# Group

An IAM Group (collection of IAM users) lets you specify permissions for multiple users, which can make it easier to manage permissions for those users.

Extends: Construct › Resource › Group
Implements: IResource, IGrantable, IGroup, IIdentity, IPrincipal, IEnvironmentAware, IGroupRef, IConstruct, IDependable

- CloudFormation: [`AWS::IAM::Group`](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/TemplateReference/aws-resource-iam-group.html)
- L1 type: [`CfnGroup`](/cdk/api/v2/docs/aws-cdk-lib.aws_iam.CfnGroup.html)
- Source: [`aws-iam/lib/group.ts`](https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/blob/v2.275.0/packages/aws-cdk-lib/aws-iam/lib/group.ts#L144)
- Type last changed: v2.224.0 · 13 Nov 2025

## Example

```ts
const user = new iam.User(this, 'MyUser'); // or User.fromUserName(this, 'User', 'johnsmith');
const group = new iam.Group(this, 'MyGroup'); // or Group.fromGroupArn(this, 'Group', 'arn:aws:iam::account-id:group/group-name');

user.addToGroup(group);
// or
group.addUser(user);
```

## Initializer

```ts
new Group(scope: Construct, id: string, props?: GroupProps)
```

## Construct Props

- `groupName`: string — A name for the IAM group.

  **Default:** Generated by CloudFormation (recommended)

  For valid values, see the GroupName parameter
  for the CreateGroup action in the IAM API Reference. If you don't specify
  a name, AWS CloudFormation generates a unique physical ID and uses that
  ID for the group name.

  If you specify a name, you must specify the CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM value to
  acknowledge your template's capabilities. For more information, see
  Acknowledging IAM Resources in AWS CloudFormation Templates.

- `managedPolicies`: [IManagedPolicy](/cdk/api/v2/docs/aws-cdk-lib.aws_iam.IManagedPolicy.html)[] — A list of managed policies associated with this role.

  **Default:** No managed policies.

  You can add managed policies later using
  `addManagedPolicy(ManagedPolicy.fromAwsManagedPolicyName(policyName))`.

- `path`: string = / — The path to the group.

  For more information about paths, see [IAM
  Identifiers](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/index.html?Using_Identifiers.html)
  in the IAM User Guide.

## Properties

- `assumeRoleAction`: string — When this Principal is used in an AssumeRole policy, the action to use.

- `env`: [ResourceEnvironment](/cdk/api/v2/docs/aws-cdk-lib.interfaces.ResourceEnvironment.html) — The environment this resource belongs to.

  For resources that are created and managed in a Stack (those created by
  creating new class instances like `new Role()`, `new Bucket()`, etc.), this
  is always the same as the environment of the stack they belong to.

  For referenced resources (those obtained from referencing methods like
  `Role.fromRoleArn()`, `Bucket.fromBucketName()`, etc.), they might be
  different than the stack they were imported into.

- `grantPrincipal`: [IPrincipal](/cdk/api/v2/docs/aws-cdk-lib.aws_iam.IPrincipal.html) — The principal to grant permissions to.

- `groupArn`: string — Returns the IAM Group ARN.

- `groupName`: string — Returns the IAM Group Name.

- `groupRef`: [GroupReference](/cdk/api/v2/docs/aws-cdk-lib.interfaces.aws_iam.GroupReference.html) — A reference to a Group resource.

- `node`: [Node](/cdk/api/v2/docs/constructs.Node.html) — The tree node.

- `policyFragment`: [PrincipalPolicyFragment](/cdk/api/v2/docs/aws-cdk-lib.aws_iam.PrincipalPolicyFragment.html) — Return the policy fragment that identifies this principal in a Policy.

- `principalAccount`: string — The AWS account ID of this principal.

  Can be undefined when the account is not known
  (for example, for service principals).
  Can be a Token - in that case,
  it's assumed to be AWS::AccountId.

- `PROPERTY_INJECTION_ID`: string (static) — Uniquely identifies this class.

- `stack`: [Stack](/cdk/api/v2/docs/aws-cdk-lib.Stack.html) — The stack in which this resource is defined.

## Methods

- `addManagedPolicy(policy: IManagedPolicy): void` — Attaches a managed policy to this group.

  See [IAM and AWS STS quotas, name requirements, and character limits]
  (https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_iam-quotas.html#reference_iam-quotas-entities)
  for quota of managed policies attached to an IAM group.

  **Parameters**

  - `policy` — The managed policy to attach.

- `addToPolicy(statement: PolicyStatement): boolean` — Add to the policy of this principal.

- `addToPrincipalPolicy(statement: PolicyStatement): AddToPrincipalPolicyResult` — Adds an IAM statement to the default policy.

- `addUser(user: IUser): void` — Adds a user to this group.

- `applyCrossStackReferenceStrength(strength: ReferenceStrength): void` — Override the cross-stack reference strength for this resource.

  When set, any cross-stack reference to this resource will use the specified
  mechanism instead of the global default determined by the
  `@aws-cdk/core:defaultCrossStackReferences` context key. This is useful for
  selectively weakening specific references to avoid the "deadly embrace" problem
  without changing the app-wide default.

  **Parameters**

  - `strength` — - The reference strength to use for this resource.

- `applyRemovalPolicy(policy: RemovalPolicy): void` — Apply the given removal policy to this resource.

  The Removal Policy controls what happens to this resource when it stops
  being managed by CloudFormation, either because you've removed it from the
  CDK application or because you've made a change that requires the resource
  to be replaced.

  The resource can be deleted (`RemovalPolicy.DESTROY`), or left in your AWS
  account for data recovery and cleanup later (`RemovalPolicy.RETAIN`).

- `attachInlinePolicy(policy: Policy): void` — Attaches a policy to this group.

  **Parameters**

  - `policy` — The policy to attach.

- `fromGroupArn(scope: Construct, id: string, groupArn: string): IGroup` (static) — Import an external group by ARN.

  If the imported Group ARN is a Token (such as a
  `CfnParameter.valueAsString` or a `Fn.importValue()`) *and* the referenced
  group has a `path` (like `arn:...:group/AdminGroup/NetworkAdmin`), the
  `groupName` property will not resolve to the correct value. Instead it
  will resolve to the first path component. We unfortunately cannot express
  the correct calculation of the full path name as a CloudFormation
  expression. In this scenario the Group ARN should be supplied without the
  `path` in order to resolve the correct group resource.

  **Parameters**

  - `scope` — construct scope.
  - `id` — construct id.
  - `groupArn` — the ARN of the group to import (e.g. `arn:aws:iam::account-id:group/group-name`).

- `fromGroupName(scope: Construct, id: string, groupName: string): IGroup` (static) — Import an existing group by given name (with path).

  This method has same caveats of `fromGroupArn`

  **Parameters**

  - `scope` — construct scope.
  - `id` — construct id.
  - `groupName` — the groupName (path included) of the existing group to import.

- `isConstruct(x: any): boolean` (static) — Checks if `x` is a construct.

  Use this method instead of `instanceof` to properly detect `Construct`
  instances, even when the construct library is symlinked.

  Explanation: in JavaScript, multiple copies of the `constructs` library on
  disk are seen as independent, completely different libraries. As a
  consequence, the class `Construct` in each copy of the `constructs` library
  is seen as a different class, and an instance of one class will not test as
  `instanceof` the other class. `npm install` will not create installations
  like this, but users may manually symlink construct libraries together or
  use a monorepo tool: in those cases, multiple copies of the `constructs`
  library can be accidentally installed, and `instanceof` will behave
  unpredictably. It is safest to avoid using `instanceof`, and using
  this type-testing method instead.

  **Parameters**

  - `x` — Any object.

  **Returns:** true if `x` is an object created from a class which extends `Construct`.

- `isOwnedResource(construct: IConstruct): boolean` (static) — Returns true if the construct was created by CDK, and false otherwise.

- `isResource(construct: IConstruct): boolean` (static) — Check whether the given construct is a Resource.

- `toString(): string` — Returns a string representation of this construct.

- `with(...mixins: IMixin[]): IConstruct` — Applies one or more mixins to this construct.

  Mixins are applied in order. The list of constructs is captured at the
  start of the call, so constructs added by a mixin will not be visited.
  Use multiple `with()` calls if subsequent mixins should apply to added
  constructs.