AWS Toolkit

The AWS Toolkit, or simply the Toolkit, is an extension that enables you to interact with certain services of Amazon Web Services (AWS) from within the VS Code editor.

The following screenshots show important parts of the Toolkit.

Fundamental UI Components

The AWS Explorer

Overview, AWS Explorer

The AWS CDK Explorer

Overview, AWS CDK Explorer

AWS Commands in the Command Palette

Command Palette

Feature Overview
Setup
Features
Appendix A: AWS Commands
Appendix B: Get Help

{ Return to Top }

Feature Overview

You can use the AWS Toolkit to interact with several AWS resources in various ways.

These include the following:

AWS serverless applications
AWS Lambda functions
AWS CloudFormation stacks
AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) applications
Amazon EventBridge schemas
Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) task definition files
AWS Step Functions state machines

See Features below for high-level details, or jump right into the AWS Toolkit for Visual Studio Code User Guide.

{ Return to Contents } or { Return to Top }

Setup

To access most features of the AWS Toolkit, you must complete the steps defined in the Setting Up topic of the user guide.

These steps include the following:

Create an AWS account (see the Prerequisites in the user guide and also these additional details)
Create and configure a set of AWS credentials (see Establishing Credentials in the user guide)
Connect the Toolkit to AWS using those credentials (see Connecting to AWS in the user guide)

To use the Toolkit to develop serverless applications with AWS, you must also set up your toolchain and do the following on the local machine where the Toolkit is installed:

Install the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI)
Install and start Docker (also see this general information about Docker)
Install the AWS SAM CLI

For complete setup instructions for these three components, see Installing the AWS SAM CLI in the AWS Serverless Application Model (AWS SAM) Developer Guide.

{ Return to Contents } or { Return to Top }

Features

Serverless Applications, Lambda Functions, and CloudFormation Stacks
AWS CDK Applications
Amazon EventBridge Schemas
Amazon ECS Task Definition Files
AWS Step Functions

{ Return to Contents } or { Return to Top }

Serverless Applications, Lambda Functions, and CloudFormation Stacks

The AWS Toolkit enables you to develop AWS serverless applications locally. It also enables you to do the following through the AWS Explorer:

Deploy your locally-developed AWS serverless applications to an AWS account, into an AWS CloudFormation stack
List and delete AWS CloudFormation stacks
List, invoke, and delete AWS Lambda functions

The following example shows a highlight of this functionality.

After you have created a serverless application, you can locally run, debug, and further develop that application in the VS Code editor. For example:

Configure and Run 1

Take special note of the CodeLenses that enable you to run and debug the application locally.

The status and results are shown in the OUTPUT panel when the AWS Toolkit output channel is selected.

Configure and Run 1

When you're satisfied, you can deploy your application to a CloudFormation stack and then run the Lambda function on AWS.

For full details, see the AWS Explorer in the Toolkit's user guide.

Additional Information about CodeLenses

The functions that have Codelenses are those that use AWS Lambda-function handler syntax. A handler is a function that Lambda calls to start execution of a Lambda function. These CodeLenses enable you to locally run or debug the corresponding serverless application. CodeLens actions in the Toolkit include:

Configure, for specifying function configurations such as an event payload and environment variable overrides.
Run Locally, for running the function without debugging.
Debug Locally, for running the function with debugging.

{ Return to Features } or { Return to Top }

AWS CDK Applications

The AWS Toolkit enables you to work with AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) applications. Using the AWS CDK Explorer on the Toolkit, you can view CDK applications within your Workspace that have been synthesized.

Example:

AWS CDK Tree View

For full details, see the AWS CDK Explorer in the Toolkit's user guide.

{ Return to Features } or { Return to Top }

Amazon EventBridge Schemas

The AWS Toolkit provides support for Amazon EventBridge schemas. Using the AWS Explorer of the Toolkit, you can perform the following operations on these schemas:

View an available schema
Search for an available schema
Generate code for an available schema

Example:

For full details, see Working with Amazon EventBridge Schemas in the Toolkit's user guide.

{ Return to Features } or { Return to Top }

Amazon ECS Task Definition Files

The AWS Toolkit provides support for Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS). With the Toolkit installed in VS Code, IntelliSense functionality is provided for Amazon ECS task-definition files that you are updating in the editor.

Example:

Amazon ECS IntelliSense for Task Definition Files

For full details, see Working with Amazon Elastic Container Service in the Toolkit's user guide.

{ Return to Features } or { Return to Top }

AWS Step Functions

The AWS Toolkit provides support for AWS Step Functions. With the Toolkit installed in VS Code, working with state machines is a more streamlined process.

Create, update, execute, and download state machines.
See live graph visualizations of your state machine.
Take advantage of features such as code completion and validation, and code snippets.

Example:

AWS Step Functions

For full details, see Working with AWS Step Functions in the Toolkit's user guide.

{ Return to Features } or { Return to Top }

Appendix A: AWS Commands

The AWS Toolkit has several features that you can access through the Command Palette (select View, then Command Palette):

AWS Command	Description
AWS: Create Credentials Profile	Creates an AWS credentials profile. For more information, see Setting Up Your AWS Credentials in the user guide.
AWS: Connect to AWS	Connects the Toolkit to an AWS account. For more information, see Connecting to AWS in the user guide.
AWS: Create a new Step Functions state machine	Generates a new Amazon States Language definition to use as the definition for a new Step Functions state machine. For more information, see State Machine Templates in the user guide.
AWS: Create New SAM Application	Generates a set of code files for a new AWS serverless application. For more information, see Creating a Serverless Application in the user guide.
AWS: Deploy SAM Application	Deploys a local serverless application to an AWS account. For more information, see Deploying a Serverless Application in the user guide.
AWS: Detect SAM CLI	Checks whether the Toolkit can communicate correctly with the AWS SAM CLI that is installed.
AWS: Focus on Explorer View	Opens the AWS: Explorer Side Bar, which we will simply call the AWS Explorer, and then moves the focus there.
AWS: Hide region from the Explorer	Hides an AWS Region from the AWS Explorer.
AWS: Publish state machine to Step Functions	Creates or updates a remote state machine using the local Amazon States Language definition file. For more information, see Work With State Machines in VS Code in the user guide.
AWS: Render state machine graph	Renders the state machine definition into a graph visualization. For more information, see State Machine Graph Visualization in the user guide.
AWS: Report an Issue	In the GitHub repository for the Toolkit, opens the page to create a new issue.
AWS: Show region in the Explorer	Displays an AWS Region in the AWS Explorer.
AWS: Sign out	Disconnects the Toolkit from the currently-connected AWS account.
AWS: View AWS Toolkit Logs	Displays log files that contain general Toolkit diagnostic information.
AWS: View Quick Start	Open this quick-start guide.
AWS: View Documentation	Opens the user guide for the Toolkit.
AWS: View Source on GitHub	Opens the GitHub repository for the Toolkit.

{ Return to Contents } or { Return to Top }

Appendix B: Get Help

For additional details on how to use the AWS Toolkit, see the user guide.

To report issues with the Toolkit or to propose Toolkit code changes, see the aws/aws-toolkit-vscode repository on GitHub.

You can also contact AWS directly.

{ Return to Contents } or { Return to Top }