<a id="cli-aws-cloudformation-describe-generated-template"></a>

# describe-generated-template

## Description

Describes a generated template. The output includes details about the progress of the creation of a generated template started by a `CreateGeneratedTemplate` API action or the update of a generated template started with an `UpdateGeneratedTemplate` API action.

See also: [AWS API Documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/WebAPI/cloudformation-2010-05-15/DescribeGeneratedTemplate)

## Synopsis

```
  describe-generated-template
--generated-template-name <value>
[--cli-input-json | --cli-input-yaml]
[--generate-cli-skeleton <value>]
[--debug]
[--endpoint-url <value>]
[--no-verify-ssl]
[--no-paginate]
[--output <value>]
[--query <value>]
[--profile <value>]
[--region <value>]
[--version <value>]
[--color <value>]
[--no-sign-request]
[--ca-bundle <value>]
[--cli-read-timeout <value>]
[--cli-connect-timeout <value>]
[--cli-binary-format <value>]
[--no-cli-pager]
[--cli-auto-prompt]
[--no-cli-auto-prompt]
[--cli-error-format <value>]
[--help]
```

## Options

`--generated-template-name` (string) [required]

> The name or Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of a generated template.

> Constraints:

> * min: `1`
> * max: `128`

`--cli-input-json` | `--cli-input-yaml` (string)
Reads arguments from the JSON string provided. The JSON string follows the format provided by `--generate-cli-skeleton`. If other arguments are provided on the command line, those values will override the JSON-provided values. It is not possible to pass arbitrary binary values using a JSON-provided value as the string will be taken literally. This may not be specified along with `--cli-input-yaml`.

`--generate-cli-skeleton` (string)
Prints a JSON skeleton to standard output without sending an API request. If provided with no value or the value `input`, prints a sample input JSON that can be used as an argument for `--cli-input-json`. Similarly, if provided `yaml-input` it will print a sample input YAML that can be used with `--cli-input-yaml`. If provided with the value `output`, it validates the command inputs and returns a sample output JSON for that command. The generated JSON skeleton is not stable between versions of the AWS CLI and there are no backwards compatibility guarantees in the JSON skeleton generated.

## Global Options

`--debug` (boolean)

Turn on debug logging.

`--endpoint-url` (string)

Override command’s default URL with the given URL.

`--no-verify-ssl` (boolean)

By default, the AWS CLI uses SSL when communicating with AWS services. For each SSL connection, the AWS CLI will verify SSL certificates. This option overrides the default behavior of verifying SSL certificates.

`--no-paginate` (boolean)

Disable automatic pagination. If automatic pagination is disabled, the AWS CLI will only make one call, for the first page of results.

`--output` (string)

The formatting style for command output.

* json
* text
* table
* yaml
* yaml-stream
* off

`--query` (string)

A JMESPath query to use in filtering the response data.

`--profile` (string)

Use a specific profile from your credential file.

`--region` (string)

The region to use. Overrides config/env settings.

`--version` (string)

Display the version of this tool.

`--color` (string)

Turn on/off color output.

* on
* off
* auto

`--no-sign-request` (boolean)

Do not sign requests. Credentials will not be loaded if this argument is provided.

`--ca-bundle` (string)

The CA certificate bundle to use when verifying SSL certificates. Overrides config/env settings.

`--cli-read-timeout` (int)

The maximum socket read time in seconds. If the value is set to 0, the socket read will be blocking and not timeout. The default value is 60 seconds.

`--cli-connect-timeout` (int)

The maximum socket connect time in seconds. If the value is set to 0, the socket connect will be blocking and not timeout. The default value is 60 seconds.

`--cli-binary-format` (string)

The formatting style to be used for binary blobs. The default format is base64. The base64 format expects binary blobs to be provided as a base64 encoded string. The raw-in-base64-out format preserves compatibility with AWS CLI V1 behavior and binary values must be passed literally. When providing contents from a file that map to a binary blob `fileb://` will always be treated as binary and use the file contents directly regardless of the `cli-binary-format` setting. When using `file://` the file contents will need to properly formatted for the configured `cli-binary-format`.

* base64
* raw-in-base64-out

`--no-cli-pager` (boolean)

Disable cli pager for output.

`--cli-auto-prompt` (boolean)

Automatically prompt for CLI input parameters.

`--no-cli-auto-prompt` (boolean)

Disable automatically prompt for CLI input parameters.

`--cli-error-format` (string)

The formatting style for error output. By default, errors are displayed in enhanced format.

* legacy
* json
* yaml
* text
* table
* enhanced

`--help` (boolean)

Display help for the command/subcommand.

## Examples

#### NOTE
To use the following examples, you must have the AWS CLI installed and configured. See the [Getting started guide](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-chap-getting-started.html) in the *AWS CLI User Guide* for more information.

Unless otherwise stated, all examples have unix-like quotation rules. These examples will need to be adapted to your terminal’s quoting rules. See [Using quotation marks with strings](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-usage-parameters-quoting-strings.html) in the *AWS CLI User Guide* .

**To describe a generated template**

The following `describe-generated-template` example describes the specified template.

```bash
aws cloudformation describe-generated-template \
    --generated-template-name MyTemplate
```

Output:

```json
{
    "GeneratedTemplateId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:generatedTemplate/a1b2c3d4-5678-90ab-cdef-EXAMPLE11111",
    "GeneratedTemplateName": "MyTemplate",
    "Resources": [
        {
            "ResourceType": "AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup",
            "LogicalResourceId": "EC2SecurityGroup",
            "ResourceIdentifier": {
                "Id": "sg-1234567890abcdef0"
            },
            "ResourceStatus": "COMPLETE",
            "ResourceStatusReason": "Resource Template complete",
            "Warnings": []
        },
        {
            "ResourceType": "AWS::EC2::Instance",
            "LogicalResourceId": "EC2Instance",
            "ResourceIdentifier": {
                "InstanceId": "i-1234567890abcdef0"
            },
            "ResourceStatus": "COMPLETE",
            "ResourceStatusReason": "Resource Template complete",
            "Warnings": []
        },
        {
            "ResourceType": "AWS::EC2::KeyPair",
            "LogicalResourceId": "EC2KeyPairSshkeypair",
            "ResourceIdentifier": {
                "KeyName": "sshkeypair"
            },
            "ResourceStatus": "COMPLETE",
            "ResourceStatusReason": "Resource Template complete",
            "Warnings": []
        }
    ],
    "Status": "COMPLETE",
    "StatusReason": "All resources complete",
    "CreationTime": "2025-09-23T19:38:06.435000+00:00",
    "LastUpdatedTime": "2025-09-23T19:38:10.798000+00:00",
    "Progress": {
        "ResourcesSucceeded": 3,
        "ResourcesFailed": 0,
        "ResourcesProcessing": 0,
        "ResourcesPending": 0
    },
    "TemplateConfiguration": {
        "DeletionPolicy": "RETAIN",
        "UpdateReplacePolicy": "RETAIN"
    },
    "TotalWarnings": 0
}
```

For more information, see [Generating templates from existing resources](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/generate-IaC.html) in the *AWS CloudFormation User Guide*.

## Output

GeneratedTemplateId -> (string)

> The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the generated template. The format is `arn:${Partition}:cloudformation:${Region}:${Account}:generatedtemplate/${Id}` . For example, \`\`arn:aws:cloudformation:*us-east-1* :*123456789012* :generatedtemplate/*2e8465c1-9a80-43ea-a3a3-4f2d692fe6dc* \`\` .

> Constraints:

> * min: `1`
> * max: `256`

GeneratedTemplateName -> (string)

> The name of the generated template.

> Constraints:

> * min: `1`
> * max: `128`

Resources -> (list)

> A list of objects describing the details of the resources in the template generation.

> Constraints:

> * min: `1`
> * max: `500`

> (structure)

> > Details about a resource in a generated template

> > ResourceType -> (string)

> > > The type of the resource, such as `AWS::DynamoDB::Table` . For the list of supported resources, see [Resource type support for imports and drift detection](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/resource-import-supported-resources.html) In the *CloudFormation User Guide*

> > > Constraints:

> > > * min: `1`
> > > * max: `256`

> > LogicalResourceId -> (string)

> > > The logical id for this resource in the final generated template.

> > ResourceIdentifier -> (map)

> > > A list of up to 256 key-value pairs that identifies the resource in the generated template. The key is the name of one of the primary identifiers for the resource. (Primary identifiers are specified in the `primaryIdentifier` list in the resource schema.) The value is the value of that primary identifier. For example, for a `AWS::DynamoDB::Table` resource, the primary identifiers is `TableName` so the key-value pair could be `"TableName": "MyDDBTable"` . For more information, see [primaryIdentifier](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation-cli/latest/userguide/resource-type-schema.html#schema-properties-primaryidentifier) in the *CloudFormation Command Line Interface (CLI) User Guide* .

> > > Constraints:

> > > * min: `1`
> > > * max: `256`

> > > key -> (string)

> > > > Constraints:

> > > > * min: `1`
> > > > * max: `2048`

> > > value -> (string)

> > > > Constraints:

> > > > * min: `1`
> > > > * max: `2048`

> > ResourceStatus -> (string)

> > > Status of the processing of a resource in a generated template.

> > > > InProgress

> > > The resource processing is still in progress.

> > > > Complete

> > > The resource processing is complete.

> > > > Pending

> > > The resource processing is pending.

> > > > Failed

> > > The resource processing has failed.

> > > Possible values:

> > > * `PENDING`
> > > * `IN_PROGRESS`
> > > * `FAILED`
> > > * `COMPLETE`

> > ResourceStatusReason -> (string)

> > > The reason for the resource detail, providing more information if a failure happened.

> > Warnings -> (list)

> > > The warnings generated for this resource.

> > > (structure)

> > > > The warnings generated for a specific resource for this generated template.

> > > > Type -> (string)

> > > > > The type of this warning. For more information, see [Resolve write-only properties](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/generate-IaC-write-only-properties.html) in the *CloudFormation User Guide* .

> > > > > * `MUTUALLY_EXCLUSIVE_PROPERTIES` - The resource requires mutually-exclusive write-only properties. The IaC generator selects one set of mutually exclusive properties and converts the included properties into parameters. The parameter names have a suffix `OneOf` and the parameter descriptions indicate that the corresponding property can be replaced with other exclusive properties.
> > > > > * `UNSUPPORTED_PROPERTIES` - Unsupported properties are present in the resource. One example of unsupported properties would be a required write-only property that is an array, because a parameter cannot be an array. Another example is an optional write-only property.
> > > > > * `MUTUALLY_EXCLUSIVE_TYPES` - One or more required write-only properties are found in the resource, and the type of that property can be any of several types.

> > > > > #### NOTE
> > > > > Currently the resource and property reference documentation does not indicate if a property uses a type of `oneOf` or `anyOf` . You need to look at the resource provider schema.

> > > > > Possible values:

> > > > > * `MUTUALLY_EXCLUSIVE_PROPERTIES`
> > > > > * `UNSUPPORTED_PROPERTIES`
> > > > > * `MUTUALLY_EXCLUSIVE_TYPES`
> > > > > * `EXCLUDED_PROPERTIES`
> > > > > * `EXCLUDED_RESOURCES`

> > > > Properties -> (list)

> > > > > The properties of the resource that are impacted by this warning.

> > > > > (structure)

> > > > > > A specific property that is impacted by a warning.

> > > > > > PropertyPath -> (string)

> > > > > > > The path of the property. For example, if this is for the `S3Bucket` member of the `Code` property, the property path would be `Code/S3Bucket` .

> > > > > > Required -> (boolean)

> > > > > > > If `true` , the specified property is required.

> > > > > > Description -> (string)

> > > > > > > The description of the property from the resource provider schema.

Status -> (string)

> The status of the template generation. Supported values are:

> * `CreatePending` - the creation of the template is pending.
> * `CreateInProgress` - the creation of the template is in progress.
> * `DeletePending` - the deletion of the template is pending.
> * `DeleteInProgress` - the deletion of the template is in progress.
> * `UpdatePending` - the update of the template is pending.
> * `UpdateInProgress` - the update of the template is in progress.
> * `Failed` - the template operation failed.
> * `Complete` - the template operation is complete.

> Possible values:

> * `CREATE_PENDING`
> * `UPDATE_PENDING`
> * `DELETE_PENDING`
> * `CREATE_IN_PROGRESS`
> * `UPDATE_IN_PROGRESS`
> * `DELETE_IN_PROGRESS`
> * `FAILED`
> * `COMPLETE`

StatusReason -> (string)

> The reason for the current template generation status. This will provide more details if a failure happened.

> Constraints:

> * min: `1`
> * max: `256`

CreationTime -> (timestamp)

> The time the generated template was created.

LastUpdatedTime -> (timestamp)

> The time the generated template was last updated.

Progress -> (structure)

> An object describing the progress of the template generation.

> ResourcesSucceeded -> (integer)

> > The number of resources that succeeded the template generation.

> > Constraints:

> > * min: `0`

> ResourcesFailed -> (integer)

> > The number of resources that failed the template generation.

> > Constraints:

> > * min: `0`

> ResourcesProcessing -> (integer)

> > The number of resources that are in-process for the template generation.

> > Constraints:

> > * min: `0`

> ResourcesPending -> (integer)

> > The number of resources that are still pending the template generation.

> > Constraints:

> > * min: `0`

StackId -> (string)

> The stack ARN of the base stack if a base stack was provided when generating the template.

TemplateConfiguration -> (structure)

> The configuration details of the generated template, including the `DeletionPolicy` and `UpdateReplacePolicy` .

> DeletionPolicy -> (string)

> > The `DeletionPolicy` assigned to resources in the generated template. Supported values are:

> > * `DELETE` - delete all resources when the stack is deleted.
> > * `RETAIN` - retain all resources when the stack is deleted.

> > For more information, see [DeletionPolicy attribute](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-attribute-deletionpolicy.html) in the *CloudFormation User Guide* .

> > Possible values:

> > * `DELETE`
> > * `RETAIN`

> UpdateReplacePolicy -> (string)

> > The `UpdateReplacePolicy` assigned to resources in the generated template. Supported values are:

> > * `DELETE` - delete all resources when the resource is replaced during an update operation.
> > * `RETAIN` - retain all resources when the resource is replaced during an update operation.

> > For more information, see [UpdateReplacePolicy attribute](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-attribute-updatereplacepolicy.html) in the *CloudFormation User Guide* .

> > Possible values:

> > * `DELETE`
> > * `RETAIN`

TotalWarnings -> (integer)

> The number of warnings generated for this template. The warnings are found in the details of each of the resources in the template.

> Constraints:

> * min: `0`