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Agents Build

AWSOfficialCreated by aws-agentcore

  • Skill
  • Workflow
  • Cloud and DevOps
  • Apache-2.0
  • Low risk
  • Has scripts

From the author

Use to extend an existing agent project with memory, app integration, VPC, multi-agent, migration, model, browser, code interpreter, payments, or resource removal. Triggers: "add memory", "remember across sessions", "call agent from app", "invoke agent from code", "agent auth", "streaming", "VPC", "VPC connectivity", "can't reach from VPC", "multi-agent", "A2A", "A2A auth", "orchestrator not delegating", "specialist not called", "migrate Bedrock Agent", "migration issue", "change model", "browser tool", "code interpreter", "delete agent", "tear down", "agentcore remove", "cross-account memory", "add payments capability to my agent", "wire payments plugin", "integrate x402 payments with the agent I'm building", "add MPP payments", "Machine Payments Protocol". External APIs via Gateway: use agents-connect. New project: use agents-get-started. CLI/dev-server errors: use agents-debug. Runtime x402/MPP payments: use agents-pay. Migration-specific Strands vs LangGraph routes here.
— the description by aws-agentcore

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The agents-build skill provides a structured workflow for adding advanced features to existing AgentCore projects. It acts as a central hub for configuring infrastructure and functional capabilities, such as cross-session memory, VPC connectivity, multi-agent delegation, and sandboxed code execution. The skill ensures project integrity by verifying the environment, checking for existing project configurations, and guiding the user through the appropriate implementation path based on their specific requirements.

What it does

  • Adds cross-session memory to maintain user context.
  • Configures VPC networking for secure access to private resources.
  • Enables multi-agent systems with orchestrator-specialist patterns.
  • Integrates browser and code interpreter tools for enhanced agent capabilities.
  • Facilitates the migration of existing Bedrock Agents to AgentCore.
  • Handles resource removal and project teardown.

When to use it

  • When you need to expand an existing agent's functionality.
  • When setting up private network connectivity for your agent.
  • When transitioning from a single-agent to a multi-agent architecture.
  • When you need to add sandboxed code execution or web browsing capabilities.
  • When you need to clean up or remove specific agent resources.

Advantages

  • Provides a consistent, guided workflow for complex configuration tasks.
  • Prevents common errors by validating project context and naming conventions.
  • Reduces manual setup time for infrastructure-heavy features like VPCs.
  • Centralizes documentation and implementation steps for diverse agent capabilities.

Usage examples

“add memory to my agent”
The skill reads the project configuration and provides the necessary steps to implement cross-session memory storage.
“I need to add a code interpreter to my agent”
The skill guides you through the integration of the AgentCore Code Interpreter tool for sandboxed Python or JS execution.
“how do I set up VPC connectivity?”
The skill loads the VPC reference documentation and walks you through configuring subnets and security groups for your agent.
“tear down my agent”
The skill initiates the resource removal workflow to safely destroy the specified agent deployment.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/aws/agents-build/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip agents-build.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by aws-agentcore

build

Add capabilities to your AgentCore agent project.

When to use

  • Adding cross-session memory to your agent

  • Calling your deployed agent from a web app, mobile app, or backend service

  • Configuring VPC networking for private resources (RDS, internal APIs)

  • Building multi-agent systems with orchestrator/specialist patterns

  • Migrating an existing Bedrock Agent to AgentCore

  • Adding the Browser tool so the agent can navigate websites

  • Adding the Code Interpreter so the agent can execute code in a sandbox

  • Adding AgentCore Payments so the agent can pay for x402- or MPP-protected APIs, tools, or content

  • Removing resources from your project or tearing down a deployment

Do NOT use for:

  • Connecting to external tools/APIs via Gateway (OpenAPI specs, Lambda, MCP servers, credentials, policies) → use agents-connect

  • Scaffolding a new project → use agents-get-started

  • Deploying → use agents-deploy

Input

$ARGUMENTS can be:

  • A capability: "memory", "integrate", "vpc", "multi-agent", "migrate", "browser", "code-interpreter", "payments", "teardown"

  • A description of what they want: "remember user preferences", "call from React app", "scrape a website", "run pandas in the agent", "delete my agent", "clean up resources"

  • Empty — the skill will determine the workflow from context

Process

Step 0: Verify CLI version

Run agentcore --version. This skill requires v0.9.0 or later.

If older: "Run agentcore update to get the latest version."

Step 1: Read project context

Read agentcore/agentcore.json to understand the current project — framework, existing resources, agent configuration.

If agentcore/agentcore.json is not found:

  1. Check if the developer is in the wrong directory. Look for agentcore/agentcore.json in parent directories (up to 3 levels). If found, tell them: "Found an AgentCore project at <path>. Are you working in that project?"

  2. If no project exists anywhere nearby, ask what capability they wanted to add. Then offer two paths:

    • "I can walk you through creating a project first and then adding CAPABILITY — want to do that?" (run the get-started flow inline, then continue with the build workflow)

    • "If you already have a project elsewhere, cd into it and try again."

Do not just say "go use agents-get-started" and stop — that loses the developer's context about what they actually wanted to do.

Step 2: Determine the workflow

Important disambiguation — before routing to a build reference, check if the prompt is actually a connect or debug concern:

  • If the phrase mentions external APIs, Lambda functions, OpenAPI specs, gateways, credentials, MCP servers, or policies → this is agents-connect, not build

  • If the developer says something is broken (wrong answers, errors, tool failures) → this is agents-debug, not build

  • Build is for adding new capabilities to a working project, not fixing broken ones

Based on the developer's prompt and $ARGUMENTS, load the appropriate reference:

Developer intentReference to load
Add memory, remember things, user preferences, cross-sessionreferences/memory.md
Call agent from app, invoke from code, streaming, SDK client, agent URL, execute shell in sessionreferences/integrate.md
VPC, private network, RDS, internal API, subnet, security groupreferences/vpc.md
Multi-agent, orchestrator, specialist, A2A, delegation, agent handoffreferences/multi-agent.md
Custom headers from caller to agent, header allowlist, tenant ID/correlation ID/trace propagationreferences/request-headers.md
Migrate Bedrock Agent, import agent, move to AgentCorereferences/migrate.md
Browser tool, web navigation, form filling, scraping, Nova Act, Playwright, live viewreferences/browser.md
Code Interpreter, execute code, sandbox, run Python/JS/TS, data analysis in agent, pandasreferences/code-interpreter.md
Payments, pay for x402 or MPP content, 402 Payment Required, Machine Payments Protocol, WWW-Authenticate: Payment, microtransactions, paid API/tool, payment manager/connectorreferences/payments.md
Delete agent, remove resource, tear down, clean up, destroy, start freshreferences/teardown.md
Change model, switch model, use Haiku/Sonnet/Nova, different modelInline — see "Changing the model" below

If the developer asks about the difference between local dev and deployed (e.g., "why does my memory work after deploy but not locally?"), load references/local-vs-deployed.md alongside the specific workflow reference.

Read the matching file into context and follow its Process section step by step — do not summarize.

If the intent is ambiguous, ask the developer which capability they want to add.

Changing the model

The model is configured in app/<AgentName>/model/load.py (scaffolded by agentcore create). To change it:

  1. Open app/<AgentName>/model/load.py

  2. Change the model_id parameter in the BedrockModel() constructor

# Default (scaffolded by CLI)
return BedrockModel(model_id="global.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929-v1:0")

# Switch to Haiku for cost savings
return BedrockModel(model_id="us.anthropic.claude-3-5-haiku-20241022-v1:0")

# Switch to Nova Lite
return BedrockModel(model_id="amazon.nova-lite-v1:0")

Cross-region inference profile prefixes (us., eu., apac., global.) control where inference runs. Use global. for maximum throughput, or a geographic prefix for data residency. Not all models support all prefixes — check the Bedrock inference profiles docs.

After changing the model:

  • Verify the model is enabled in your region: AWS Console → Amazon Bedrock → Model access

  • For cross-region profiles, enable in all destination regions

  • If using agents-harden, update the IAM policy to scope to the new model ARN

  • Run agentcore dev to test locally, then agentcore deploy to update the deployed agent

No agentcore.json change is needed — the model is configured in code, not in the project config.

Pre-flight: validate any --name before generating the CLI command

Whichever reference you load, most end up producing an agentcore add <resource> --name <something> command. The CLI fails late on invalid names — you'll see the error after walking through prompts, not before running the command. Validate up front:

ResourceMax charsAllowedStarts with
Agent (add agent)48alphanumeric + _letter
Memory, gateway, gateway-target, credential, evaluator, online-eval, policy, policy-engine, payment-manager, payment-connector48alphanumeric + _letter

Count the characters before constructing the command. If the name is over the limit or contains hyphens, dots, or spaces, push back: "<name> is N characters / uses -, which the CLI rejects. How about <suggestion>?" Never run the command with an invalid name hoping the CLI message will be clear.

Note: agentcore create --name (the project name) has a stricter 23-char limit and does not allow underscores. That's covered in agents-get-started; if you see the developer re-running create, flag the 23-char limit specifically.

Output

Depends on the workflow — see the loaded reference for specific outputs.

Quality criteria

  • The correct reference was loaded based on the developer's intent

  • All output follows the loaded reference's quality criteria

  • Cross-references to other skills (agents-connect, agents-deploy) are included where relevant

Files

scripts/process_payment_tool.py

"""Framework-agnostic payment tool for AgentCore Payments (x402 and MPP).

Copy this file into your agent project and register `x402_fetch` as a tool in
whatever framework you use (Strands, LangGraph, OpenAI Agents SDK, etc.). The
core logic is pure Python with no framework dependency.

Flow:
  request -> detect 402 -> PaymentManager.generate_payment_header (the SDK
  validates the 402, selects the network, processes the payment, and builds the
  version-aware v1/v2 proof header) -> retry with a fresh client.

Transient settlement: the SDK builds a valid header, but the merchant's
on-chain settlement is occasionally transient and the paid retry still returns
402. The SDK does not make the merchant HTTP call (it only builds the header),
so it cannot retry that — this tool re-runs the settle+replay flow up to
X402_MAX_PAYMENT_ATTEMPTS times before giving up. A single idempotency token
(client_token) is reused across all attempts of one fetch, so ProcessPayment is
idempotent: every retry replays the SAME on-chain authorization/nonce. That
recovers a not-yet-settled transient failure, and if the merchant actually did
settle but still returned 402, the replay simply reverts on-chain (nonce already
used) rather than charging the user a second time.

Control-plane resources (payment manager/connector) are created by the AgentCore
CLI; the per-user instrument/session are created by setup_payment_user.py. This
tool only consumes them, via these environment variables:

  PAYMENT_MANAGER_ARN        payment manager ARN      (from deployed-state.json)
  PAYMENT_INSTRUMENT_ID      per-user wallet ID       (from setup_payment_user.py)
  PAYMENT_SESSION_ID         per-conversation session (from setup_payment_user.py)
  PAYMENT_USER_ID            end-user identity        (required)
  AWS_REGION                 region                   (default us-west-2)
  X402_MAX_PAYMENT_ATTEMPTS  transient-402 retry cap  (default 5)
"""
import ipaddress
import json
import os
import socket
import uuid
from urllib.parse import urlparse

import httpx
from bedrock_agentcore.payments import PaymentManager

PAYMENT_MANAGER_ARN = os.getenv("PAYMENT_MANAGER_ARN")
PAYMENT_INSTRUMENT_ID = os.getenv("PAYMENT_INSTRUMENT_ID")
PAYMENT_SESSION_ID = os.getenv("PAYMENT_SESSION_ID")
PAYMENT_USER_ID = os.environ.get("PAYMENT_USER_ID")  # required — no insecure default
REGION = os.getenv("AWS_REGION", "us-west-2")
# Transient on-chain settlement can leave the paid retry at 402 even though the
# header was valid; re-settle (fresh header + idempotency token) up to this many times.
MAX_PAYMENT_ATTEMPTS = int(os.getenv("X402_MAX_PAYMENT_ATTEMPTS", "5"))

# AgentCore Payments data-plane client (SDK). Created when configured.
_manager = PaymentManager(payment_manager_arn=PAYMENT_MANAGER_ARN, region_name=REGION) if PAYMENT_MANAGER_ARN else None


def _validate_url(url):
    """Return an error string if the URL is not HTTPS or targets a private/internal IP."""
    parsed = urlparse(url)
    if parsed.scheme != "https":
        return "Only HTTPS URLs are supported for payment requests"
    try:
        for _family, _, _, _, sockaddr in socket.getaddrinfo(parsed.hostname, parsed.port or 443):
            ip = ipaddress.ip_address(sockaddr[0])
            if ip.is_private or ip.is_loopback or ip.is_link_local:
                return "Cannot fetch private/internal network addresses"
    except socket.gaierror:
        return "Cannot resolve hostname"
    return None


def _settle_and_retry(url, method, response, client_token):
    """Build the payment header from a 402 response via the SDK, then replay the request.

    The SDK's generate_payment_header does the whole settle workflow (validate the
    402, pick the network, ProcessPayment, build the v1 `X-PAYMENT` / v2
    `PAYMENT-SIGNATURE` proof) and returns {header_name: header_value}. We pass a
    STABLE client_token (the same one for every attempt of a single fetch) so
    ProcessPayment is idempotent — each retry replays the same authorization/nonce
    and can never double-charge.
    Returns the retry httpx.Response. Raises on a header-generation failure.
    """
    payment_header = _manager.generate_payment_header(
        payment_instrument_id=PAYMENT_INSTRUMENT_ID,
        payment_session_id=PAYMENT_SESSION_ID,
        user_id=PAYMENT_USER_ID,
        client_token=client_token,
        payment_required_request={
            "statusCode": response.status_code,
            "headers": dict(response.headers),
            "body": response.text,
        },
    )
    # Retry with a FRESH client so cookies from the 402 response don't contaminate it.
    with httpx.Client(verify=True) as client:
        return client.request(method, url, headers=payment_header, timeout=30)


def x402_fetch(url, method="GET"):
    """Fetch a URL, automatically settling any x402 402 Payment Required response.

    Returns a JSON string with status_code, body, and (on payment) payment_made.
    """
    url_error = _validate_url(url)
    if url_error:
        return json.dumps({"error": url_error})
    if not PAYMENT_USER_ID:
        return json.dumps({"error": "PAYMENT_USER_ID environment variable is required"})

    response = httpx.request(method, url, timeout=30)
    if response.status_code != 402:
        return json.dumps({"status_code": response.status_code, "body": response.text})

    if not _manager:
        return json.dumps({
            "status_code": 402,
            "error": "No payment configuration. Set PAYMENT_MANAGER_ARN.",
            "body": response.text,
        })

    # One idempotency token for the whole fetch: every retry replays the SAME
    # authorization/nonce, so a transient 402 can be re-settled without ever double-charging.
    client_token = str(uuid.uuid4())
    for attempt in range(1, MAX_PAYMENT_ATTEMPTS + 1):
        try:
            retry_response = _settle_and_retry(url, method, response, client_token)
        except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001 - surface any payment failure (incl. typed SDK errors) to the agent
            return json.dumps({"status_code": 402, "error": f"Payment header generation failed: {e}"})

        if retry_response.status_code != 402:
            # Success (2xx) or a non-transient error — return it; payment_made reflects the actual status.
            return json.dumps({
                "status_code": retry_response.status_code,
                "body": retry_response.text,
                "payment_made": 200 <= retry_response.status_code < 300,
                "payment_attempts": attempt,
            })

        # Transient post-payment 402 — retry with the same idempotency token (same
        # authorization/nonce), giving settlement another chance without double-charging.
        response = retry_response

    return json.dumps({
        "status_code": 402,
        "error": f"Paid and retried {MAX_PAYMENT_ATTEMPTS} times but the merchant still returned 402 "
                 "(transient on-chain settlement). Try again shortly.",
        "body": response.text,
        "payment_made": False,
        "payment_attempts": MAX_PAYMENT_ATTEMPTS,
    })

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Declares allowed tools, Needs an MCP server, Needs Python

Security

What our scanner noticed· Low risk

  • Instructions that use the network
  • Scripts that your agent may run

This skill includes scripts that your agent may run. Read them before you use it.

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Created by
aws-agentcore
Publisher
AWS (Official)
Source
aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws · plugins/aws-agents/skills/agents-build · commit 0a218f8
Licence
Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • NOTICE (added by AutoGineer from NOTICE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
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