WA2 — Intent-First Architecture in VS Code

Define intent.
Attach evidence.
Enforce architecture — not just configuration.

WA2 brings Well-Architected thinking directly into your editor, validating CloudFormation in real time while modelling architectural intent.

Built by the creator of the AWS Well-Architected Framework.

Why WA2?

Most tools validate configuration.

WA2 models architecture.

Instead of asking:

“Is encryption enabled?”

WA2 asks:

“What is this resource for?”

Then enforces controls appropriate to that declared purpose.

Intent → Obligation → Evidence

✨ Core Capabilities

🧠 Intent-Based Architecture

• Declare DataSensitivity and DataCriticality
• Generate architectural obligations from declared intent
• Attach evidence to resources
• Get guidance that adapts to purpose, not just resource type

⚙️ Real-Time CloudFormation Validation

WA2 includes a high-performance CloudFormation validator built in Rust.

• 1000+ AWS resource types (CloudFormation Registry schemas)
• Property validation & type checking
• All intrinsic functions (Ref, GetAtt, Sub, Join, If, FindInMap, and more)
• AWS::LanguageExtensions (Fn::ForEach, Transform support)
• SAM / Serverless transforms
• Precise line & column diagnostics

Sub-second validation inside VS Code.

🏗️ Example

Without intent:

Resources:
  DataBucket:
    Type: AWS::S3::Bucket

WA2 prompts you to classify the resource.

With intent declared:

Resources:
  DataBucket:
    Type: AWS::S3::Bucket
    Properties:
      Tags:
        - Key: DataCriticality
          Value: BusinessCritical

WA2 derives architectural obligations:

Business critical stores must be resilient.

Guidance appears inline — tied to declared intent.

🧩 Framework as Language

WA2 best practices are not hard-coded.

The framework logic is expressed in a small, purpose-built language.

This allows:

• 90%+ of guidance to be defined outside the engine
• Inspectable, modifiable architectural rules
• Vendor-agnostic modelling
• Traceable chains from source → classification → policy → evidence

Framework as code.
Not framework as binary.

⚡ Performance

WA2 validates typical templates in ~0.37 seconds,
significantly faster than many existing editor-based validators.

Built in Rust for predictable performance, low memory overhead, and fast parsing of large templates.

Designed for consistent sub-second feedback as you build.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Install from the VS Code Marketplace
2. Open any .yaml, .yml, or .json CloudFormation file
3. Start declaring intent

🔗 Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/unremarkable-technology/tooling
• Issues: https://github.com/unremarkable-technology/tooling/issues

Shift architecture left.

☕ Support WA2

If you find WA2 useful and want to support continued development, you can buy me a coffee: