RAM Permission Diagnosis and Repair

Installation

Pre-check: Aliyun CLI >= 3.3.3 required

Run aliyun version to verify >= 3.3.3. If not installed or version too low, run curl -fsSL https://aliyuncli.alicdn.com/setup.sh | bash to update, or see references/cli-installation-guide.md for installation instructions.

Pre-check: Aliyun CLI plugin update required

[MUST] run aliyun configure set --auto-plugin-install true to enable automatic plugin installation. [MUST] run aliyun plugin update to ensure that any existing plugins are always up-to-date.

At the start of the Core Workflow (before any CLI invocation): [MUST] Enable AI-Mode — AI-mode is required for Agent Skill execution. Run the following commands before any CLI invocation:

aliyun configure ai-mode enable
aliyun configure ai-mode set-user-agent --user-agent "AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-ram-permission-diagnose"

[MUST] Disable AI-Mode at EVERY exit point — Before delivering the final response for ANY reason, always disable AI-mode first. This applies to ALL exit paths: workflow success, workflow failure, error/exception, user cancellation, session end, or any other scenario where no further CLI commands will be executed. AI-mode is only used for Agent Skill invocation scenarios and MUST NOT remain enabled after the skill stops running.

aliyun configure ai-mode disable

[MUST] CLI User-Agent — Every aliyun CLI command invocation must include: --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-ram-permission-diagnose

Execution constraint: When executing aliyun CLI commands directly (not generating commands for the user to copy), always append --user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-ram-permission-diagnose. Do not add this flag to commands shown to users in Path B output or Path C console guidance.

Overview

When a RAM permission error is detected, run through these steps:

1. Quick Analysis — parse raw error fields (no tool calls), output a brief summary, ask the user to choose analysis depth
2. Deep Analysis — (only if user selects path B) decode if needed, run gap analysis, classify root cause
3. Generate Recommendations — least-privilege authorization plan
4. Execute Repair — present repair options and wait for user to choose

Permission level (L0–L3) is the agent's internal routing state, inferred implicitly from API call results during the flow. It determines diagnostic depth and available repair paths. Never declare or describe the level to the user. See references/diagnose-flow.md for level definitions.

Step 1: Quick Analysis

Parse raw error fields without any tool calls, then let the user decide how deep to go.

1a. Extract from raw error

• error_code: e.g., NoPermission, Forbidden, InvalidSecurityToken
• missing_action: e.g., ecs:StopInstance
• principal_type: SubUser / AssumedRoleUser / RootUser (from AuthPrincipalType)
• principal_display_name: UserId or role:session (from AuthPrincipalDisplayName)
• no_permission_type: ImplicitDeny or ExplicitDeny (from NoPermissionType)
• policy_type: e.g., AccountLevelIdentityBasedPolicy, AssumeRolePolicy (from PolicyType)
• encoded_message: retain EncodedDiagnosticMessage if present, for use in Step 2 if needed

1b. Output brief summary

Based on the extracted fields, output a concise summary: who is affected, what action is missing, initial root cause inference.

1c. Present depth choice and wait for selection

Present the following and wait for the user to select — do not proceed until a choice is made:

• A. Quick path (recommended when: ImplicitDeny + all key fields present + common service) — skip Step 2, generate recommendations directly from raw fields and built-in knowledge
• B. Deep path (recommended when: ExplicitDeny, missing fields, or unfamiliar service) — run full Step 2 analysis for a more precise result.

  Requires two optional permissions: ram:DecodeDiagnosticMessage (decode encoded errors) and system policy AliyunRAMReadOnlyAccess (gap analysis). Missing permissions limit specific capabilities but the flow continues.

• Skip — stop here; output manual troubleshooting links

Mark the recommended option clearly and briefly explain why.

If user selects A: proceed to Step 3. Note in the recommendation that it is based on quick analysis; the user can request deep analysis at any time.

If user selects B: proceed to Step 2.

If user selects Skip: output error summary, links to RAM documentation (https://help.aliyun.com/document_detail/93733.html) and RAM console (https://ram.console.aliyun.com/policies), and a note on how to restart diagnosis.

Edge case — ExplicitDeny with path A forced: if NoPermissionType = ExplicitDeny and the user still selects A, explain that the specific Deny policy cannot be identified without deep analysis, and provide a limited recommendation with explicit uncertainty noted.

Step 2: Deep Analysis

Entered only when the user selects path B in Step 1.

First attempt classification using the raw fields from Step 1. DecodeDiagnosticMessage is a supplement — invoke it only when raw data is insufficient to classify with confidence.

Decode when raw data alone cannot resolve the root cause: e.g., ExplicitDeny is present (need MatchedPolicies), AccessDeniedDetail was absent, or PolicyType is missing. For cases where NoPermissionType, AuthAction, AuthPrincipalType, and PolicyType are all available and point to a clear root cause, skip decode and proceed directly.

Transcribe EncodedDiagnosticMessage from the raw error and call:

aliyun ram decode-diagnostic-message --encoded-diagnostic-message "\x3Ctranscribed-value>"

If the call returns EntityNotExist, re-run the original failing command and save its output to a temp file (use the system temp dir; name the file after the command context, e.g. /tmp/aliyun_ecs_stopinstance.txt). Extract EncodedDiagnosticMessage from the file and retry the decode. If the field is not found in the file, mark as L0 and continue.

If SubUser identity needs UserName resolution before gap analysis, see references/diagnose-flow.md → Identity Resolution. If resolution fails, mark as L0 and continue.

Root cause categories:

• MissingAction — identity policy lacks the required Action (most common)
• ExplicitDeny — a Deny statement blocks access (may be identity policy or CP control policy)
• TrustPolicy — role trust policy does not allow the caller to assume the role
• STSInsufficient — STS temporary credential lacks permission; root cause is on the originating Role
• TokenExpired — STS token has expired
• SLRMissing — service-linked role has not been created
• ResourcePolicy — resource-side policy (e.g., OSS Bucket Policy) is restricting access

For gap analysis trigger rules and per-root-cause handling details, see references/diagnose-flow.md.

Gap analysis (when triggered): query current policies attached to the identity, then compare against the required Action. Use ListPoliciesForUser (SubUser), ListPoliciesForRole (AssumedRoleUser), or ListControlPolicies (RootUser). For Custom policies, fetch the policy document with GetPolicyVersion. System policies: use built-in knowledge, do not call GetPolicyVersion.

When permissions are insufficient: if DecodeDiagnosticMessage fails (L0) or policy queries fail (L1), inform the user of the limitation and provide ready-to-use permission request materials for a RAM admin — two independent options: ① decode permission (ram:DecodeDiagnosticMessage) as a custom policy; ② RAM read access via system policy AliyunRAMReadOnlyAccess (covers gap analysis). Either or both can be requested independently. Then continue to Step 3 without waiting.

Step 3: Generate Recommendations

Before generating, check for caller skill permission hints (see references/diagnose-flow.md → Coverage Check).

Knowledge source priority:

1. Built-in knowledge — for popular services (ECS, OSS, RDS, FC, SLB, VPC, SLS, STS, etc.), use known Action semantics directly. Reference references/hot-services-ram.md.
2. Caller skill hints — if ram-policies.md was found, use as supplementary context
3. Web search — search {product} RAM authorization site:help.aliyun.com; prefer manually maintained docs with business examples over auto-generated Action tables
4. System policy fallback — recommend AliyunXxxReadOnlyAccess or AliyunXxxFullAccess with a note to tighten further

Custom policy naming: suggest a name based on service and task semantics (e.g., ai-agent-ecs-permissions), confirm once, reuse in the same session.

System policy: attach directly with a single command, no naming needed.

For the Trust Policy root cause path, recommendations differ — see references/diagnose-flow.md → Handling Each Root Cause.

After presenting the recommendation, add a brief note: the current plan is a starting point; the user can request further refinement at any time — for example, scoping down to specific resources, adding conditions, or using resource-level policies (such as OSS bucket policies) instead of identity-level grants.

Step 4: Execute Repair

Before executing any write operation, present the change summary and all available paths to the user, then wait for the user to select a path — do not proceed or output any commands until the user has chosen:

• Target (user or role name)
• Change summary (policy name, action, undo method)
• Path options (always present all that are available for the current level — never skip any):
  • A. Direct CLI execution — agent runs commands now (only at L2)
  • B. Output CLI commands — user copies and runs in their own terminal (all levels)
  • C. Console guidance — step-by-step in RAM console (all levels)
  • Skip — do not execute

For pre-query requirements before write operations, and full CLI command examples, see references/ram-cli-commands.md and references/diagnose-flow.md.

Path A: agent executes via Bash. On success → L3 confirmed; report result and undo command. On NoPermission → switch to Path B automatically.

Path B at L0/L1: output incremental Statement JSON only, with a note that existing policies could not be read and the user must merge manually.

Path B at L2: offer two sub-options: ① incremental Statement only, ② complete merged policy JSON.

Path C: provide the RAM console entry (https://ram.console.aliyun.com/policies) and step-by-step instructions for completing the change in the console UI.

After repair, suggest the user retry the previously failed operation. Offer to retry on their behalf if requested.