Manage your project in AWS Application Composer from the AWS Management Console - AWS Application Composer
Manage project templates and foldersCreate a new projectImport an existing project folderImport an existing project templateSave an existing project templateAutomatically sync and save your project

Manage your project in AWS Application Composer from the AWS Management Console

This topic describes how to manage your project using AWS Application Composer from the AWS Management Console.

To begin using Application Composer, you can create a new project or load an existing project. Application Composer also provides tools to integrate with your local development machine.

Manage project templates and folders

Application Composer supports applications that consist of the following:

  • Template – An AWS CloudFormation or AWS Serverless Application Model (AWS SAM) template that defines your infrastructure code.

  • Folders – A folder structure that organizes your project files, such as AWS Lambda function code, configuration files, and build folders.

If your browser supports Local sync mode, you can use Application Composer to manage your templates and folders. After activating local sync mode, you can do the following:

  • Create a new project that consists of a starting template and folder structure.

  • Load an existing project by choosing a parent folder that contains your project template and files.

With local sync mode, Application Composer automatically saves your project’s template and folder changes to your local machine.

If your browser doesn’t support local sync mode, or if you prefer to use Application Composer without local sync mode activated, you can create a new template or load an existing template. To save changes, you must export the template to your local machine.

Create a new project

When you create a new project, Application Composer generates a starting template. As you design your application on the canvas, your template is modified. To save your work, you must export your template or activate local sync mode.

To create a new project

  1. Sign in to the Application Composer console.

  2. On the Home page, choose Create project.

For instructions on activating local sync mode, see Automatically sync and save your project.

Import an existing project folder

Using local sync mode, you can import the parent folder of an existing project. If your project contains multiple templates, you can choose the template to load.

To import an existing project from the Home page

  1. Sign in to the Application Composer console.

  2. On the Home page, choose Load a CloudFormation template.

  3. For Project location, choose Select folder. Select your project’s parent folder and choose Select.

    Note

    If you do not receive this prompt, your browser may not support the File System Access API, which is required for local sync mode. For more information, see AWS Application Composer and the File System Access API.

  4. When prompted by your browser, select View files.

  5. For Template file, choose your template from the dropdown list. If your project contains a single template, Application Composer automatically selects it for you.

  6. Choose Create.

To import an existing project from the canvas

  1. From the canvas, choose Menu to open the menu.

  2. In the Open section, choose Project folder.

    Note

    If the Project folder option is unavailable, your browser may not support the File System Access API, which is required for local sync mode. For more information, see AWS Application Composer and the File System Access API.

  3. For Project location, choose Select folder. Select your project’s parent folder and choose Select.

  4. When prompted by your browser, select View files.

  5. For Template file, choose your template from the dropdown list. If your project contains a single template, Application Composer automatically selects it for you.

  6. Choose Create.

When you import an existing project folder, Application Composer activates local sync mode. Changes made to your project’s template or files are automatically saved to your local machine.

Import an existing project template

When you import an existing AWS CloudFormation or AWS SAM template, Application Composer automatically generates a visualization of your application architecture on the canvas.

You can import a project template from your local machine.

To import an existing project template

  1. Sign in to the Application Composer console.

  2. Choose Create project to open a blank canvas.

  3. Choose Menu to open the menu.

  4. In the Open section, choose Template file.

  5. Select your template and choose Open.

To save changes to your template, you must export your template or activate local sync mode.

Save an existing project template

If you don't use local sync mode, you must export your template to save your changes. If you have local sync mode activated, manually saving your template is not required. Changes are automatically saved to your local machine.

To save an existing project template

  1. From the Application Composer canvas, choose Menu to open the menu.

  2. In the Save section, choose Save template file.

  3. Provide a name for your template.

  4. Select a location to save your template.

  5. Choose Save.

Automatically sync and save your project

Use Application Composer local sync to automatically sync and save your project to your local machine. For more information about local sync, see Local sync mode.

We recommend that you use local sync for the following reasons:

  • By default, you need to manually save your application template as you design. Use local sync to automatically save your application template to your local machine as you make changes.

  • Local sync manages and automatically syncs your project folders, backup folder, and supported external files to your local machine.

  • When using local sync, you can connect Application Composer with your local IDE to speed up development. To learn more, see Using Application Composer with your local IDE.

You can activate local sync for a new project, or load an existing project with local sync activated.

To activate local sync for a new project

  1. From the Application Composer home page, select Create project.

  2. From the Application Composer menu, select Activate local sync.

  3. For Project location, press Select folder and choose a directory. This is where Application Composer will save and sync your template files and folders as you design.

    Note

    The project location must not contain an existing application template.

  4. When prompted to allow access, select View files.

  5. Press Activate. When prompted to save changes, select Save changes.

    When activated, the Autosave indicator will be displayed in the upper-left area of your canvas.

To load an existing project with local sync activated

  1. From the Application Composer home page, select Load a AWS CloudFormation template.

  2. From the Application Composer menu, select Open > Project folder.

  3. For Project location, press Select folder and choose the root folder of your project.

  4. When prompted to allow access, select View files.

  5. For Template file, select your application template and press Create.

  6. When prompted to save changes, select Save changes.

    When activated, the Autosave indicator will be displayed in the upper-left area of your canvas.