AWS Debugging Infrastructure
CLI tool for real-time AWS SNS topic inspection with interactive debugging support.
Problem
AWS SNS messages are ephemeral — there’s no built-in way to inspect what a topic is emitting without subscribing via email or SMS, which isn’t practical for debugging. When troubleshooting event-driven architectures, you need to see messages in real time.
Approach
I built Snifter to solve this. It creates a temporary SQS queue, subscribes it to your SNS topic, and watches incoming messages — all in a single command.
Key capabilities:
- Live Streaming — Watch SNS messages in real time with minimal setup
- Interactive Debugging — Add
--debugto drop into a debugger as messages arrive - Clean CLI — Works with any AWS profile and topic ARN
Technologies
- Python, AWS SDK (boto3)
- AWS SNS, SQS
- PyPI for distribution
Outcome
Snifter turned a multi-step manual process (create queue, subscribe, poll, clean up) into a single command. It’s a lightweight, throwaway tool for understanding what an SNS topic is emitting without setting up permanent infrastructure.