diff --git a/apps/emqx_bridge_s3/src/emqx_bridge_s3_connector.erl b/apps/emqx_bridge_s3/src/emqx_bridge_s3_connector.erl
index bc9f37935..00c03fd3a 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_bridge_s3/src/emqx_bridge_s3_connector.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_bridge_s3/src/emqx_bridge_s3_connector.erl
@@ -162,8 +162,13 @@ on_get_status(_InstId, State = #{client_config := Config}) ->
 -spec on_add_channel(_InstanceId :: resource_id(), state(), channel_id(), channel_config()) ->
     {ok, state()} | {error, _Reason}.
 on_add_channel(_InstId, State = #{channels := Channels}, ChannelId, Config) ->
-    ChannelState = start_channel(State, Config),
-    {ok, State#{channels => Channels#{ChannelId => ChannelState}}}.
+    try
+        ChannelState = start_channel(State, Config),
+        {ok, State#{channels => Channels#{ChannelId => ChannelState}}}
+    catch
+        throw:Reason ->
+            {error, Reason}
+    end.
 
 -spec on_remove_channel(_InstanceId :: resource_id(), state(), channel_id()) ->
     {ok, state()}.
@@ -221,9 +226,10 @@ start_channel(State, #{
         max_records => MaxRecords,
         work_dir => work_dir(Type, Name)
     },
+    Template = ensure_ok(emqx_bridge_s3_upload:mk_key_template(Parameters)),
     DeliveryOpts = #{
         bucket => Bucket,
-        key => emqx_bridge_s3_upload:mk_key_template(Parameters),
+        key => Template,
         container => Container,
         upload_options => emqx_bridge_s3_upload:mk_upload_options(Parameters),
         callback_module => ?MODULE,
@@ -247,6 +253,11 @@ start_channel(State, #{
         on_stop => fun() -> ?AGGREG_SUP:delete_child(AggregId) end
     }.
 
+ensure_ok({ok, V}) ->
+    V;
+ensure_ok({error, Reason}) ->
+    throw(Reason).
+
 upload_options(Parameters) ->
     #{acl => maps:get(acl, Parameters, undefined)}.
 
diff --git a/apps/emqx_bridge_s3/src/emqx_bridge_s3_upload.erl b/apps/emqx_bridge_s3/src/emqx_bridge_s3_upload.erl
index 6c5ee5d0e..2bf12f24b 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_bridge_s3/src/emqx_bridge_s3_upload.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_bridge_s3/src/emqx_bridge_s3_upload.erl
@@ -248,17 +248,35 @@ convert_action(Conf = #{<<"parameters">> := Params, <<"resource_opts">> := Resou
 
 %% Interpreting options
 
--spec mk_key_template(_Parameters :: map()) -> emqx_template:str().
+-spec mk_key_template(_Parameters :: map()) ->
+    {ok, emqx_template:str()} | {error, _Reason}.
 mk_key_template(#{key := Key}) ->
     Template = emqx_template:parse(Key),
-    {_, BindingErrors} = emqx_template:render(Template, #{}),
-    {UsedBindings, _} = lists:unzip(BindingErrors),
-    SuffixTemplate = mk_suffix_template(UsedBindings),
-    case emqx_template:is_const(SuffixTemplate) of
-        true ->
-            Template;
-        false ->
-            Template ++ SuffixTemplate
+    case validate_bindings(emqx_template:placeholders(Template)) of
+        UsedBindings when is_list(UsedBindings) ->
+            SuffixTemplate = mk_suffix_template(UsedBindings),
+            case emqx_template:is_const(SuffixTemplate) of
+                true ->
+                    {ok, Template};
+                false ->
+                    {ok, Template ++ SuffixTemplate}
+            end;
+        Error = {error, _} ->
+            Error
+    end.
+
+validate_bindings(Bindings) ->
+    Formats = ["rfc3339", "rfc3339utc", "unix"],
+    AllowedBindings = lists:append([
+        ["action", "node", "sequence"],
+        ["datetime." ++ F || F <- Formats],
+        ["datetime_until." ++ F || F <- Formats]
+    ]),
+    case Bindings -- AllowedBindings of
+        [] ->
+            Bindings;
+        Disallowed ->
+            {error, {invalid_key_template, {disallowed_placeholders, Disallowed}}}
     end.
 
 mk_suffix_template(UsedBindings) ->
diff --git a/apps/emqx_connector_aggregator/src/emqx_connector_aggregator.app.src b/apps/emqx_connector_aggregator/src/emqx_connector_aggregator.app.src
index 6562958ee..b79cba2b2 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_connector_aggregator/src/emqx_connector_aggregator.app.src
+++ b/apps/emqx_connector_aggregator/src/emqx_connector_aggregator.app.src
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {application, emqx_connector_aggregator, [
     {description, "EMQX Enterprise Connector Data Aggregator"},
-    {vsn, "0.1.0"},
+    {vsn, "0.1.1"},
     {registered, []},
     {applications, [
         kernel,
diff --git a/apps/emqx_connector_aggregator/src/emqx_connector_aggregator.erl b/apps/emqx_connector_aggregator/src/emqx_connector_aggregator.erl
index f3936fd54..935fa6b52 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_connector_aggregator/src/emqx_connector_aggregator.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_connector_aggregator/src/emqx_connector_aggregator.erl
@@ -372,9 +372,13 @@ lookup_current_buffer(Name) ->
 %%
 
 enqueue_delivery(Buffer, St = #st{name = Name, deliveries = Ds}) ->
-    {ok, Pid} = emqx_connector_aggreg_upload_sup:start_delivery(Name, Buffer),
-    MRef = erlang:monitor(process, Pid),
-    St#st{deliveries = Ds#{MRef => Buffer}}.
+    case emqx_connector_aggreg_upload_sup:start_delivery(Name, Buffer) of
+        {ok, Pid} ->
+            MRef = erlang:monitor(process, Pid),
+            St#st{deliveries = Ds#{MRef => Buffer}};
+        {error, _} = Error ->
+            handle_delivery_exit(Buffer, Error, St)
+    end.
 
 handle_delivery_exit(Buffer, Normal, St = #st{name = Name}) when
     Normal == normal; Normal == noproc
diff --git a/apps/emqx_utils/src/emqx_template.erl b/apps/emqx_utils/src/emqx_template.erl
index 1383f90e1..02e18017e 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_utils/src/emqx_template.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_utils/src/emqx_template.erl
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 -export([parse/2]).
 -export([parse_deep/1]).
 -export([parse_deep/2]).
+-export([placeholders/1]).
 -export([validate/2]).
 -export([is_const/1]).
 -export([unparse/1]).
@@ -143,14 +144,19 @@ parse_accessor(Var) ->
             Name
     end.
 
+-spec placeholders(t()) -> [varname()].
+placeholders(Template) when is_list(Template) ->
+    [Name || {var, Name, _} <- Template];
+placeholders({'$tpl', Template}) ->
+    placeholders_deep(Template).
+
 %% @doc Validate a template against a set of allowed variables.
 %% If the given template contains any variable not in the allowed set, an error
 %% is returned.
 -spec validate([varname() | {var_namespace, varname()}], t()) ->
     ok | {error, [_Error :: {varname(), disallowed}]}.
 validate(Allowed, Template) ->
-    {_, Errors} = render(Template, #{}),
-    {Used, _} = lists:unzip(Errors),
+    Used = placeholders(Template),
     case find_disallowed(lists:usort(Used), Allowed) of
         [] ->
             ok;
@@ -192,10 +198,13 @@ is_allowed(Var, [{var_namespace, VarPrefix} | Allowed]) ->
         false ->
             is_allowed(Var, Allowed)
     end;
-is_allowed(Var, [Var | _Allowed]) ->
+is_allowed(Var, [VarAllowed | Rest]) ->
+    is_same_varname(Var, VarAllowed) orelse is_allowed(Var, Rest).
+
+is_same_varname("", ".") ->
     true;
-is_allowed(Var, [_ | Allowed]) ->
-    is_allowed(Var, Allowed).
+is_same_varname(V1, V2) ->
+    V1 =:= V2.
 
 %% @doc Check if a template is constant with respect to rendering, i.e. does not
 %% contain any placeholders.
@@ -322,6 +331,22 @@ parse_deep_term(Term, Opts) when is_binary(Term) ->
 parse_deep_term(Term, _Opts) ->
     Term.
 
+-spec placeholders_deep(deeptpl()) -> [varname()].
+placeholders_deep(Template) when is_map(Template) ->
+    maps:fold(
+        fun(KT, VT, Acc) -> placeholders_deep(KT) ++ placeholders_deep(VT) ++ Acc end,
+        [],
+        Template
+    );
+placeholders_deep({list, Template}) when is_list(Template) ->
+    lists:flatmap(fun placeholders_deep/1, Template);
+placeholders_deep({tuple, Template}) when is_list(Template) ->
+    lists:flatmap(fun placeholders_deep/1, Template);
+placeholders_deep(Template) when is_list(Template) ->
+    placeholders(Template);
+placeholders_deep(_Term) ->
+    [].
+
 render_deep(Template, Context, Opts) when is_map(Template) ->
     maps:fold(
         fun(KT, VT, {Acc, Errors}) ->
diff --git a/apps/emqx_utils/test/emqx_template_SUITE.erl b/apps/emqx_utils/test/emqx_template_SUITE.erl
index 0a3273170..a049ebfbc 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_utils/test/emqx_template_SUITE.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_utils/test/emqx_template_SUITE.erl
@@ -128,6 +128,14 @@ t_render_custom_bindings(_) ->
         render_string(Template, {?MODULE, []})
     ).
 
+t_placeholders(_) ->
+    TString = <<"a:${a},b:${b},c:$${c},d:{${d.d1}},e:${$}{e},lit:${$}{$}">>,
+    Template = emqx_template:parse(TString),
+    ?assertEqual(
+        ["a", "b", "c", "d.d1"],
+        emqx_template:placeholders(Template)
+    ).
+
 t_unparse(_) ->
     TString = <<"a:${a},b:${b},c:$${c},d:{${d.d1}},e:${$}{e},lit:${$}{$}">>,
     Template = emqx_template:parse(TString),
@@ -337,6 +345,16 @@ t_unparse_tmpl_deep(_) ->
     Template = emqx_template:parse_deep(Term),
     ?assertEqual(Term, emqx_template:unparse(Template)).
 
+t_allow_this(_) ->
+    ?assertEqual(
+        {error, [{"", disallowed}]},
+        emqx_template:validate(["d"], emqx_template:parse(<<"this:${}">>))
+    ),
+    ?assertEqual(
+        {error, [{"", disallowed}]},
+        emqx_template:validate(["d"], emqx_template:parse(<<"this:${.}">>))
+    ).
+
 t_allow_var_by_namespace(_) ->
     Context = #{d => #{d1 => <<"hi">>}},
     Template = emqx_template:parse(<<"d.d1:${d.d1}">>),
diff --git a/changes/ee/fix-13227.en.md b/changes/ee/fix-13227.en.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f2c1c2f38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/ee/fix-13227.en.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fixed an issue with S3 Bridge when running in aggregated mode, where invalid key template in the configuration haven't been reported as an error during bridge setup, but instead caused a storm of hard to recover crashes later.