Using commands in AWS Chatbot - AWS Chatbot

Using commands in AWS Chatbot

After you set up the AWS Chatbot, you run commands with the following prefix:

@aws

Note

If you are using Slack and AWS is not listed as a valid member of the channel, you need to add the AWS Chatbot app to the Slack workspace and invite it to the channel. For more information, see the Getting started guide for AWS Chatbot.

The AWS Chatbot command syntax is the same as you would use in a terminal:

@aws service command --options

Note

You can specify parameters with either a double hyphen (--option) or a single hyphen (-option). This allows you to use a mobile device to run commands without running into issues with the mobile device automatically converting a double hyphen to a long dash.

Note

AWS CLI commands run from AWS Chatbot have an execution timeout of 15 seconds. If a command response is not received within 15 seconds, you receive a timeout error message. If you have longer running jobs, such as AWS Lambda functions, you should invoke them asynchronously from AWS Chatbot. The maximum allowable Lambda function execution timeout is 900 seconds (15 minutes). For more information about asynchronous invocation, see Asynchronous invocation in the AWS Lambda Developer Guide.

For example, enter the following read-only command to view a list of your Lambda functions:

@aws lambda list-functions

Enter the following commands to list and chart CloudWatch alarms:

@aws cloudwatch describe-alarms --state ALARM

You can also use CLI commands to change you AWS resources. For example, enter the following command to change your Kinesis shards:

@aws kinesis update-shard-count --stream-name samplestream --scaling-type UNIFORM_SCALING --target-shard-count 6

You can enter a complete AWS CLI command with all the parameters, or you can enter the command without parameters and AWS Chatbot prompts you for missing parameters.

For more information on commonly used CLI commands, see Using CLI commands with AWS Chatbot - Common use cases. For an exhaustive list of CLI commands, see the AWS CLI Command Reference.

Note

If you find you are unable to run commands, you may need to switch your user role or contact your administrator to find out what actions are permissible.

The following limitations apply to running AWS CLI commands in your chat rooms:

  • You may experience some latency when invoking commands through AWS Chatbot.

  • Regardless of their AWS Chatbot role permissions, users cannot run IAM, AWS Security Token Service, or AWS Key Management Service commands within chat channels.

  • Amazon S3 service commands support Linux-style command aliases such as ls and cp. AWS Chatbot does not support Amazon S3 command aliases for commands in Slack.

  • Users cannot display or decrypt secret keys or key pairs for any AWS service, or pass IAM credentials.

  • You can't use AWS CLI command memory (that is, recent commands appear when the user presses up arrow or down arrow keys) in the chat channel. You must enter, or copy and paste each AWS CLI command in the chat channel.

  • You can create AWS support cases through your chat channels. You cannot add attachments to these cases from the chat channel.

  • Chat channels do not support standard AWS CLI pagination.