Search the docs, videos, blog, apps, teams, skills and release notes.
At a glance
What it is
Expert guide for designing serverless applications using Lambda, Cloud Functions, and edge functions.
A skill is a written procedure a bot loads when a job calls for it. This one is a single file, SKILL.md, and the whole file is on this page.
The whole file, exactly as it downloads. Read it before you rely on it.
SKILL.md
380 lines · 1,429 words
You are an expert in designing and building serverless applications. You guide teams through function design, event-driven architectures, cold start optimization, deployment strategies, and operational best practices across AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, and edge computing platforms.
Functions are glue - Each function connects events to actions. Keep them small and focused.
Expert guide for designing serverless applications using Lambda, Cloud Functions, and edge functions.
Nothing. It ships with Murage, which is open source. Your bots run on the AI plan you already have.
Yes. Open it in Settings → Skills to read, edit or duplicate it. Skill Guard scans it again after every edit.
Download the app, connect the AI you already pay for, and tell your Chief of Staff what needs doing. Plan on about ten minutes from install to a working team.
No account needed · Runs on the AI plan you already pay for
Paste it into your agent's instructions (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or a custom GPT), or add it to a bot in Murage.
Ask Ember for the bot, then switch the skill on in its settings.
Step 1
Send your Chief of Staff this message. It proposes the bot and its role first, and creates it when you say go.
Send this to Ember
“Create a bot that uses the Serverless Architect skill, and show me the plan first.”
You're done when your Chief proposes the bot and its role, and the bot appears in your sidebar once you say go.
Step 2
You're done when you see the bot’s skills and the library.
Step 3
You're done when the skill shows as on for that bot.
Step 4
You're done when the bot takes the job and opens the skill when it needs it.
Prefer to do it yourself? Choose + in the sidebar, then New Bot.Read the full guide to skills and Skill Guard
What it teaches a bot, what it covers, and the whole file to read.
The principle
You are an expert in designing and building serverless applications. You guide teams through function design, event-driven architectures, cold start optimization, deployment strategies, and operational best practices across AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, and edge computing platforms.
What it covers
Core Principles
Function Design
Cold Start Optimization
Event-Driven Patterns
Edge Functions
Idempotency
Infrastructure as Code (SAM)
Monitoring
Cost Optimization
Production Checklist
When to Use
Output Format
Example
Edge Cases
Minimize cold starts - Architecture, runtime, and dependency choices all affect startup latency.
import { APIGatewayProxyEvent, APIGatewayProxyResult } from 'aws-lambda';
import { createOrder } from './services/orderService';
export const handler = async (event: APIGatewayProxyEvent): Promise<APIGatewayProxyResult> => {
try {
const input = JSON.parse(event.body || '{}');
const order = await createOrder(input);
return { statusCode: 201, body: JSON.stringify(order) };
} catch (err) {
console.error('Unhandled error:', err);
return { statusCode: 500, body: JSON.stringify({ error: 'Internal server error' }) };
}
};// Connections initialized OUTSIDE the handler persist across warm invocations
import { DynamoDBClient } from '@aws-sdk/client-dynamodb';
import { DynamoDBDocumentClient } from '@aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb';
const client = new DynamoDBClient({});
const docClient = DynamoDBDocumentClient.from(client);
export const handler = async (event: any) => {
const result = await docClient.send(/* ... */); // Reuses warm connection
return result;
};FACTOR IMPACT MITIGATION
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Runtime choice HIGH Node.js/Python: ~200ms | Java/C#: ~1-3s
Package size HIGH Bundle with esbuild, tree-shake, <5MB ideal
VPC attachment HIGH Use VPC endpoints instead of NAT Gateway
Memory allocation MEDIUM More memory = more CPU = faster init (512MB-1GB)
Provisioned conc. REMOVES Pre-warm N instances (costs money)
Init code MEDIUM Lazy-load SDK clients, defer DB connections// esbuild config
await build({
entryPoints: ['src/handlers/*.ts'],
bundle: true, minify: true,
platform: 'node', target: 'node20',
external: ['@aws-sdk/*'], // Available in Lambda runtime
treeShaking: true,
sourcemap: true,
});EVENT SOURCE INVOCATION RETRY BEHAVIOR
----------------------------------------------------------------------
API Gateway Synchronous Client retries
SQS Polling Auto-retry with visibility timeout
SNS Asynchronous 3 retries, then DLQ
DynamoDB Streams Polling Retry until success or expiry
S3 Events Asynchronous 3 retries, then DLQ
EventBridge Asynchronous Configurable retry policy
Kinesis Polling Retry until success or expiryAPI Gateway -> Lambda (validate) -> SNS Topic
|
+-----------------+-----------------+
| | |
SQS Queue SQS Queue SQS Queue
| | |
Lambda (email) Lambda (analytics) Lambda (inventory)
| | |
DLQ (email) DLQ (analytics) DLQ (inventory){
"StartAt": "ValidateOrder",
"States": {
"ValidateOrder": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:123456:function:validate",
"Next": "ProcessPayment",
"Retry": [{"ErrorEquals": ["TransientError"], "MaxAttempts": 3, "BackoffRate": 2.0}],
"Catch": [{"ErrorEquals": ["ValidationError"], "Next": "RejectOrder"}]
},
"ProcessPayment": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:123456:function:pay",
"TimeoutSeconds": 30,
"End": true
},
"RejectOrder": { "Type": "Task", "Resource": "arn:aws:lambda:...", "End": true }
}
}export default {
async get(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
const url = new URL(request.url);
if (url.pathname.startsWith('/api/')) return handleApi(request, env);
const cache = caches.default;
let response = await cache.match(request);
if (!response) {
response = await get(request);
response = new Response(response.body, response);
response.headers.set('Cache-Control', 'public, max-age=300');
await cache.put(request, response.clone());
}
return response;
},
};USE EDGE FOR: A/B testing, auth validation, geo-routing, rate limiting, redirects
USE ORIGIN FOR: Database ops, complex business logic, long-running tasks (>30s)export async function withIdempotency<T>(
key: string, ttl: number, operation: () => Promise<T>,
): Promise<T> {
const existing = await db.get({ TableName: IDEMPOTENCY_TABLE, Key: { pk: key } });
if (existing.Item?.status === 'COMPLETED') return existing.Item.result as T;
await db.put({
TableName: IDEMPOTENCY_TABLE,
Item: { pk: key, status: 'IN_PROGRESS', ttl: now() + ttl },
ConditionExpression: 'attribute_not_exists(pk) OR #s = :failed',
ExpressionAttributeNames: { '#s': 'status' },
ExpressionAttributeValues: { ':failed': 'FAILED' },
});
try {
const result = await operation();
await db.put({ TableName: IDEMPOTENCY_TABLE, Item: { pk: key, status: 'COMPLETED', result, ttl: now() + ttl } });
return result;
} catch (err) {
await db.put({ TableName: IDEMPOTENCY_TABLE, Item: { pk: key, status: 'FAILED', ttl: now() + 300 } });
throw err;
}
}AWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'
Transform: AWS::Serverless-2016-10-31
Globals:
Function:
Runtime: nodejs20.x
MemorySize: 512
Timeout: 30
Tracing: Active
Architectures: [arm64] # Graviton: 20% cheaper
Resources:
ApiGateway:
Type: AWS::Serverless::HttpApi
Properties:
StageName: !Ref Stage
CreateOrderFunction:
Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
Properties:
CodeUri: dist/
Handler: createOrder.handler
Events:
Api:
Type: HttpApi
Properties:
ApiId: !Ref ApiGateway
Path: /orders
Method: POST
Policies:
- DynamoDBCrudPolicy:
TableName: !Ref OrdersTable
OrdersTable:
Type: AWS::DynamoDB::Table
Properties:
BillingMode: PAY_PER_REQUEST
KeySchema:
- { AttributeName: pk, KeyType: HASH }
- { AttributeName: sk, KeyType: RANGE }import { Logger } from '@aws-lambda-powertools/logger';
import { Metrics, MetricUnit } from '@aws-lambda-powertools/metrics';
const logger = new Logger({ serviceName: 'order-service' });
const metrics = new Metrics({ namespace: 'OrderService' });
export const handler = async (event: any) => {
logger.info('Processing order', { orderId: event.orderId });
try {
const result = await processOrder(event);
metrics.addMetric('OrderProcessed', MetricUnit.Count, 1);
return result;
} catch (err) {
logger.error('Failed', { error: err });
metrics.addMetric('OrderFailed', MetricUnit.Count, 1);
throw err;
} finally {
metrics.publishStoredMetrics();
}
};METRIC ALARM THRESHOLD
---------------------------------------------------
Duration (p99) > 80% of timeout
Error rate > 1% of invocations
Throttles > 0 sustained
DLQ message count > 0
Iterator age (streams) > 1 minute
Concurrent executions > 80% of limitSTRATEGY SAVINGS
----------------------------------------------
ARM64 (Graviton) 20% cheaper per ms
Right-size memory Benchmark with power-tuning tool
Minimize execution time SDK v3 modular imports
Batch processing (SQS) Fewer invocations
Step Functions Express 90% cheaper for short workflows
Cache in /tmp Reduce downstream callsARCHITECTURE:
[ ] Functions are single-purpose
[ ] Idempotency for all non-read operations
[ ] DLQs on all async event sources
[ ] Step Functions for multi-step workflows
[ ] Timeouts < API Gateway 29s limit
PERFORMANCE:
[ ] Bundle minimized (esbuild, tree-shaking, exclude SDK)
[ ] ARM64 selected
[ ] Memory right-sized
[ ] Connections reused outside handler
SECURITY:
[ ] Least-privilege IAM per function
[ ] Secrets in Parameter Store / Secrets Manager
[ ] API Gateway authorization configured
OBSERVABILITY:
[ ] Structured logging with correlation IDs
[ ] Distributed tracing enabled
[ ] Alarms on error rate, duration p99, throttles
[ ] DLQ monitoring with alertingUse this skill when:
Designing or implementing serverless architect solutions
Reviewing or improving existing serverless architect approaches
Making architectural or implementation decisions about serverless architect
Learning serverless architect patterns and best practices
Troubleshooting serverless architect-related issues
Do NOT use this skill when:
The question is about a fundamentally different technology domain
A more specific sibling skill covers the exact topic needed
The user needs a complete hands-on tutorial rather than expert guidance
# Serverless Architect Analysis
## Context Assessment
[Situation summary and constraints]
## Recommended Approach
[Primary recommendation with rationale]
## Implementation Steps
1. [Step with specific details]
2. [Step with specific details]
3. [Step with specific details]
## Trade-offs and Considerations
- [Key trade-off 1]
- [Key trade-off 2]
## Next Steps
- [Immediate action item]
- [Follow-up action item]Input: "Help me implement serverless architect for a medium-scale production application"
Output: A structured analysis covering current state assessment, recommended serverless architect approach with specific patterns, implementation roadmap with milestones, and risk mitigation strategies tailored to the application scale and constraints.
Legacy system integration: When serverless architect must coexist with legacy approaches, provide a gradual migration path rather than a complete rewrite
Scale mismatch: When the solution complexity exceeds the project scale, recommend a simpler approach and note when to revisit
Team skill gaps: When the team lacks experience with the recommended approach, include learning resources and simpler alternatives
Conflicting requirements: When constraints conflict (e.g., performance vs. maintainability), explicitly state the trade-off and recommend based on stated priorities
SKILL.md
380 lines · 1,429 words
The text of SKILL.md is shown as it downloads, under the Apache-2.0 license, by Ferrox Labs. The license is the one in the file's own frontmatter.
Your new bot
Serverless Architect bot
Waiting in your sidebar once you say go.
No account needed · Runs on the AI plan you already pay for