Stages for HTTP APIs in API Gateway

An API stage is a logical reference to a lifecycle state of your API (for example, dev, prod, beta, or v2). API stages are identified by their API ID and stage name, and they're included in the URL you use to invoke the API. Each stage is a named reference to a deployment of the API and is made available for client applications to call.

You can create a $default stage that is served from the base of your API's URL—for example, https://{api_id}.execute-api.{region}.amazonaws.com/. You use this URL to invoke an API stage.

A deployment is a snapshot of your API configuration. After you deploy an API to a stage, it’s available for clients to invoke. You must deploy an API for changes to take effect. If you enable automatic deployments, changes to an API are automatically released for you.