IAM Policies That Ship Without a Wildcard

What it is for

A constraint block for generating IAM policies and infrastructure resources, plus a method for deriving the permission list from your own source instead of guessing. Use it whenever the assistant is writing a policy document, a role, or a Terraform/CloudFormation/CDK resource — the block is plain text and belongs to you, not to any one tool. On the name: CodeWhisperer was folded into Amazon Q Developer on 30 April 2024, new sign-ups closed on 15 May 2026, and the Q Developer IDE plugins and paid subscriptions reach end of support on 30 April 2027, with AWS pointing IDE users to Kiro. It prevents the wildcard policy that ships because it works on the first try and is never narrowed again.

The skill Copy

Use this before you let an assistant generate a policy, a role, or a resource
block. In Terraform or CloudFormation YAML, paste it as a comment above the
section, one # per line. In CDK TypeScript, use //. A raw .json policy file
has no comment syntax at all — there, put these rules in the chat turn instead
of in the file.

# Rules for any IAM or infrastructure suggestion here:
# - No "*" in Action. List each API action by name.
# - No "*" in Resource. Scope to the exact ARN, or to a pattern bounded by
#   account, region, and a name prefix.
# - No AdministratorAccess, no PowerUserAccess, no *FullAccess managed
#   policy. If one is proposed, replace it with the actions the code calls.
# - A trust policy names one principal. Trusting a whole service with no
#   condition is rejected.
# - Any cross-account or public-read setting is written explicitly with a
#   comment saying why, or it is left out.
# - Buckets, queues, and tables default to encrypted and non-public.
# - Secrets are referenced, never literal.

Then prove the list against your own source. This part stays out of the file:

- Grep your source for the SDK calls it makes. Every action in the policy must
  map to one, and every call must have an action.
- Delete every action you cannot point at a line of code for.
- Deploy it, run the real path once, and read the access-denied errors. Adding
  what is missing is safe. Guessing what might be needed is not.
- Re-run this the day you delete code. Permissions outlive their callers.

Failure this prevents: a generated policy that works instantly because it
grants everything, passes review because it is short, and is still there two
years later when the key leaks.

How to install it Copy

1. Open the tool and start a new conversation, project or template.
2. Paste the text below wherever the tool keeps standing instructions
   — usually called system prompt, instructions, or persona.
3. Save it so it applies to every run rather than a single message.

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