atmos aws cloudformation

Deploy, inspect, and delete CloudFormation stacks using Atmos stack configuration. The cfn alias is available for every CloudFormation command. No AWS CLI or Rain installation is required.

Experimental

Configure CloudFormation Components

Configure component locations, templates, parameters, and delivery targets.

Stack Configuration

atmos aws cloudformation --help

Usage

atmos aws cloudformation <subcommand> [options]

Examples

Preview and apply a component:

atmos aws cloudformation plan vpc -s plat-ue2-dev
atmos aws cloudformation apply vpc -s plat-ue2-dev

Use the short alias:

atmos aws cfn output vpc -s plat-ue2-dev

Select multiple components:

atmos aws cloudformation apply --all -s plat-ue2-dev
atmos aws cloudformation apply --affected --base origin/main

Subcommands

apply

Create or update a CloudFormation stack via a changeset.

backend

5 items

changeset

4 items

delete

Delete a CloudFormation stack.

deploy

Apply a CloudFormation stack with --auto-approve.

diff

Preview the changes an apply would make to a CloudFormation stack.

drift

2 items

fmt

Format the local template in place, or check formatting with --check.

get

2 items

list

List deployed CloudFormation stacks in the account.

logs

Show the combined event log across a stack and its nested stacks.

output

Show a deployed CloudFormation stack's Outputs.

plan

Alias for `atmos aws cloudformation diff` — preview the changes an apply would make.

render

Render a CloudFormation template client-side, without deploying or validating it through the CloudFormation API.

source

4 items

stackset

4 items

tree

Render the nested-stack dependency tree.

validate

Validate a CloudFormation template server-side with the ValidateTemplate API.

watch

Attach to a stack's in-progress (or already-terminal) operation and stream events.

Execution controls

--identity, -i

Atmos identity for the operation. Use without a value to select interactively. Also configurable with ATMOS_IDENTITY. An explicit CLI/environment identity overrides target defaults; see Target Authentication.

--dry-run

Validate static configuration without evaluating templates or YAML functions, authenticating, downloading sources, running hooks, or calling AWS. Checks requiring dynamic values are deferred.

--ci

Enable CI integration when ci.enabled is configured. See CI Summaries.

--skip-hooks

Skip all lifecycle hooks, or use --skip-hooks=a,b to skip named hooks. Also configurable with ATMOS_SKIP_HOOKS. Applies to commands that fire hooks.

Bulk Selection

Component operations accept --all, --affected, --tags, and --labels. Use Git comparison flags such as --base to select affected components. Apply runs dependencies first; deletion runs consumers first.

CI Summaries

With CI and summary output enabled, diff/plan, apply/deploy, delete, drift detect, and drift describe write job summaries. Dry-run does not.

GitHub Actions uses GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY. In other CI environments, set ATMOS_CI_SUMMARY to the destination file. CloudFormation also publishes CI output variables, controlled independently by ci.output.enabled and ci.output.variables. It does not publish PR comments, commit statuses, or stored artifacts. See CI configuration.

Try it out

Install Atmos

Quick InstallQuick InstallmacOSWindowsDocker

curl -fsSL https://atmos.tools/install.sh | bash

Installation guide →Explore the example →

Try the example

Copy the example into a new directory and make it your own:

atmos init examples/cloudformation
cd cloudformation

Requires Docker or Podman, Python 3, and network access for the emulator image. Run against the local AWS emulator; the final commands clean up. No AWS account is needed.

atmos config set aliases.cft "aws cloudformation"
atmos emulator up aws -s local
atmos cft deploy demo -s local
atmos cft delete demo -s local --auto-approve
atmos emulator down aws -s local

Explore the example →Initialization and repository settings