AWS IAM Policy Validator

Validates AWS IAM policy JSON files instantly — no AWS account, no login, no other extensions required. Works like the AWS Access Analyzer playground, right inside VS Code.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.74 or higher
• No other extensions needed — works out of the box

Features

• Real-time validation — issues appear in the Problems panel as you type
• Clear fix hints — every error tells you exactly what is wrong and how to fix it
• Wildcard support — * is valid for both Action and Resource
• Size limit enforcement — enforces AWS character limits (minified JSON):
  • Managed policy: 6,144 chars
  • Inline policy: 2,048 chars
• Status bar — live char count and policy health at a glance
• Workspace scan — validate every .json file in your workspace at once

How to use

1. Open a policy file

Open any .json file that contains an IAM policy. The extension detects it automatically if it has a Statement array or a "Version" field and starts validating immediately.

2. Validate

Press Cmd+Option+P (Mac) / Ctrl+Alt+P (Windows/Linux).

A popup summarises the result:

3. Read the results

Open the Problems panel (Cmd+Shift+M / Ctrl+Shift+M) to see every issue with a description of how to fix it.

4. Fix and re-validate

Fix the issues shown and press Cmd+Option+P again. Repeat until the policy is valid.

Commands

Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P) and search for:

Status bar

When an IAM policy file is open, the bottom-right corner shows:

✅ IAM: 1,234 / 6,144 chars (20%)

Click the status bar item to validate and see a summary.

What gets validated

* is valid for both Action and Resource.

Example

Valid policy:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "AllowS3Read",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": ["s3:GetObject", "s3:ListBucket"],
            "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/*"
        },
        {
            "Sid": "AllowAllLambda",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "lambda:*",
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}

Policy with an error:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "BrokenStatement",
            "Action": ["s3:GetObject"],
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}

Problems panel output:

ERROR  Statement "BrokenStatement": missing required "Effect" field.
       Add "Effect": "Allow" or "Effect": "Deny".

Configuration

Change these in Settings (Cmd+,) → search AWS IAM.

Publishing to the VS Code Marketplace

1. Bump the version

Update "version" in package.json (e.g. 0.1.2 → 0.1.3).

2. Build the package

npm run package

This produces aws-iam-policy-validator-<version>.vsix in the project root.

3. Upload to the Marketplace

1. Go to https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/manage
2. Sign in with your Microsoft account
3. Click publisher ParasBhangalia
4. Click New extension → Visual Studio Code
5. Drag and drop the .vsix file onto the upload area and click Upload

The extension will be live within a few minutes.