Getting Started
Install BucketBuddy and connect your AWS profiles in under a minute.
Prerequisites
VS Code 1.85.0 or later
Any recent VS Code version will work.
AWS CLI configured
Run aws configure or aws configure sso to set up at least one profile.
Node.js not required
BucketBuddy bundles all its dependencies — nothing else to install.
Install
The fastest way is the VS Code command palette:
1. Open VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on Mac)
3. Type: ext install kkmohan.aws-bucket-buddy
4. Press Enter
Or search "AWS BucketBuddy" in the Extensions sidebar (Ctrl+Shift+X).
First Launch
After installation, click the BucketBuddy icon in the VS Code Activity Bar (left sidebar). BucketBuddy automatically reads ~/.aws/credentials and ~/.aws/config and connects every profile it finds. Your buckets appear as a colour-coded tree — no manual configuration needed.
Auto-Connect Specific Buckets
Add a buckets= line to your AWS config and BucketBuddy will pin those buckets automatically on connect:
# ~/.aws/config
[MyProfile]
region = us-east-1
account_id = 123456789012
buckets = prod-data, staging-bucket, my-logs
Direct Bucket Access
If your IAM policy doesn't include s3:ListAllMyBuckets, you can still use BucketBuddy. Click "Go to bucket…" on any profile node and type a bucket name or s3:// URL. BucketBuddy validates your access before pinning it to the tree.
Read-Only by Default
Every profile and bucket you connect starts locked by default — nothing to configure out of the box, nothing to remember to turn on. Browsing, downloading, and searching all work immediately with no unlock needed. Before you can upload, delete, rename, or otherwise change anything, click the lock icon on that profile or bucket to unlock it (🔓). Attempting a change on a locked target shows a warning with an "Unlock Now" button — it only unlocks, so a single click can never both unlock and make the change.
Prefer buckets to start unlocked instead? Set bucketbuddy.lockByDefault to false. It only changes the starting point for profiles/buckets you haven't explicitly locked or unlocked yet — anything you've already toggled keeps its own state.
Want production accounts to stay extra safe? Add a bucketbuddy.protectedEnvPatterns setting (defaults to ["prod*", "production*"]) and matching profiles are skipped by the toolbar's "Unlock All" — they can still be unlocked individually, just never in bulk.