Executions in Step Functions

A state machine execution occurs when an AWS Step Functions state machine runs and performs its tasks. Each Step Functions state machine can have multiple simultaneous executions, which you can initiate from the Step Functions console, or by using the AWS SDKs, the Step Functions API actions, or the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI). An execution receives JSON input and produces JSON output. You can start a Step Functions execution in the following ways:

• Call the StartExecution API action.

• Start a new execution in the Step Functions console.

• Use Amazon EventBridge to start an execution in response to an event.

• Use Amazon EventBridge Scheduler to start a state machine execution on a schedule.

• Start an execution with Amazon API Gateway.

• Start a nested workflow execution from a Task state.

For more information about the different ways of working with Step Functions, see Development Options.