Workflow Tips

Quick recommendations and tips for various processes.

Development Workflow

  1. Write your functions
  2. Use serverless deploy only when you've made changes to serverless.yml and in CI/CD systems. For more information on setting up CI/CD for your Serverless app, read this article.
  3. Use serverless deploy function -f myFunction to rapidly deploy changes when you are working on a specific AWS Lambda Function.
  4. Use serverless invoke -f myFunction -l to test your AWS Lambda Functions on AWS.
  5. Open up a separate tab in your console and stream logs in there via serverless logs -f myFunction -t.
  6. Write tests to run locally.

Using stages

  • At the very least, use a dev and production stage.
  • Use different AWS accounts for stages.
  • In larger teams, each member should use a separate AWS account and their own stage for development.

Larger Projects

  • Break your application/project into multiple Serverless Services.
  • Model your Serverless Services around Data Models or Workflows.
  • Keep the Functions and Resources in your Serverless Services to a minimum.

Cheat Sheet

A handy list of commands to use when developing with the Serverless Framework.

Create A Service:

Creates a new Service

serverless create -p [SERVICE NAME] -t aws-nodejs
Install A Service

This is a convenience method to install a pre-made Serverless Service locally by downloading the Github repo and unzipping it.

serverless install -u [GITHUB URL OF SERVICE]
Deploy All

Use this when you have made changes to your Functions, Events or Resources in serverless.yml or you simply want to deploy all changes within your Service at the same time.

serverless deploy -s [STAGE NAME] -r [REGION NAME] -v
Deploy Function

Use this to quickly overwrite your AWS Lambda code on AWS, allowing you to develop faster.

serverless deploy function -f [FUNCTION NAME] -s [STAGE NAME] -r [REGION NAME]
Invoke Function

Invokes an AWS Lambda Function on AWS and returns logs.

serverless invoke -f [FUNCTION NAME] \
  -s [STAGE NAME] \
  -r [REGION NAME] \
  -l
Streaming Logs

Open up a separate tab in your console and stream all logs for a specific Function using this command.

serverless logs -f [FUNCTION NAME] -s [STAGE NAME] -r [REGION NAME]
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Workflow Tips

Quick recommendations and tips for various processes.

Development Workflow

  1. Write your functions
  2. Use serverless deploy only when you've made changes to serverless.yml and in CI/CD systems. For more information on setting up CI/CD for your Serverless app, read this article.
  3. Use serverless deploy function -f myFunction to rapidly deploy changes when you are working on a specific AWS Lambda Function.
  4. Use serverless invoke -f myFunction -l to test your AWS Lambda Functions on AWS.
  5. Open up a separate tab in your console and stream logs in there via serverless logs -f myFunction -t.
  6. Write tests to run locally.

Using stages

  • At the very least, use a dev and production stage.
  • Use different AWS accounts for stages.
  • In larger teams, each member should use a separate AWS account and their own stage for development.

Larger Projects

  • Break your application/project into multiple Serverless Services.
  • Model your Serverless Services around Data Models or Workflows.
  • Keep the Functions and Resources in your Serverless Services to a minimum.

Cheat Sheet

A handy list of commands to use when developing with the Serverless Framework.

Create A Service:

Creates a new Service

serverless create -p [SERVICE NAME] -t aws-nodejs
Install A Service

This is a convenience method to install a pre-made Serverless Service locally by downloading the Github repo and unzipping it.

serverless install -u [GITHUB URL OF SERVICE]
Deploy All

Use this when you have made changes to your Functions, Events or Resources in serverless.yml or you simply want to deploy all changes within your Service at the same time.

serverless deploy -s [STAGE NAME] -r [REGION NAME] -v
Deploy Function

Use this to quickly overwrite your AWS Lambda code on AWS, allowing you to develop faster.

serverless deploy function -f [FUNCTION NAME] -s [STAGE NAME] -r [REGION NAME]
Invoke Function

Invokes an AWS Lambda Function on AWS and returns logs.

serverless invoke -f [FUNCTION NAME] \
  -s [STAGE NAME] \
  -r [REGION NAME] \
  -l
Streaming Logs

Open up a separate tab in your console and stream all logs for a specific Function using this command.

serverless logs -f [FUNCTION NAME] -s [STAGE NAME] -r [REGION NAME]