Category: service

Elastic Compute Service (ECS)

Use Alibaba Cloud OpenAPI (RPC) with official SDKs or OpenAPI Explorer to manage ECS resources. Prefer the Python SDK for all examples and execution.

Prerequisites

Prepare AccessKey (RAM user/role with least privilege).
Choose the correct region and endpoint (public/VPC).
ECS OpenAPI is RPC style; prefer SDK or OpenAPI Explorer to avoid manual signing.

API behavior notes (from ECS docs)

Most list/describe APIs support pagination via
```
PageNumber
```
+
```
PageSize
```
or
```
NextToken
```
+
```
MaxResults
```
.
```
DescribeInstances
```
returns an empty list if the RAM user/role lacks permissions; use
```
DryRun
```
to validate permissions.
For
```
DescribeInstances
```
,
```
NextToken
```
+
```
MaxResults
```
is the recommended paged query pattern; use the returned
```
NextToken
```
to fetch subsequent pages.
```
DescribeInstances
```
requires
```
RegionId
```
in the request even if the client has a region set.
Filters are ANDed; set only the filters you need.

Workflow

Confirm region, resource identifiers, and desired action.
Find API group and exact operation name in
```
references/api_overview.md
```
.
Call API with Python SDK (preferred) or OpenAPI Explorer.
Verify results with describe/list APIs.
If you need repeatable inventory or summaries, use
```
scripts/
```
and write outputs under
```
output/alicloud-compute-ecs/
```
.

SDK priority

Python SDK (preferred)
OpenAPI Explorer
Other SDKs (only if Python is not feasible)

Python SDK quickstart (list instances)

推荐使用虚拟环境（避免 PEP 668 的系统安装限制）。

bash

python3 -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install alibabacloud_ecs20140526 alibabacloud_tea_openapi alibabacloud_credentials

python

from alibabacloud_ecs20140526.client import Client as Ecs20140526Client
from alibabacloud_ecs20140526 import models as ecs_models
from alibabacloud_tea_openapi import models as open_api_models


def create_client(region_id: str) -> Ecs20140526Client:
    config = open_api_models.Config(
        # Use env vars or shared config files per AccessKey priority.
        region_id=region_id,
        endpoint=f"ecs.{region_id}.aliyuncs.com",
    )
    return Ecs20140526Client(config)


def list_instances(region_id: str):
    client = create_client(region_id)
    resp = client.describe_instances(ecs_models.DescribeInstancesRequest(
        region_id=region_id,
        page_number=1,
        page_size=50,
    ))
    for inst in resp.body.instances.instance:
        print(inst.instance_id, inst.instance_name, inst.instance_type, inst.status)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    list_instances("cn-hangzhou")

Python SDK scripts (recommended for inventory)

List all instances across regions (TSV/JSON):
```
scripts/list_instances_all_regions.py
```
Summarize instance specs across regions:
```
scripts/summary_instance_specs.py
```
Summarize instance counts by region (optional status breakdown):
```
scripts/summary_instances_by_region.py
```
Summarize instance counts by status:
```
scripts/summary_instances_by_status.py
```

Summarize instance counts by instance type:

scripts/summary_instances_by_instance_type.py

Summarize instance counts by VPC:
```
scripts/summary_instances_by_vpc.py
```

Summarize instance counts by security group:

scripts/summary_instances_by_security_group.py

Python SDK: list instances for all regions

python

from alibabacloud_ecs20140526.client import Client as Ecs20140526Client
from alibabacloud_ecs20140526 import models as ecs_models
from alibabacloud_tea_openapi import models as open_api_models


def create_client(region_id: str) -> Ecs20140526Client:
    config = open_api_models.Config(
        region_id=region_id,
        endpoint=f"ecs.{region_id}.aliyuncs.com",
    )
    return Ecs20140526Client(config)


def list_regions() -> list[str]:
    client = create_client("cn-hangzhou")
    resp = client.describe_regions(ecs_models.DescribeRegionsRequest())
    return [r.region_id for r in resp.body.regions.region]


def list_instances_all_regions():
    for region_id in list_regions():
        client = create_client(region_id)
        req = ecs_models.DescribeInstancesRequest(
            region_id=region_id,
            page_number=1,
            page_size=100,
        )
        resp = client.describe_instances(req)
        print(f"== {region_id} ({resp.body.total_count}) ==")
        for inst in resp.body.instances.instance:
            print(inst.instance_id, inst.instance_name, inst.instance_type, inst.status)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    list_instances_all_regions()

Python SDK: paginated instance listing

python

from alibabacloud_ecs20140526.client import Client as Ecs20140526Client
from alibabacloud_ecs20140526 import models as ecs_models
from alibabacloud_tea_openapi import models as open_api_models


def create_client(region_id: str) -> Ecs20140526Client:
    config = open_api_models.Config(
        region_id=region_id,
        endpoint=f"ecs.{region_id}.aliyuncs.com",
    )
    return Ecs20140526Client(config)


def list_instances_paged(region_id: str):
    client = create_client(region_id)
    page_number = 1
    page_size = 100
    while True:
        resp = client.describe_instances(ecs_models.DescribeInstancesRequest(
            region_id=region_id,
            page_number=page_number,
            page_size=page_size,
        ))
        for inst in resp.body.instances.instance:
            print(inst.instance_id, inst.instance_name, inst.instance_type, inst.status)
        total = resp.body.total_count
        if page_number * page_size >= total:
            break
        page_number += 1


if __name__ == "__main__":
    list_instances_paged("cn-hangzhou")

Python SDK: list instance types and pricing inputs

python

from alibabacloud_ecs20140526.client import Client as Ecs20140526Client
from alibabacloud_ecs20140526 import models as ecs_models
from alibabacloud_tea_openapi import models as open_api_models


def create_client(region_id: str) -> Ecs20140526Client:
    config = open_api_models.Config(
        region_id=region_id,
        endpoint=f"ecs.{region_id}.aliyuncs.com",
    )
    return Ecs20140526Client(config)


def list_types(region_id: str, zone_id: str | None = None, instance_type_family: str | None = None):
    client = create_client(region_id)
    req = ecs_models.DescribeInstanceTypesRequest(
        zone_id=zone_id,
        instance_type_family=instance_type_family,
    )
    resp = client.describe_instance_types(req)
    for t in resp.body.instance_types.instance_type:
        print(t.instance_type_id, t.cpu_core_count, t.memory_size)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    list_types("cn-hangzhou", "cn-hangzhou-k")

Common operation mapping

Instance lifecycle:

RunInstances

CreateInstance

StartInstance(s)

StopInstance(s)

RebootInstance(s)

DeleteInstance(s)

Instance details:

DescribeInstances

DescribeInstanceStatus

DescribeInstanceAttribute

Spec changes:

ModifyInstanceSpec

ModifyPrepayInstanceSpec

DescribeResourcesModification

System disk changes:
```
ReplaceSystemDisk
```
,
```
ResetDisk
```

Data disks:

CreateDisk

AttachDisk

DetachDisk

ResizeDisk

DescribeDisks

Snapshots:

CreateSnapshot

CopySnapshot

DescribeSnapshots

DeleteSnapshot

Images:

CreateImage

CopyImage

DescribeImages

DeleteImage

ModifyImageAttribute

Security groups:

CreateSecurityGroup

AuthorizeSecurityGroup

RevokeSecurityGroup

DescribeSecurityGroupAttribute

Key pairs:

CreateKeyPair

ImportKeyPair

DescribeKeyPairs

DeleteKeyPairs

ENI:

CreateNetworkInterface

AttachNetworkInterface

DetachNetworkInterface

DescribeNetworkInterfaces

Tags:

TagResources

UntagResources

ListTagResources

Monitoring/events:

DescribeInstancesFullStatus

DescribeInstanceHistoryEvents

DescribeInstanceMonitorData

Query patterns

List instances:

DescribeInstances

(supports filters such as

VpcId

VSwitchId

ZoneId

SecurityGroupId

InstanceIds

)

Count instances:
```
DescribeInstances
```
with
```
PageSize=1
```
and read
```
TotalCount
```
Region discovery:
```
DescribeRegions
```
then loop all regions for inventory

Cloud Assistant (RunCommand) tips

Instances must be in
```
Running
```
state.
Ensure the Cloud Assistant agent is installed and online.
Use shell for Linux, PowerShell for Windows.

Poll results via

DescribeInvocations

and

DescribeInvocationResults

See

references/command-assistant.md

AccessKey priority (must follow, align with README)

Environment variables:
```
ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID
```
/
```
ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET
```
/
```
ALICLOUD_REGION_ID
```
Region policy:
```
ALICLOUD_REGION_ID
```
is an optional default. If unset, decide the most reasonable region for the task; if unclear, ask the user.
Shared config file:
```
~/.alibabacloud/credentials
```
(region still from env)

Auth setup (README-aligned)

Environment variables:

bash

export ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID="your-ak"
export ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET="your-sk"
export ALICLOUD_REGION_ID="cn-hangzhou"

Also supported by the Alibaba Cloud SDKs:

bash

export ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID="your-ak"
export ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET="your-sk"

Shared config file:

~/.alibabacloud/credentials

ini

[default]
type = access_key
access_key_id = your-ak
access_key_secret = your-sk

API discovery

Product code:
```
Ecs
```
Default API version:
```
2014-05-26
```
Use OpenAPI metadata endpoints to list APIs and get schemas (see references).

Output policy

If you need to save responses or generated artifacts, write them under:

output/alicloud-compute-ecs/

References

API overview:
```
references/api_overview.md
```
Endpoints:
```
references/endpoints.md
```
Cloud Assistant:
```
references/command-assistant.md
```
DescribeInstances:
```
references/describe-instances.md
```
Instances:
```
references/instances.md
```
Disks:
```
references/disks.md
```
Snapshots:
```
references/snapshots.md
```
Images:
```
references/images.md
```
Security groups:
```
references/security-groups.md
```
Network interfaces:
```
references/network-interfaces.md
```
Key pairs:
```
references/keypairs.md
```
Tags:
```
references/tags.md
```
Monitoring/events:
```
references/monitoring-events.md
```
Sources:
```
references/sources.md
```

alicloud-compute-ecs

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Elastic Compute Service (ECS)

Prerequisites

API behavior notes (from ECS docs)

Workflow

SDK priority

Python SDK quickstart (list instances)

Python SDK scripts (recommended for inventory)

Python SDK: list instances for all regions

Python SDK: paginated instance listing

Python SDK: list instance types and pricing inputs

Common operation mapping

Query patterns

Cloud Assistant (RunCommand) tips

AccessKey priority (must follow, align with README)

Auth setup (README-aligned)

API discovery

Output policy

References