Tutorial: Use an AWS Step Functions invoke action in a pipeline

You can use AWS Step Functions to create and configure state machines. This tutorial shows you how to add an invoke action to a pipeline that activates state machine executions from your pipeline.

In this tutorial, you do the following tasks:

• Create a standard state machine in AWS Step Functions.

• Enter the state machine input JSON directly. You can also upload the state machine input file to an Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) bucket.

• Update your pipeline by adding the state machine action.

Prerequisite: Create or choose a simple pipeline

In this tutorial, you add an invoke action to an existing pipeline. You can use the pipeline you created in Tutorial: Create a simple pipeline (S3 bucket) or Tutorial: Create a simple pipeline (CodeCommit repository).

You use an existing pipeline with a source action and at least a two-stage structure, but you do not use source artifacts for this example.

Note

You might need to update the service role used by your pipeline with additional permissions required to run this action. To do this, open the AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) console, find the role, and then add the permissions to the role's policy. For more information, see Add permissions to the CodePipeline service role.

Step 1: Create the sample state machine

In the Step Functions console, create a state machine using the HelloWorld sample template. For instructions, see Create a State Machine in the AWS Step Functions Developer Guide.

Step 2: Add a Step Functions invoke action to your pipeline

Add a Step Functions invoke action to your pipeline as follows:

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the CodePipeline console at http://console.aws.amazon.com/codesuite/codepipeline/home.

   The names of all pipelines associated with your AWS account are displayed.

2. In Name, choose the name of the pipeline you want to edit. This opens a detailed view of the pipeline, including the state of each of the actions in each stage of the pipeline.

3. On the pipeline details page, choose Edit.

4. On the second stage of your simple pipeline, choose Edit stage. Choose Delete. This deletes the second stage now that you no longer need it.

5. At the bottom of the diagram, choose + Add stage.

6. In Stage name, enter a name for the stage, such as Invoke, and then choose Add stage.

7. Choose + Add action group.

8. In Action name, enter a name, such as Invoke.

9. In Action provider, choose AWS Step Functions. Allow Region to default to the pipeline Region.

10. In Input artifacts, choose SourceArtifact.

11. In State machine ARN, choose the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) for the state machine that you created earlier.

12. (Optional) In Execution name prefix, enter a prefix to be added to the state machine execution ID.

13. In Input type, choose Literal.

14. In Input, enter the input JSON that the HelloWorld sample state machine expects.

    Note

    The input to the state machine execution is different from the term used in CodePipeline to describe input artifacts for actions.

    For this example, enter the following JSON:

    {"IsHelloWorldExample": true}

15. Choose Done.

16. On the stage that you're editing, choose Done. In the AWS CodePipeline pane, choose Save, and then choose Save on the warning message.

17. To submit your changes and start a pipeline execution, choose Release change, and then choose Release.

18. On your completed pipeline, choose AWS Step Functions in your invoke action. In the AWS Step Functions console, view your state machine execution ID. The ID shows your state machine name HelloWorld and the state machine execution ID with the prefix my-prefix.

    arn:aws:states:us-west-2:account-ID:execution:HelloWorld:my-prefix-0d9a0900-3609-4ebc-925e-83d9618fcca1