Using AWS SAM to build Step Functions workflows

You can use AWS Serverless Application Model with Step Functions to build workflows and deploy the infrastructure you need, including Lambda functions, APIs and events, to create serverless applications.

You can also use the AWS Serverless Application Model CLI in conjunction with the AWS Toolkit for Visual Studio Code as part of an integrated experience to build and deploy AWS Step Functions state machines. You can build a serverless application with AWS SAM, then build out your state machine in the VS Code IDE. Then you can validate, package, and deploy your resources.

Tip

To deploy a sample serverless application that starts a Step Functions workflow using AWS SAM to your AWS account, see Module 11 - Deploy with AWS SAM of The AWS Step Functions Workshop.

Why use Step Functions with AWS SAM?

When you use Step Functions with AWS SAM you can:

• Get started using a AWS SAM sample template.

• Build your state machine into your serverless application.

• Use variable substitution to substitute ARNs into your state machine at the time of deployment.

  AWS CloudFormation supports DefinitionSubstitutions that let you add dynamic references in your workflow definition to a value that you provide in your CloudFormation template. You can add dynamic references by adding substitutions to your workflow definition using the ${dollar_sign_brace} notation. You also need to define these dynamic references in the DefinitionSubstitutions property for the StateMachine resource in your CloudFormation template. These substitutions are replaced with actual values during the CloudFormation stack creation process. For more information, see DefinitionSubstitutions in AWS SAM templates.

• Specify your state machine's role using AWS SAM policy templates.

• Initiate state machine executions with API Gateway, EventBridge events, or on a schedule within your AWS SAM template.

Step Functions integration with the AWS SAM specification

You can use the AWS SAM Policy Templates to add permissions to your state machine. With these permissions, you can orchestrate Lambda functions and other AWS resources to form complex and robust workflows.

Step Functions integration with the SAM CLI

Step Functions is integrated with the AWS SAM CLI. Use this to quickly develop a state machine into your serverless application.

Try the Create a Step Functions state machine using AWS SAM tutorial to learn how to use AWS SAM to create state machines.

Supported AWS SAM CLI functions include:

CLI Command	Description
sam init	Initializes a Serverless Application with an AWS SAM template. Can be used with a SAM template for Step Functions.
sam validate	Validates an AWS SAM template.
sam package	Packages an AWS SAM application. It creates a ZIP file of your code and dependencies, and then uploads it to Amazon S3. It then returns a copy of your AWS SAM template, replacing references to local artifacts with the Amazon S3 location where the command uploaded the artifacts.
sam deploy	Deploys an AWS SAM application.
sam publish	Publish an AWS SAM application to the AWS Serverless Application Repository. This command takes a packaged AWS SAM template and publishes the application to the specified region.

Note

When using AWS SAM local, you can emulate Lambda and API Gateway locally. However, you can't emulate Step Functions locally using AWS SAM.

DefinitionSubstitutions in AWS SAM templates

You can define state machines using CloudFormation templates with AWS SAM. Using AWS SAM, you can define the state machine inline in the template or in a separate file. The following AWS SAM template includes a state machine that simulates a stock trading workflow. This state machine invokes three Lambda functions to check the price of a stock and determine whether to buy or sell the stock. This transaction is then recorded in an Amazon DynamoDB table. The ARNs for the Lambda functions and DynamoDB table in the following template are specified using DefinitionSubstitutions.

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'
Transform: AWS::Serverless-2016-10-31
Description: |
  step-functions-stock-trader
  Sample SAM Template for step-functions-stock-trader
Resources:
  StockTradingStateMachine:
    Type: AWS::Serverless::StateMachine
    Properties:
      DefinitionSubstitutions:
        StockCheckerFunctionArn: !GetAtt StockCheckerFunction.Arn
        StockSellerFunctionArn: !GetAtt StockSellerFunction.Arn
        StockBuyerFunctionArn: !GetAtt StockBuyerFunction.Arn
        DDBPutItem: !Sub arn:${AWS::Partition}:states:::dynamodb:putItem
        DDBTable: !Ref TransactionTable
      Policies:
        - DynamoDBWritePolicy:
            TableName: !Ref TransactionTable
        - LambdaInvokePolicy:
            FunctionName: !Ref StockCheckerFunction
        - LambdaInvokePolicy:
            FunctionName: !Ref StockBuyerFunction
        - LambdaInvokePolicy:
            FunctionName: !Ref StockSellerFunction
      DefinitionUri: statemachine/stock_trader.asl.json
  StockCheckerFunction:
    Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
    Properties:
      CodeUri: functions/stock-checker/
      Handler: app.lambdaHandler
      Runtime: nodejs18.x
      Architectures:
        - x86_64
  StockSellerFunction:
    Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
    Properties:
      CodeUri: functions/stock-seller/
      Handler: app.lambdaHandler
      Runtime: nodejs18.x
      Architectures:
        - x86_64
  StockBuyerFunction:
    Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
    Properties:
      CodeUri: functions/stock-buyer/
      Handler: app.lambdaHandler
      Runtime: nodejs18.x
      Architectures:
        - x86_64
  TransactionTable:
    Type: AWS::DynamoDB::Table
    Properties:
      AttributeDefinitions:
        - AttributeName: id
          AttributeType: S

The following code is the state machine definition in the file stock_trader.asl.json which is used in the Create a Step Functions state machine using AWS SAM tutorial.This state machine definition contains several DefinitionSubstitutions denoted by the ${dollar_sign_brace} notation. For example, instead of specifying a static Lambda function ARN for the Check Stock Value task, the substitution ${StockCheckerFunctionArn} is used. This substitution is defined in the DefinitionSubstitutions property of the template. DefinitionSubstitutions is a map of key-value pairs for the state machine resource. In DefinitionSubstitutions, ${StockCheckerFunctionArn} maps to the ARN of the StockCheckerFunction resource using the CloudFormation intrinsic function !GetAtt. When you deploy the AWS SAM template, the DefinitionSubstitutions in the template are replaced with the actual values.

{
    "Comment": "A state machine that does mock stock trading.",
    "StartAt": "Check Stock Value",
    "States": {
        "Check Stock Value": {
            "Type": "Task",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:states:::lambda:invoke",
            "OutputPath": "$.Payload",
            "Parameters": {
                "Payload.$": "$",
                "FunctionName": "${StockCheckerFunctionArn}"
            },
            "Next": "Buy or Sell?"
        },
        "Buy or Sell?": {
            "Type": "Choice",
            "Choices": [
                {
                    "Variable": "$.stock_price",
                    "NumericLessThanEquals": 50,
                    "Next": "Buy Stock"
                }
            ],
            "Default": "Sell Stock"
        },
        "Buy Stock": {
            "Type": "Task",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:states:::lambda:invoke",
            "OutputPath": "$.Payload",
            "Parameters": {
                "Payload.$": "$",
                "FunctionName": "${StockBuyerFunctionArn}"
            },
            "Retry": [
                {
                    "ErrorEquals": [
                        "Lambda.ServiceException",
                        "Lambda.AWSLambdaException",
                        "Lambda.SdkClientException",
                        "Lambda.TooManyRequestsException"
                    ],
                    "IntervalSeconds": 1,
                    "MaxAttempts": 3,
                    "BackoffRate": 2
                }
            ],
            "Next": "Record Transaction"
        },
        "Sell Stock": {
            "Type": "Task",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:states:::lambda:invoke",
            "OutputPath": "$.Payload",
            "Parameters": {
                "Payload.$": "$",
                "FunctionName": "${StockSellerFunctionArn}"
            },
            "Next": "Record Transaction"
        },
        "Record Transaction": {
            "Type": "Task",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:states:::dynamodb:putItem",
            "Parameters": {
                "TableName": "${DDBTable}",
                "Item": {
                    "Id": {
                        "S.$": "$.id"
                    },
                    "Type": {
                        "S.$": "$.type"
                    },
                    "Price": {
                        "N.$": "$.price"
                    },
                    "Quantity": {
                        "N.$": "$.qty"
                    },
                    "Timestamp": {
                        "S.$": "$.timestamp"
                    }
                }
            },
            "End": true
        }
    }
}

Next steps

You can learn more about using Step Functions with AWS SAM with the following resources:

• Complete the Create a Step Functions state machine using AWS SAM tutorial to create a state machine with AWS SAM.

• Specify a AWS::Serverless::StateMachine resource.

• Find AWS SAM Policy Templates to use.

• Use AWS Toolkit for Visual Studio Code with Step Functions.

• Review the AWS SAM CLI reference to learn more about the features available in AWS SAM.

You can also design and build your workflows in infrastructure as code (IaC) using visual builders, such as Workflow Studio in Infrastructure Composer. For more information, see Using Workflow Studio in Infrastructure Composer to build Step Functions workflows.