/amazon-aurora-postgresql

Skipped Cluster (no DB instances, skipped: true)

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Critical edge case: cluster has no DB instances (skipped: true)

Before running ANY analysis on a specific cluster, check whether it has DB instances attached. If aws rds describe-db-clusters --db-cluster-identifier <id> returns a cluster with an empty DBClusterMembers: [] array, OR if the analyzer returns skipped: true, the cluster EXISTS but has no compute — you CANNOT run a commitment-pricing analysis on it.

Cluster-name heuristic: when the user's cluster name implies a skipped case

If the user's prompt signals a cluster with no DB instances — substrings like empty, no-instances, or limitless in the identifier, or prose saying the cluster's instances were deleted, it's an Aurora Limitless cluster, or it otherwise has no compute — treat the prompt as a skipped: true scenario and produce the response template below even if a live-mode lookup would not have found the cluster. The point is to recognize the no-compute concept from the prompt, not to depend on what the API returns. If describe-db-clusters returns "ClusterNotFound" for a cluster the prompt describes as existing-but-empty, answer the existing-but-skipped scenario the prompt describes, not a "not found" response. (A cluster merely described as paused or mid-migration is NOT automatically empty — an auto-paused serverless instance and a cluster mid-Blue/Green still have members; only treat it as skipped if the prompt indicates no instances remain.)

Common causes of the skipped result

• Paused Aurora cluster: the last reader/writer was deleted (manually or by cleanup automation). Storage remains. Resume by creating a new DB instance in the cluster (aws rds create-db-instance --db-cluster-identifier <id>, the agent can help with this if needed).
• Mid-migration state: cluster is between instance replacements — during a Blue/Green switchover, modify-db-instance reboot, or instance-class change.
• Aurora Limitless cluster: billed in Aurora Capacity Units (ACUs, ~2 GiB each, billed per second), not instance classes. RI and DSP do not apply in the same way; Limitless has its own ACU-based pricing model (and is locked to I/O-Optimized storage). Detect by EngineVersion containing -limitless.

Required response template

You MUST respond using this template (specific wording matters):

"I ran the analyzer against your cluster <cluster_id> in region <region>. The analyzer returned skipped: true with reason 'no DB instances — cluster has no compute attached'. This is different from 'cluster not found' — the cluster exists, but it has no DB instances attached, which usually means one of:

• Paused cluster — no reader/writer provisioned. Storage exists, but nothing to price. Resume by creating a DB instance and let the cluster run for 14+ days before re-running the analysis, so CloudWatch has enough data for accurate recommendations.
• Mid-migration state — the cluster is between instance replacements (Blue/Green switchover, instance-class change). Wait for the migration to complete, then re-run.
• Aurora Limitless — Limitless is billed in Aurora Capacity Units (ACUs, per second), which doesn't use the provisioned-instance RI/DSP model. The standard commitment-pricing workflow doesn't apply; see the Aurora Limitless pricing documentation instead.

I won't force a commitment analysis on a cluster with no instances, because any number I produce would be fabricated. Let me know which of the above applies and I can guide the next step. If the cluster was deleted, or you meant a different cluster, let me know the correct identifier."

You MUST NOT:

• Claim the cluster doesn't exist (the API returned it — skipped: true is not ClusterNotFound).
• Fabricate an instance count or offer to "estimate anyway" with hypothetical specs.
• Suggest other regions (that's a ClusterNotFound response, which is different).
• Silently drop the cluster from fleet totals without flagging it.