Creating an API Gateway REST API with Synchronous Express State Machine Using the Amazon CDK - Amazon Step Functions
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Creating an API Gateway REST API with Synchronous Express State Machine Using the Amazon CDK

This tutorial shows you how to create an API Gateway REST API with Synchronous Express State Machine as the backend integration using the Amazon Cloud Development Kit (Amazon CDK). This tutorial will use the StepFunctionsRestApi construct to connect the State Machine to the API Gateway. The StepFunctionsRestApi construct will set up a default input/output mapping and the API Gateway REST API, with required permissions and an HTTP “ANY” method. The Amazon CDK is an Infrastructure as Code (IAC) framework that lets you define Amazon infrastructure using a full-fledged programming language. You write an app in one of the CDK's supported languages, containing one or more stacks, then synthesize it to an Amazon CloudFormation template and deploy it to your Amazon account. We'll use it to define an API Gateway REST API, which is integrated with Synchronous Express State Machine as the backend, then use the Amazon Web Services Management Console to initiate execution.

Before embarking on this tutorial, set up your Amazon CDK development environment as described in Getting Started With the Amazon CDK - Prerequisites, then install the Amazon CDK by issuing:

npm install -g aws-cdk

Step 1: Set Up Your Amazon CDK Project

First, create a directory for your new Amazon CDK app and initialize the project.

TypeScript
mkdir stepfunctions-rest-api cd stepfunctions-rest-api cdk init --language typescript
JavaScript
mkdir stepfunctions-rest-api cd stepfunctions-rest-api cdk init --language javascript
Python
mkdir stepfunctions-rest-api cd stepfunctions-rest-api cdk init --language python

After the project has been initialized, activate the project's virtual environment and install the Amazon CDK's baseline dependencies.

source .venv/bin/activate python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
Java
mkdir stepfunctions-rest-api cd stepfunctions-rest-api cdk init --language java
C#
mkdir stepfunctions-rest-api cd stepfunctions-rest-api cdk init --language csharp
Go
mkdir stepfunctions-rest-api cd stepfunctions-rest-api cdk init --language go
Note

Be sure to name the directory stepfunctions-rest-api. The Amazon CDK application template uses the name of the directory to generate names for source files and classes. If you use a different name, your app will not match this tutorial.

Now install the construct library modules for Amazon Step Functions and Amazon API Gateway.

TypeScript
npm install @aws-cdk/aws-stepfunctions @aws-cdk/aws-apigateway
JavaScript
npm install @aws-cdk/aws-stepfunctions @aws-cdk/aws-apigateway
Python
python -m pip install aws-cdk.aws-stepfunctions python -m pip install aws-cdk.aws-apigateway
Java

Edit the project's pom.xml to add the following dependencies inside the existing <dependencies> container.

<dependency> <groupId>software.amazon.awscdk</groupId> <artifactId>stepfunctions</artifactId> <version>${cdk.version}</version> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>software.amazon.awscdk</groupId> <artifactId>apigateway</artifactId> <version>${cdk.version}</version> </dependency>

Maven automatically installs these dependencies the next time you build your app. To build, issue mvn compile or use your Java IDE's Build command.

C#
dotnet add src/StepfunctionsRestApi package Amazon.CDK.AWS.Stepfunctions dotnet add src/StepfunctionsRestApi package Amazon.CDK.AWS.APIGateway

You may also install the indicated packages using the Visual Studio NuGet GUI, available via Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Manage NuGet Packages for Solution.

Once you have installed the modules, you can use them in your Amazon CDK app by importing the following packages.

TypeScript
@aws-cdk/aws-stepfunctions @aws-cdk/aws-apigateway
JavaScript
@aws-cdk/aws-stepfunctions @aws-cdk/aws-apigateway
Python
aws_cdk.aws_stepfunctions aws_cdk.aws_apigateway
Java
software.amazon.awscdk.services.apigateway.StepFunctionsRestApi software.amazon.awscdk.services.stepfunctions.Pass software.amazon.awscdk.services.stepfunctions.StateMachine software.amazon.awscdk.services.stepfunctions.StateMachineType
C#
Amazon.CDK.AWS.StepFunctions Amazon.CDK.AWS.APIGateway
Go

Add the following to import inside stepfunctions-rest-api.go.

"github.com/aws/aws-cdk-go/awscdk/awsapigateway" "github.com/aws/aws-cdk-go/awscdk/awsstepfunctions"

Step 2: Use the Amazon CDK to create an API Gateway REST API with Synchronous Express State Machine backend integration

First, we'll present the individual pieces of code that define the Synchronous Express State Machine and the API Gateway REST API, then explain how to put them together into your Amazon CDK app. Then you'll see how to synthesize and deploy these resources.

Note

The State Machine that we will show here will be a simple State Machine with a Pass state.

To create an Express State Machine

This is the Amazon CDK code that defines a simple state machine with a Pass state.

TypeScript
const machineDefinition = new stepfunctions.Pass(this, 'PassState', { result: {value:"Hello!"}, }) const stateMachine = new stepfunctions.StateMachine(this, 'MyStateMachine', { definition: machineDefinition, stateMachineType: stepfunctions.StateMachineType.EXPRESS, });
JavaScript
const machineDefinition = new sfn.Pass(this, 'PassState', { result: {value:"Hello!"}, }) const stateMachine = new sfn.StateMachine(this, 'MyStateMachine', { definition: machineDefinition, stateMachineType: stepfunctions.StateMachineType.EXPRESS, });
Python
machine_definition = sfn.Pass(self,"PassState", result = sfn.Result("Hello")) state_machine = sfn.StateMachine(self, 'MyStateMachine', definition = machine_definition, state_machine_type = sfn.StateMachineType.EXPRESS)
Java
Pass machineDefinition = Pass.Builder.create(this, "PassState") .result(Result.fromString("Hello")) .build(); StateMachine stateMachine = StateMachine.Builder.create(this, "MyStateMachine") .definition(machineDefinition) .stateMachineType(StateMachineType.EXPRESS) .build();
C#
var machineDefinition = new Pass(this, "PassState", new PassProps { Result = Result.FromString("Hello") }); var stateMachine = new StateMachine(this, "MyStateMachine", new StateMachineProps { Definition = machineDefinition, StateMachineType = StateMachineType.EXPRESS });
Go
var machineDefinition = awsstepfunctions.NewPass(stack, jsii.String("PassState"), &awsstepfunctions.PassProps { Result: awsstepfunctions.NewResult(jsii.String("Hello")), }) var stateMachine = awsstepfunctions.NewStateMachine(stack, jsii.String("StateMachine"), &awsstepfunctions.StateMachineProps { Definition: machineDefinition, StateMachineType: awsstepfunctions.StateMachineType_EXPRESS, })

You can see in this short snippet:

  • The machine definition named PassState, which is a Pass State.

  • The State Machine’s logical name, MyStateMachine.

  • The machine definition is used as the State Machine definition.

  • The State Machine Type is set as EXPRESS because StepFunctionsRestApi will only allow a Synchronous Express state machine.

To create the API Gateway REST API using StepFunctionsRestApi construct

We will use StepFunctionsRestApi construct to create the API Gateway REST API with required permissions and default input/output mapping.

TypeScript
const api = new apigateway.StepFunctionsRestApi(this, 'StepFunctionsRestApi', { stateMachine: stateMachine });
JavaScript
const api = new apigateway.StepFunctionsRestApi(this, 'StepFunctionsRestApi', { stateMachine: stateMachine });
Python
api = apigw.StepFunctionsRestApi(self, "StepFunctionsRestApi", state_machine = state_machine)
Java
StepFunctionsRestApi api = StepFunctionsRestApi.Builder.create(this, "StepFunctionsRestApi") .stateMachine(stateMachine) .build();
C#
var api = new StepFunctionsRestApi(this, "StepFunctionsRestApi", new StepFunctionsRestApiProps { StateMachine = stateMachine });
Go
awsapigateway.NewStepFunctionsRestApi(stack, jsii.String("StepFunctionsRestApi"), &awsapigateway.StepFunctionsRestApiProps { StateMachine = stateMachine, })

To build and deploy the Amazon CDK app

In the Amazon CDK project you created, edit the file containing the definition of the stack to look like the code below. You'll recognize the definitions of the Step Functions state machine and the API Gateway from above.

TypeScript

Update lib/stepfunctions-rest-api-stack.ts to read as follows.

import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib'; import * as stepfunctions from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-stepfunctions' import * as apigateway from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-apigateway'; export class StepfunctionsRestApiStack extends cdk.Stack { constructor(scope: cdk.App, id: string, props?: cdk.StackProps) { super(scope, id, props); const machineDefinition = new stepfunctions.Pass(this, 'PassState', { result: {value:"Hello!"}, }); const stateMachine = new stepfunctions.StateMachine(this, 'MyStateMachine', { definition: machineDefinition, stateMachineType: stepfunctions.StateMachineType.EXPRESS, }); const api = new apigateway.StepFunctionsRestApi(this, 'StepFunctionsRestApi', { stateMachine: stateMachine });
JavaScript

Update lib/stepfunctions-rest-api-stack.js to read as follows.

const cdk = require('@aws-cdk/core'); const stepfunctions = require('@aws-cdk/aws-stepfunctions'); const apigateway = require('@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway'); class StepfunctionsRestApiStack extends cdk.Stack { constructor(scope: cdk.Construct, id: string, props?: cdk.StackProps) { super(scope, id, props); const machineDefinition = new stepfunctions.Pass(this, "PassState", { result: {value:"Hello!"}, }) const stateMachine = new sfn.StateMachine(this, 'MyStateMachine', { definition: machineDefinition, stateMachineType: stepfunctions.StateMachineType.EXPRESS, }); const api = new apigateway.StepFunctionsRestApi(this, 'StepFunctionsRestApi', { stateMachine: stateMachine }); } } module.exports = { StepStack }
Python

Update stepfunctions_rest_api/stepfunctions_rest_api_stack.py to read as follows.

from aws_cdk import App, Stack from constructs import Construct from aws_cdk import aws_stepfunctions as sfn from aws_cdk import aws_apigateway as apigw class StepfunctionsRestApiStack(Stack): def __init__(self, scope: Construct, construct_id: str, **kwargs) -> None: super().__init__(scope, construct_id, **kwargs) machine_definition = sfn.Pass(self,"PassState", result = sfn.Result("Hello")) state_machine = sfn.StateMachine(self, 'MyStateMachine', definition = machine_definition, state_machine_type = sfn.StateMachineType.EXPRESS) api = apigw.StepFunctionsRestApi(self, "StepFunctionsRestApi", state_machine = state_machine)
Java

Update src/main/java/com.myorg/StepfunctionsRestApiStack.java to read as follows.

package com.myorg; import software.amazon.awscdk.core.Construct; import software.amazon.awscdk.core.Stack; import software.amazon.awscdk.core.StackProps; import software.amazon.awscdk.services.stepfunctions.Pass; import software.amazon.awscdk.services.stepfunctions.StateMachine; import software.amazon.awscdk.services.stepfunctions.StateMachineType; import software.amazon.awscdk.services.apigateway.StepFunctionsRestApi; public class StepfunctionsRestApiStack extends Stack { public StepfunctionsRestApiStack(final Construct scope, final String id) { this(scope, id, null); } public StepfunctionsRestApiStack(final Construct scope, final String id, final StackProps props) { super(scope, id, props); Pass machineDefinition = Pass.Builder.create(this, "PassState") .result(Result.fromString("Hello")) .build(); StateMachine stateMachine = StateMachine.Builder.create(this, "MyStateMachine") .definition(machineDefinition) .stateMachineType(StateMachineType.EXPRESS) .build(); StepFunctionsRestApi api = StepFunctionsRestApi.Builder.create(this, "StepFunctionsRestApi") .stateMachine(stateMachine) .build(); } }
C#

Update src/StepfunctionsRestApi/StepfunctionsRestApiStack.cs to read as follows.

using Amazon.CDK; using Amazon.CDK.AWS.StepFunctions; using Amazon.CDK.AWS.APIGateway; namespace StepfunctionsRestApi { public class StepfunctionsRestApiStack : Stack { internal StepfunctionsRestApi(Construct scope, string id, IStackProps props = null) : base(scope, id, props) { var machineDefinition = new Pass(this, "PassState", new PassProps { Result = Result.FromString("Hello") }); var stateMachine = new StateMachine(this, "MyStateMachine", new StateMachineProps { Definition = machineDefinition, StateMachineType = StateMachineType.EXPRESS }); var api = new StepFunctionsRestApi(this, "StepFunctionsRestApi", new StepFunctionsRestApiProps { StateMachine = stateMachine }); } } }
Go

Update stepfunctions-rest-api.go to read as follows.

package main import ( "github.com/aws/aws-cdk-go/awscdk" "github.com/aws/aws-cdk-go/awscdk/awsapigateway" "github.com/aws/aws-cdk-go/awscdk/awsstepfunctions" "github.com/aws/constructs-go/constructs/v3" "github.com/aws/jsii-runtime-go" ) type StepfunctionsRestApiGoStackProps struct { awscdk.StackProps } func NewStepfunctionsRestApiGoStack(scope constructs.Construct, id string, props *StepfunctionsRestApiGoStackProps) awscdk.Stack { var sprops awscdk.StackProps if props != nil { sprops = props.StackProps } stack := awscdk.NewStack(scope, &id, &sprops) // The code that defines your stack goes here var machineDefinition = awsstepfunctions.NewPass(stack, jsii.String("PassState"), &awsstepfunctions.PassProps { Result: awsstepfunctions.NewResult(jsii.String("Hello")), }) var stateMachine = awsstepfunctions.NewStateMachine(stack, jsii.String("StateMachine"), &awsstepfunctions.StateMachineProps{ Definition: machineDefinition, StateMachineType: awsstepfunctions.StateMachineType_EXPRESS, }); awsapigateway.NewStepFunctionsRestApi(stack, jsii.String("StepFunctionsRestApi"), &awsapigateway.StepFunctionsRestApiProps{ StateMachine = stateMachine, }) return stack } func main() { app := awscdk.NewApp(nil) NewStepfunctionsRestApiGoStack(app, "StepfunctionsRestApiGoStack", &StepfunctionsRestApiGoStackProps{ awscdk.StackProps{ Env: env(), }, }) app.Synth(nil) } // env determines the AWS environment (account+region) in which our stack is to // be deployed. For more information see: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/latest/guide/environments.html func env() *awscdk.Environment { // If unspecified, this stack will be "environment-agnostic". // Account/Region-dependent features and context lookups will not work, but a // single synthesized template can be deployed anywhere. //--------------------------------------------------------------------------- return nil // Uncomment if you know exactly what account and region you want to deploy // the stack to. This is the recommendation for production stacks. //--------------------------------------------------------------------------- // return &awscdk.Environment{ // Account: jsii.String("123456789012"), // Region: jsii.String("us-east-1"), // } // Uncomment to specialize this stack for the AWS Account and Region that are // implied by the current CLI configuration. This is recommended for dev // stacks. //--------------------------------------------------------------------------- // return &awscdk.Environment{ // Account: jsii.String(os.Getenv("CDK_DEFAULT_ACCOUNT")), // Region: jsii.String(os.Getenv("CDK_DEFAULT_REGION")), // } }

Save the source file, then issue cdk synth in the app's main directory. The Amazon CDK runs the app and synthesizes an Amazon CloudFormation template from it, then displays the template.

To actually deploy the Amazon API Gateway and the Amazon Step Functions state machine to your AWS account, issue cdk deploy. You'll be asked to approve the IAM policies the Amazon CDK has generated. The policies being created will look something like this:

Step 3: Test the API Gateway

After you create your API Gateway REST API with Synchronous Express State Machine as the backend integration, you can test the API Gateway.

To test the deployed API Gateway using API Gateway console

  1. Open the Amazon API Gateway console and sign in.

  2. Choose your REST API named StepFunctionsRestApi.

  3. In the Resources pane, choose the ANY method.

  4. Choose the Test tab. You might need to choose the right arrow button to show the tab.

  5. For Method, choose POST.

  6. For Request body, copy the following request parameters.

    { "key": "Hello" }
  7. Choose Test. The following information will be displayed:

    • Request is the resource's path that was called for the method.

    • Status is the response's HTTP status code.

    • Latency is the time between the receipt of the request from the caller and the returned response.

    • Response body is the HTTP response body.

    • Response headers are the HTTP response headers.

    • Log shows the simulated Amazon CloudWatch Logs entries that would have been written if this method were called outside of the API Gateway console.

      Note

      Although the CloudWatch Logs entries are simulated, the results of the method call are real.

The Response body output should be something like this:

"Hello"
Tip

Try the API Gateway with different methods and an invalid input to see the error output. You may want to change the state machine to look for a particular key and during testing provide the wrong key to fail the State Machine execution and generate an error message in the Response body output.

To test the deployed API using cURL

  1. Open a terminal window.

  2. Copy the following cURL command and paste it into the terminal window, replacing <api-id> with your API's API ID and <region> with the region where your API is deployed.

    curl -X POST\ 'https://<api-id>.execute-api.<region>.amazonaws.com/prod' \ -d '{"key":"Hello"}' \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json'

The Response Body output should be something like this:

"Hello"
Tip

Try the API Gateway with different methods and an invalid input to see the error output. You may want to change the state machine to look for a particular key and during testing provide the wrong key to fail the State Machine execution and generate an error message in the Response Body output.

Step 4: Clean Up

When you're done trying out your API Gateway, you can tear down both the state machine and the API Gateway using the AWS CDK. Issue cdk destroy in your app's main directory.