AWS CDK Library (aws-cdk-lib)

Common errors

Warnings

Install

Install compatibility stale last tested: 2026-05-12

Imports

• v2 import pattern
  wrong

  # v1 style — all these packages are EOL
  from aws_cdk.core import Stack, App, Construct
  from aws_cdk import aws_s3 as s3  # wrong in v1 too
  import aws_cdk.aws_s3 as s3      # v1 style
  from aws_cdk.aws_s3 import Bucket # v1 style

  correct

  import aws_cdk as cdk
  from aws_cdk import (
      Stack,
      App,
      Duration,
      RemovalPolicy,
      aws_s3 as s3,
      aws_lambda as lambda_,
      aws_iam as iam,
  )
  from constructs import Construct
  
  class MyStack(Stack):
      def __init__(self, scope: Construct, id: str, **kwargs):
          super().__init__(scope, id, **kwargs)
  
          bucket = s3.Bucket(
              self, 'MyBucket',
              removal_policy=RemovalPolicy.DESTROY,
              versioned=True
          )
  
  app = App()
  MyStack(app, 'MyStack')
  app.synth()

  v1 used separate packages: aws-cdk.core, aws-cdk.aws-s3, etc. v2 uses single aws-cdk-lib with submodules. Construct class moved from aws_cdk.core to 'constructs' package.

• experimental alpha packages
  wrong

  # Wrong: trying to import experimental constructs from aws_cdk directly
  from aws_cdk import aws_apigatewayv2  # may not exist or be incomplete

  correct

  # Stable constructs — from aws_cdk
  from aws_cdk import aws_s3 as s3
  from aws_cdk import aws_lambda as lambda_
  
  # Experimental constructs — separate alpha package
  # pip install aws-cdk.aws-apigatewayv2-alpha
  from aws_cdk.aws_apigatewayv2_alpha import HttpApi
  
  # Check stability before using — alpha APIs may break between minor versions

  Experimental constructs are in separate '-alpha' packages (e.g. aws-cdk.aws-apigatewayv2-alpha). Alpha APIs can break between minor CDK versions unlike stable aws-cdk-lib.

Quickstart stale last tested: 2026-04-23

AWS CDK v2 Python — S3 bucket + Lambda with IAM grant.

# pip install aws-cdk-lib constructs
# npm install -g aws-cdk
# cdk bootstrap aws://ACCOUNT-ID/REGION

import aws_cdk as cdk
from aws_cdk import (
    Stack,
    aws_s3 as s3,
    aws_lambda as lambda_,
    aws_iam as iam,
    Duration,
    RemovalPolicy,
    CfnOutput,
)
from constructs import Construct

class MyAppStack(Stack):
    def __init__(self, scope: Construct, id: str, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(scope, id, **kwargs)

        # S3 bucket
        bucket = s3.Bucket(
            self, 'MyBucket',
            versioned=True,
            removal_policy=RemovalPolicy.DESTROY,
            auto_delete_objects=True
        )

        # Lambda function
        fn = lambda_.Function(
            self, 'MyFunction',
            runtime=lambda_.Runtime.PYTHON_3_12,
            handler='index.handler',
            code=lambda_.Code.from_inline('def handler(e, c): return {"statusCode": 200}'),
            timeout=Duration.seconds(30)
        )

        # Grant bucket read to lambda
        bucket.grant_read(fn)

        # Stack output
        CfnOutput(self, 'BucketName', value=bucket.bucket_name)

app = cdk.App()
MyAppStack(app, 'MyAppStack', env=cdk.Environment(
    account='123456789012',
    region='us-east-1'
))
app.synth()

# Deploy: cdk deploy