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Powertools for AWS Lambda (Java) is a suite of utilities for AWS Lambda Functions that makes tracing with AWS X-Ray, structured logging and creating custom metrics asynchronously easier.

Tip

Powertools for AWS Lambda is also available for Python, TypeScript, and .NET

Looking for a quick run through of the core utilities?

Check out this detailed blog post with a practical example. To dive deeper, the Powertools for AWS Lambda (Java) workshop is a great next step.

Tenets

This project separates core utilities that will be available in other runtimes vs general utilities that might not be available across all runtimes.

  • AWS Lambda only – We optimise for AWS Lambda function environments and supported runtimes only. Utilities might work with web frameworks and non-Lambda environments, though they are not officially supported.
  • Eases the adoption of best practices – The main priority of the utilities is to facilitate best practices adoption, as defined in the AWS Well-Architected Serverless Lens; all other functionality is optional.
  • Keep it lean – Additional dependencies are carefully considered for security and ease of maintenance, and prevent negatively impacting startup time.
  • We strive for backwards compatibility – New features and changes should keep backwards compatibility. If a breaking change cannot be avoided, the deprecation and migration process should be clearly defined.
  • We work backwards from the community – We aim to strike a balance of what would work best for 80% of customers. Emerging practices are considered and discussed via Requests for Comment (RFCs)
  • Progressive - Utilities are designed to be incrementally adoptable for customers at any stage of their Serverless journey. They follow language idioms and their community’s common practices.

Install

Quick hello world example using SAM CLI

You can use SAM to quickly setup a serverless project including Powertools for AWS Lambda (Java).

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sam init

Which template source would you like to use?
    1 - AWS Quick Start Templates
    2 - Custom Template Location
Choice: 1

Choose an AWS Quick Start application template
    1 - Hello World Example
    2 - Data processing
    3 - Hello World Example with Powertools for AWS Lambda
    4 - Multi-step workflow
    5 - Scheduled task
    6 - Standalone function
    7 - Serverless API
    8 - Infrastructure event management
    9 - Lambda Response Streaming
    10 - Serverless Connector Hello World Example
    11 - Multi-step workflow with Connectors
    12 - Full Stack
    13 - Lambda EFS example
    14 - DynamoDB Example
    15 - Machine Learning
Template: 3

Which runtime would you like to use?
    1 - dotnet6
    2 - java17
    3 - java11
    4 - java8.al2
    5 - java8
    6 - nodejs18.x
    7 - nodejs16.x
    8 - nodejs14.x
    9 - python3.9
    10 - python3.8
    11 - python3.7
    12 - python3.10
Runtime: 2, 3, 4 or 5

Manual installation Powertools for AWS Lambda (Java) dependencies are available in Maven Central. You can use your favourite dependency management tool to install it

Depending on your version of Java (either Java 1.8 or 11+), the configuration slightly changes.

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<dependencies>
    ...
    <dependency>
        <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
        <artifactId>powertools-tracing</artifactId>
        <version>1.18.0</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
        <artifactId>powertools-logging</artifactId>
        <version>1.18.0</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
        <artifactId>powertools-metrics</artifactId>
        <version>1.18.0</version>
    </dependency>
    ...
</dependencies>
...
<!-- configure the aspectj-maven-plugin to compile-time weave (CTW) the aws-lambda-powertools-java aspects into your project -->
<build>
    <plugins>
        ...
        <plugin>
             <groupId>dev.aspectj</groupId>
             <artifactId>aspectj-maven-plugin</artifactId>
             <version>1.13.1</version>
             <configuration>
                 <source>11</source> <!-- or higher -->
                 <target>11</target> <!-- or higher -->
                 <complianceLevel>11</complianceLevel> <!-- or higher -->
                 <aspectLibraries>
                     <aspectLibrary>
                         <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
                         <artifactId>powertools-tracing</artifactId>
                     </aspectLibrary>
                     <aspectLibrary>
                         <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
                         <artifactId>powertools-logging</artifactId>
                     </aspectLibrary>
                     <aspectLibrary>
                         <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
                         <artifactId>powertools-metrics</artifactId>
                     </aspectLibrary>
                 </aspectLibraries>
             </configuration>
             <executions>
                 <execution>
                     <goals>
                         <goal>compile</goal>
                     </goals>
                 </execution>
             </executions>
        </plugin>
        ...
    </plugins>
</build>

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<dependencies>
    ...
    <dependency>
        <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
        <artifactId>powertools-tracing</artifactId>
        <version>1.18.0</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
        <artifactId>powertools-logging</artifactId>
        <version>1.18.0</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
        <artifactId>powertools-metrics</artifactId>
        <version>1.18.0</version>
    </dependency>
    ...
</dependencies>
...
<!-- configure the aspectj-maven-plugin to compile-time weave (CTW) the aws-lambda-powertools-java aspects into your project -->
<build>
    <plugins>
        ...
        <plugin>
             <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
             <artifactId>aspectj-maven-plugin</artifactId>
             <version>1.14.0</version>
             <configuration>
                 <source>1.8</source>
                 <target>1.8</target>
                 <complianceLevel>1.8</complianceLevel>
                 <aspectLibraries>
                     <aspectLibrary>
                         <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
                         <artifactId>powertools-tracing</artifactId>
                     </aspectLibrary>
                     <aspectLibrary>
                         <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
                         <artifactId>powertools-logging</artifactId>
                     </aspectLibrary>
                     <aspectLibrary>
                         <groupId>software.amazon.lambda</groupId>
                         <artifactId>powertools-metrics</artifactId>
                     </aspectLibrary>
                 </aspectLibraries>
             </configuration>
             <executions>
                 <execution>
                     <goals>
                         <goal>compile</goal>
                     </goals>
                 </execution>
             </executions>
        </plugin>
        ...
    </plugins>
</build>

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    plugins {
        id 'java'
        id 'io.freefair.aspectj.post-compile-weaving' version '8.2.2'
    }

    // the freefair aspect plugins targets gradle 8.2.1
    // https://docs.freefair.io/gradle-plugins/8.2.2/reference/
    wrapper {
        gradleVersion = "8.2.1"
    }        

    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
    }

    dependencies {
        aspect 'software.amazon.lambda:powertools-logging:1.18.0'
        aspect 'software.amazon.lambda:powertools-tracing:1.18.0'
        aspect 'software.amazon.lambda:powertools-metrics:1.18.0'
    }

    sourceCompatibility = 11
    targetCompatibility = 11

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    plugins {
        id 'java'
        id 'io.freefair.aspectj.post-compile-weaving' version '6.6.3'
    }

    // the freefair aspect plugins targets gradle 7.6.1
    // https://docs.freefair.io/gradle-plugins/6.6.3/reference/
    wrapper {
        gradleVersion = "7.6.1"
    }


    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
    }

    dependencies {
        aspect 'software.amazon.lambda:powertools-logging:1.18.0'
        aspect 'software.amazon.lambda:powertools-tracing:1.18.0'
        aspect 'software.amazon.lambda:powertools-metrics:1.18.0'
    }

    sourceCompatibility = 1.8
    targetCompatibility = 1.8
Why a different configuration?

Powertools for AWS Lambda (Java) is using AspectJ internally to handle annotations. Recently, in order to support Java 17 we had to move to dev.aspectj:aspectj-maven-plugin because
org.codehaus.mojo:aspectj-maven-plugin does not support Java 17. Under the hood, org.codehaus.mojo:aspectj-maven-plugin is based on AspectJ 1.9.7, while dev.aspectj:aspectj-maven-plugin is based on AspectJ 1.9.8, compiled for Java 11+.

Java Compatibility

Powertools for AWS Lambda (Java) supports all Java version from 8 up to 21 as well as the corresponding Lambda runtimes.

For the following modules, Powertools for AWS Lambda (Java) leverages the aspectj library to provide annotations: - Logging - Metrics - Tracing - Parameters - Idempotency - Validation - Large messages

You may need to add the good version of aspectjrt to your dependencies based on the jdk used for building your function:

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<dependency>
    <groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
    <artifactId>aspectjrt</artifactId>
    <version>1.9.??</version>
</dependency>

Use the following dependency matrix between this library and the JDK:

JDK version aspectj version
1.8 1.9.7
11-17 1.9.20.1
21 1.9.21

Note: 1.9.21 is not yet available and Java 21 not yet officially supported by aspectj, but you can already use the 1.9.21.M1

Environment variables

Info

Explicit parameters take precedence over environment variables.

Environment variable Description Utility
POWERTOOLS_SERVICE_NAME Sets service name used for tracing namespace, metrics dimension and structured logging All
POWERTOOLS_METRICS_NAMESPACE Sets namespace used for metrics Metrics
POWERTOOLS_LOGGER_SAMPLE_RATE Debug log sampling Logging
POWERTOOLS_LOG_LEVEL Sets logging level Logging
POWERTOOLS_LOGGER_LOG_EVENT Enables/Disables whether to log the incoming event when using the aspect Logging
POWERTOOLS_TRACER_CAPTURE_RESPONSE Enables/Disables tracing mode to capture method response Tracing
POWERTOOLS_TRACER_CAPTURE_ERROR Enables/Disables tracing mode to capture method error Tracing
Last update: 2023-11-20