Transforming code with Amazon Q Developer in GitHub

Note

Amazon Q Developer for GitHub is in preview release and is subject to change.

With the code transformation feature, you can update your technology stack, enhance performance, and ensure future compatibility while preserving the core functionality of your existing code. With Amazon Q Developer, you can avoid technical debt and build your applications for long-term sustainability and scalability.

When you add the code transformation label to an issue or use the /q transform slash command, Amazon Q Developer transforms your code from Java version 8 or 11 to version 17. Amazon Q Developer then creates a pull request with the changes and summary of the changes that you can merge into your mainline.

You can have Amazon Q Developer perform a code transformation a limited number of times per month. You can increase your free usage at any time by registering your Amazon Q Developer app installation with your AWS account. For more information, see Increasing usage limits and configuring details in Amazon Q Developer console.

Prerequisites

Before transforming you codebase with Amazon Q Developer, consider the following requirements:

• Ensure your GitHub repository has GitHub Actions enabled. For more information, see Understanding GitHub Actions and Enabling a workflowin the GitHub documentation.

• Create and configure your workflow file in the .github/workflows/ directory to handle code transformation tasks. For more information, see Customizing a workflow for code transformation.

After meeting the prerequisites, you can apply the Amazon Q transform agent label and upgrade your codebase in your GitHub repository.

Important

The Amazon Q Developer app attempts to automatically create the Amazon Q development agent and the Amazon Q transform agent labels in GitHub repositories you authorize access to. If the labels are not automatically created, or if they're unintentionally deleted, you can manually create them in GitHub. The labels must be named as Amazon Q development agent and Amazon Q transform agent in order for them to be recognized and processed as Amazon Q Developer labels. For more information, see Creating a label in the GitHub documentation.

To upgrade your codebase

1. If necessary, sign in to your GitHub account using your GitHub credentials.

2. Navigate to your GitHub organization, and then navigate to the repository you want to transform your codebase.

3. Choose Issues, and then create a new issue. For more information, see Create an issue in the GitHub documentation.

4. In the Add a title text input field, enter a title that provides context to Amazon Q Developer for code transformation (example: "Upgrade codebase"). The issue description should also be included as it also provides context.

5. When creating an issue or configuring an existing issue, you can apply the code transformation Amazon Q Developer label or use the /q transform slash command. Do one of the following:

   • To apply the label to the issue, do one of the following:

     • Choose the Assign to Amazon Q dropdown menu provided as a browser extension, and then choose the Amazon Q transform agent label.

     • In the right side menu, choose Labels, and then choose the Amazon Q transform agent label.

   • To use the /q transform slash command in a comment:

     1. Within the issue, navigate to Add a comment, and in the comment text input field, enter /q transform.

     2. Choose Comment.

6. Choose Create issue to finish creating the issue with the necessary details for Amazon Q Developer to transform your code.

   When Amazon Q Developer finishes generating code changes for the feature development, it will comment on the issue and opens a pull request.

7. Navigate to the comment left by Amazon Q Developer (example: "I finished upgrading your code and opened a pull request: Resolve Upgrade codebase."), and then choose the pull request link.

   You can also navigate to the Pull requests tab, and then choose the pull request created by Amazon Q Developer.

8. Choose the Files changed tab to view the changes.

9. If you're satisfied with the suggested code changes, you can merge the pull request. For more information, see Merge a pull request.

Amazon Q Developer leaves a comment that provides a transformation summary with details regarding files that it updated. You can find the summary in the build_logs.txt file provided in the comment. If Amazon Q Developer can't perform a complete code transformation, it also provides a summary regarding the errors that prevented the complete transformation.