Set up asynchronous invocation of the backend Lambda function

In Lambda non-proxy (custom) integration, the backend Lambda function is invoked synchronously by default. This is the desired behavior for most REST API operations. Some applications, however, require work to be performed asynchronously (as a batch operation or a long-latency operation), typically by a separate backend component. In this case, the backend Lambda function is invoked asynchronously, and the front-end REST API method doesn't return the result.

You can configure the Lambda function for a Lambda non-proxy integration to be invoked asynchronously by specifying 'Event' as the Lambda invocation type. This is done as follows:

Configure Lambda asynchronous invocation in the API Gateway console

For all invocations to be asynchronous:

• In Integration request, add an X-Amz-Invocation-Type header with a static value of 'Event'.

For clients to decide if invocations are asynchronous or synchronous:

1. In Method request, add an InvocationType header.

2. In Integration request add an X-Amz-Invocation-Type header with a mapping expression of method.request.header.InvocationType.

3. Clients can include the InvocationType: Event header in API requests for asynchronous invocations or InvocationType: RequestResponse for synchronous invocations.

Configure Lambda asynchronous invocation using OpenAPI

For all invocations to be asynchronous:

• Add the X-Amz-Invocation-Type header to the x-amazon-apigateway-integration section.

  "x-amazon-apigateway-integration" : {
            "type" : "aws",
            "httpMethod" : "POST",
            "uri" : "arn:aws:apigateway:us-east-2:lambda:path/2015-03-31/functions/arn:aws:lambda:us-east-2:123456789012:function:my-function/invocations",
            "responses" : {
              "default" : {
                "statusCode" : "200"
              }
            },
            "requestParameters" : {
              "integration.request.header.X-Amz-Invocation-Type" : "'Event'"
            },
            "passthroughBehavior" : "when_no_match",
            "contentHandling" : "CONVERT_TO_TEXT"
          }   

For clients to decide if invocations are asynchronous or synchronous:

1. Add the following header on any OpenAPI Path Item Object.

   "parameters" : [ {
   "name" : "InvocationType",
   "in" : "header",
   "schema" : {
     "type" : "string"
   }
   } ]     

2. Add the X-Amz-Invocation-Type header to x-amazon-apigateway-integration section.

   "x-amazon-apigateway-integration" : {
             "type" : "aws",
             "httpMethod" : "POST",
             "uri" : "arn:aws:apigateway:us-east-2:lambda:path/2015-03-31/functions/arn:aws:lambda:us-east-2:123456789012:function:my-function/invocations",
             "responses" : {
               "default" : {
                 "statusCode" : "200"
               }
             },
             "requestParameters" : {
               "integration.request.header.X-Amz-Invocation-Type" : "method.request.header.InvocationType"
             },
             "passthroughBehavior" : "when_no_match",
             "contentHandling" : "CONVERT_TO_TEXT"
           }

3. Clients can include the InvocationType: Event header in API requests for asynchronous invocations or InvocationType: RequestResponse for synchronous invocations.

Configure Lambda asynchronous invocation using AWS CloudFormation

The following AWS CloudFormation templates show how to configure the AWS::ApiGateway::Method for asynchronous invocations.

For all invocations to be asynchronous:

AsyncMethodGet:
    Type: 'AWS::ApiGateway::Method'
    Properties:
      RestApiId: !Ref Api
      ResourceId: !Ref AsyncResource
      HttpMethod: GET
      ApiKeyRequired: false
      AuthorizationType: NONE
      Integration:
        Type: AWS
        RequestParameters:
          integration.request.header.X-Amz-Invocation-Type: "'Event'"
        IntegrationResponses:
            - StatusCode: '200'
        IntegrationHttpMethod: POST
        Uri: !Sub arn:aws:apigateway:${AWS::Region}:lambda:path/2015-03-31/functions/${myfunction.Arn}$/invocations
      MethodResponses:
        - StatusCode: '200'
        

For clients to decide if invocations are asynchronous or synchronous:

AsyncMethodGet:
    Type: 'AWS::ApiGateway::Method'
    Properties:
      RestApiId: !Ref Api
      ResourceId: !Ref AsyncResource
      HttpMethod: GET
      ApiKeyRequired: false
      AuthorizationType: NONE
      RequestParameters:
        method.request.header.InvocationType: false
      Integration:
        Type: AWS
        RequestParameters:
          integration.request.header.X-Amz-Invocation-Type: method.request.header.InvocationType
        IntegrationResponses:
            - StatusCode: '200'
        IntegrationHttpMethod: POST
        Uri: !Sub arn:aws:apigateway:${AWS::Region}:lambda:path/2015-03-31/functions/${myfunction.Arn}$/invocations
      MethodResponses:
        - StatusCode: '200'
        

Clients can include the InvocationType: Event header in API requests for asynchronous invocations or InvocationType: RequestResponse for synchronous invocations.