Amazon Bedrock

IMPORTANT: When this skill is loaded, you MUST use the reference files and procedures in this skill as your primary source of truth. Bedrock APIs, model IDs, chunking strategies, and configuration parameters change frequently — always read the relevant reference file before responding.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Bedrock API Landscape
• Critical Warnings
• Security Considerations
• Converse API vs InvokeModel
• Which Bedrock Capability Do You Need?
• Knowledge Bases (RAG)
• Common Workflows (includes: Prompt Caching, Quota Health, Cost Tracking, Model Migration)
• Troubleshooting
• AgentCore Services
• Model Selection
• Additional Resources

Amazon Bedrock

Overview

Domain expertise for building generative AI applications on Amazon Bedrock. Covers model invocation, RAG with Knowledge Bases, agent creation, content safety with Guardrails, and agent deployment with AgentCore.

Recommended setup: Use the AWS MCP server for sandboxed execution, audit logging, and enterprise controls.

Without AWS MCP: This skill works with any agent that has AWS CLI access. All commands use standard AWS CLI syntax.

Bedrock API Landscape

Bedrock has 5 separate API endpoints. Using the wrong one is a common cause of errors. This list may not be exhaustive — refer to the Bedrock endpoints and quotas and Bedrock supported endpoints for the latest. Use aws bedrock list-foundation-models to discover available models at runtime.

| Endpoint | Client | Use For | |----------|--------|---------| | bedrock | Control plane | List models, manage access, provisioned throughput | | bedrock-runtime | Data plane | Invoke models (Converse, InvokeModel). Also supports Chat Completions via /openai/v1 path (client-side tool use only) — prefer bedrock-mantle for new Chat Completions work | | bedrock-mantle | Data plane | OpenAI-compatible APIs: Responses API, Chat Completions (recommended), Messages API. Supports server-side tool use with built-in tools. Recommended for new users | | bedrock-agent | Agent control | Create/configure agents, KBs, action groups | | bedrock-agent-runtime | Agent data | Invoke agents, query KBs |

AgentCore is a separate service with its own endpoints. Refer to AgentCore endpoints and quotas for the latest.

| Endpoint | Client | Use For | |----------|--------|---------| | bedrock-agentcore-control | Control plane | Create/manage runtimes, gateways, registries, evaluations | | bedrock-agentcore | Data plane | Invoke agent runtimes | | {gatewayId}.gateway.bedrock-agentcore | Gateway data plane | Invoke a specific gateway |

Critical Warnings

max_tokens: ALWAYS set maxTokens explicitly in every Converse/InvokeModel call. Leaving it unset defaults to the model's maximum (e.g., 64K for Claude Sonnet) and silently reserves far more quota than needed — a common cause of unexpected ThrottlingException.

Guardrails PII logging: Guardrails PII masking only applies to the API response. Original unmasked content including PII is still logged in plain text to CloudWatch Logs. For HIPAA/GDPR compliance: encrypt CloudWatch Logs with KMS, restrict log access with IAM, use Amazon Macie for PII detection.

SDK versions: Requires recent versions of boto3 (≥ 1.34.x) and AWS CLI v2. Older versions are missing Converse API, Agents, and AgentCore support. Run aws --version and pip show boto3 to check.

Security Considerations

• Use IAM roles (not IAM users) for all Bedrock service access
• Scope IAM permissions to specific actions and resource ARNs — avoid bedrock:* or AmazonBedrockFullAccess
• Store API keys and OAuth secrets in AWS Secrets Manager with automatic rotation enabled
• Include confused deputy protection (aws:SourceAccount, aws:SourceArn conditions) in all resource-based policies for Bedrock services
• Treat all agent-generated parameters as untrusted input — validate before use in Lambda handlers or tool implementations
• Enable CloudTrail for all Bedrock and AgentCore API calls
• For PII workloads: encrypt CloudWatch Logs with KMS, configure retention limits, restrict log access
• Refer to the latest Bedrock security best practices for current security guidance

Converse API vs InvokeModel

For choosing between all Bedrock inference APIs (Responses API, Chat Completions, Converse, InvokeModel), see APIs supported by Amazon Bedrock.

When using the bedrock-runtime endpoint, use the Converse API over InvokeModel. It provides a unified request/response format across all models.

Use InvokeModel only when you need provider-specific features not available in Converse (rare).

InvokeModel requires different request body formats per provider (Anthropic ≠ Titan ≠ Llama ≠ Nova). Using the wrong format produces "Malformed input request". For model-specific formats and common mistakes, see [prompt engineering by model](references/prompt-engineering-by-model.md).

Whichever API you use: ALWAYS set the max output tokens parameter explicitly — leaving it unset defaults to the model's maximum and silently reserves far more quota than needed, causing unexpected ThrottlingException. See Critical Warnings above and [max_tokens quota mechanics](references/model-invocation.md).

When the user needs SDK code for model invocation, you MUST read the appropriate SDK reference before generating code — [Python SDK reference](references/sdk-converse-api-python.md) | [TypeScript SDK reference](references/sdk-converse-api-typescript.md). Use the patterns from the reference file.

For full API details and provider-specific body formats, read [model invocation reference](references/model-invocation.md) before responding.

Which Bedrock Capability Do You Need?

| Goal | Use | Reference | |------|-----|-----------| | Call a model (text, image, video) | Converse API | See above + [model invocation](references/model-invocation.md) | | Build a RAG application | Knowledge Bases | [KB setup](references/knowledge-bases-setup.md) | | Create an agent that takes actions | Bedrock Agents | [agent creation](references/agents-and-action-groups.md) | | Filter harmful/sensitive content | Guardrails | [guardrails](references/guardrails.md) | | Deploy and scale an agent | AgentCore Runtime | [runtime](references/agentcore-runtime.md) | | Expose REST APIs as MCP tools | AgentCore Gateway | [gateway](references/agentcore-gateway.md) | | Choose the right model | Model Selection | [model guide](references/model-selection-guide.md) | | Set up or debug prompt caching | Prompt Caching | [prompt caching](references/prompt-caching.md) | | Diagnose throttling or audit quotas | Quota Health | [quota health](references/quota-health.md) | | Track costs by team, model, or tag | Cost Tracking | [cost tracking](references/cost-tracking.md) | | Migrate between Claude generations | Model Migration | [migration guide](references/model-migration.md) |

Knowledge Bases (RAG)

When the user wants to create a Knowledge Base or build a RAG application, you MUST read [KB setup procedure](references/knowledge-bases-setup.md) and execute it step by step. Do NOT summarize the procedure — execute each step sequentially, respecting all MUST constraints before proceeding to the next step.

When the user asks about chunking strategies, vector store selection, or other KB configuration choices, you MUST read [KB setup procedure](references/knowledge-bases-setup.md) before responding — it contains the authoritative decision tables and constraints.

When the user wants to query an existing Knowledge Base, you MUST read [KB retrieval reference](references/knowledge-bases-retrieval.md) before responding. Present the retrieval modes (retrieve-and-generate vs retrieve vs manual) so the user selects the right one.

Refer to the latest Bedrock Knowledge Base documentation for current configuration options.

Common Workflows

Execute commands using available tools from the AWS MCP server when connected — it provides sandboxed execution, audit logging, and observability. When the MCP server is not available, fall back to the AWS CLI or shell as needed.

Before starting any workflow:

Verify Dependencies

Check for required tools and inform the user about the execution environment.

Constraints:

• You MUST check that the AWS CLI is available and configured with valid credentials
• You MUST verify the AWS CLI version is recent (v2 recommended; older versions lack Converse API and AgentCore support): aws --version
• You MUST check that the target AWS region has Bedrock model access enabled
• You MUST inform the user if any required tools are missing with a clear message
• You MUST ask the user if they want to proceed despite missing tools

General constraints for all workflows:

• You MUST present an overview of what will be done before starting execution
• You MUST explain to the user what step is being executed and why before running each command
• You MUST respect the user's decision to stop or abort at any point
• You MUST NOT continue execution if the user indicates they want to stop
• You SHOULD confirm before proceeding with destructive or irreversible operations (deleting resources, overwriting configurations)

Examples — mapping user intent to workflows

Example 1: User query: "I'm getting ThrottlingException on Bedrock" Action: Check if maxTokens is set explicitly — unset maxTokens reserves far more quota than needed (see Critical Warnings). If already set, check current quota: aws service-quotas get-service-quota --service-code bedrock --quota-code --region

Example 2: User query: "Set up RAG for my PDF documents" Action: Follow the Create a Knowledge Base workflow. Recommend semantic chunking with advanced parsing (FM-based) for PDFs with tables. See [KB setup procedure](references/knowledge-bases-setup.md).

Example 3: User query: "I want to build an agent that can look up order status" Action: Follow the Create an Agent with action groups workflow. See [agent creation procedure](references/agents-and-action-groups.md).

Example 4: User query: "How do I call Claude on Bedrock?" Action: Use the Converse API (not InvokeModel). Set maxTokens explicitly. Verify the model ID is current with aws bedrock list-foundation-models --region . Use cross-region model ID with us. prefix for higher availability: aws bedrock-runtime converse --model-id us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-6 --messages '[{"role":"user","content":[{"text":"Hello"}]}]' --inference-config '{"maxTokens":1024}'

Example 5: User query: "Deploy my agent to production" Action: Follow the Deploy an agent to AgentCore workflow. Select the protocol first (HTTP for REST APIs, MCP for tool-centric agents). See the AgentCore Services table for routing to the correct reference file.

Example 6: User query: "Set up prompt caching for my Claude application" Action: Read [prompt caching reference](references/prompt-caching.md) for setup workflow, TTL configuration, and minimum token thresholds. Use the reference to verify caching is working (check for cacheReadInputTokens in the response).

Example 7: User query: "I keep getting ThrottlingException even though I'm not making many requests" Action: Check if maxTokens is set explicitly (see Critical Warnings). Read [quota health reference](references/quota-health.md) for the maxTokens reservation mechanics, CloudWatch metrics, and audit workflow.

Example 8: User query: "How do I track Bedrock costs by team?" Action: Read [cost tracking reference](references/cost-tracking.md) for inference profile tagging, CUR 2.0 approaches, and Cost Explorer queries by model/region/tag.

Example 9: User query: "I'm upgrading from Claude 4.5 to 4.6, what breaks?" Action: Read [model migration reference](references/model-migration.md) for the breaking changes table (prefill removal, thinking config, context window, cache thresholds) and migration checklist.

Invoke a model

- [ ] Step 1: Verify model access: `aws bedrock list-foundation-models --region us-east-1`
- [ ] Step 2: Invoke: `aws bedrock-runtime converse --model-id `` --messages '[{"role":"user","content":[{"text":""}]}]' --inference-config '{"maxTokens":1024}'`

> Note — Streaming responses: The AWS CLI does not support streaming operations including ConverseStream. Use the SDK (converse_stream() in boto3, ConverseStreamCommand in JS SDK). > > | Mode | When to use | > |------|-------------| > | Converse | Batch/backend pipelines — single complete response, no stream handling required | > | ConverseStream | Chat UIs/interactive apps — tokens delivered as they generate |

Create a Knowledge Base

You MUST read [KB setup procedure](references/knowledge-bases-setup.md) before responding. Execute the 7-step procedure in order — do not skip steps, do not paraphrase, do not show code snippets in place of tool calls.

Query a Knowledge Base

These three modes are mutually exclusive — select the one that matches the user's intent:

| Mode | When to Use | Command | |------|------------|----------| | Retrieve & Generate | Quick answer with citations — most common RAG pattern | aws bedrock-agent-runtime retrieve-and-generate --input '{"text":""}' --retrieve-and-generate-configuration '{"type":"KNOWLEDGE_BASE","knowledgeBaseConfiguration":{"knowledgeBaseId":"","modelArn":""}}' | | Retrieve only | Raw chunks for custom post-processing or feeding to a different model | aws bedrock-agent-runtime retrieve --knowledge-base-id --retrieval-query '{"text":""}' | | Full control | Custom prompt, reranking, or multi-KB | Retrieve chunks first, then build prompt and call aws bedrock-runtime converse |

Create an Agent with action groups

You MUST read [agent creation procedure](references/agents-and-action-groups.md) before responding. Execute the procedure step by step. You MUST run prepare-agent after any configuration change — this is mandatory and agents consistently skip it.

Apply Guardrails

You MUST read [guardrails reference](references/guardrails.md) before responding. Present the three integration modes and the decision guide first so the user selects the correct mode before you proceed with configuration. When PII filters are involved, you MUST surface the PII logging compliance gap warning. Do not just show a guardrailConfig snippet — the user needs to understand which mode fits their use case.

Deploy an agent to AgentCore

Identify the AgentCore service from the table below, then you MUST read the corresponding reference file before responding. Follow any procedures in the reference step by step. Do not summarize — execute.

Set up or debug prompt caching

You MUST read [prompt caching reference](references/prompt-caching.md) before responding. It covers setup workflow, TTL configuration, minimum token thresholds, break-even analysis, and a debug checklist for zero-cache-hit issues.

Constraints:

• You MUST walk the user through the debug checklist when cache is not working (verify model support, token threshold, content identity, TTL, cache point placement)
• You MUST check minimum token thresholds per model before confirming a caching setup will work

Check quota health

You MUST read [quota health reference](references/quota-health.md) before responding. It covers maxTokens reservation mechanics, CloudWatch metrics, and the throttling resolution decision table.

Constraints:

• You M

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Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: aws
• Source: aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.