AWS-NUKE(1)

AWS-NUKE 💥

okay so bestie, listen. this manual is for a User Command called aws-nuke, and it is the single most terrifying little binary in your /usr/bin, no cap. buckle up. 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

aws-nuke — delete a whole AWS account and all resources 💀✨

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

It's a tool which removes every resource from an AWS account. that's it, that's the whole vibe. use it with caution, because it cannot distinguish between production and non-production. it does not care about your feelings, your staging suffix, or your little -prod naming convention. it will simply take everything. 😭

🎀 Usage:

aws-nuke [flags]
aws-nuke [command]

🦋 Available Commands:

• completion — Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
• help — Help about any command
• resource-types — lists all available resource types
• version — shows version of this application

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👑 Flags:

• --access-key-id string — AWS access key ID for accessing the AWS API. must be used together with --secret-access-key. cannot be used together with --profile.
• --assume-role-arn string — AWS IAM role arn to assume. the credentials you handed over via --access-key-id or --profile must be allowed to assume this role, bestie, or it's giving permission denied.
• -c, --config string — (required) path to the nuke config file. yes, required. no, you cannot skip it. 🫶
• --default-region string — custom default region name.
• -e, --exclude strings — prevent nuking of certain resource types (eg IAMServerCertificate). this flag can be used multiple times — stack it, girlie. 🎀
• --force — don't ask for confirmation before deleting resources. instead it waits 15s before continuing. set --force-sleep to change the wait time. no confirmation prompt, just vibes and a countdown 🔥
• --force-sleep int — if specified and --force is set, wait this many seconds before deleting resources. defaults to 15. (default 15)
• -h, --help — help for aws-nuke
• --max-wait-retries int — if specified, the program will exit if resources are stuck in waiting for this many iterations. 0 (default) disables early exit.
• --no-dry-run — if specified, it actually deletes found resources. otherwise it just lists all candidates. this is the one that makes it real. 💀
• --profile string — name of the AWS profile name for accessing the AWS API. cannot be used together with --access-key-id and --secret-access-key.
• -q, --quiet — don't show filtered resources.
• --secret-access-key string — AWS secret access key for accessing the AWS API. must be used together with --access-key-id. cannot be used together with --profile.
• --session-token string — AWS session token for accessing the AWS API. must be used together with --access-key-id and --secret-access-key. cannot be used together with --profile.
• -t, --target strings — limit nuking to certain resource types (eg IAMServerCertificate). this flag can be used multiple times. 🎯
• -v, --verbose — enables debug output.

use "aws-nuke [command] --help" for more information about a command. 👑

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ok real talk: --no-dry-run = the point of no return. dry run first. i am literally begging. 🙈

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and that's the whole page, bestie — this was aws-nuke 2.16.0, dated January 2026. slay responsibly. 💅✨🎀