Rohan Chakravarthy

AWS Subscription Required: The AWS Access Key Id needs a subscription for the service

Rohan Chakravarthy -

I hit an odd error while bootstrapping a new account through cdk bootstrap:

SubscriptionRequiredException: The AWS Access Key Id needs a subscription for the service

I found a few different reasons for this error, but they all essentially boil down to trying to use a feature that is not enabled in your account. I tried running some other commands but I soon realized all resource creation was disabled in my account.

I'd created this account through my AWS Organization so I initially thought it might just be a delay in account setup. However, I kept seeing this error even after waiting for an hour.

Solution

I started poking around my accounts, and eventually realized I had an overdue bill in the main organization account due to a cancelled credit card. Paying the bill immediately resolved this error!

Other Potential Reasons

Here are other links that cover other reasons for this error: