $(date +%Y-%m-%d) \
--query "[].{ResourceGroup:resourceGroup,Cost:pretaxCost,Currency:currency}" \
--output table
Output Templates
When designing cloud architecture, provide:
- Architecture diagram with services and data flow
- Service selection rationale (compute, storage, database, networking)
- Security architecture (IAM, network segmentation, encryption)
- Cost estimation and optimization strategy
- Deployment approach and rollback plan
Maintained by @jeffallan, Principal Consultant at Synergetic Solutions
FAQ
What does the cloud-architect skill do?
Designs cloud architectures, creates migration plans, generates cost optimization recommendations, and produces disaster recovery strategies across AWS, Azure, and GCP. Use when designing cloud architectures, planning migrations, or optimizing multi-cloud deployments. Invoke for Well-Architected Framework, cost optimization, disaster recovery, landing zones, security architecture, serverless design.
How do I install cloud-architect?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/jeffallan/claude-skills --skill cloud-architect in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/cloud-architect/ (personal) or .claude/skills/cloud-architect/ (project).
Which AI agents can use cloud-architect?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is cloud-architect safe to install?
Security partners have reviewed it: Gen Agent Trust Hub flagged risks; Socket passed; Snyk passed; Runlayer flagged items to review; ZeroLeaks passed. As with any skill, read the SKILL.md and bundled scripts before installing.
Who maintains cloud-architect?
It is published by jeffallan in jeffallan/claude-skills. It has 4,687 recorded installs.
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