serverless framework

The Serverless Framework simplifies deploying and managing serverless applications on AWS Lambda (and other cloud providers). The following commands cover the core workflow.

Installation

npm install -g serverless

Create a new project

# Create from a template (Python on AWS)
sls create --template aws-python --path my-service

# Creates:
#   my-service/
#   ├── handler.py       (Lambda function code)
#   ├── serverless.yml   (configuration file)
#   └── .gitignore

Deploy the full stack

# Deploy all functions and infrastructure (verbose output)
sls deploy -v

This packages your code, creates a CloudFormation stack, deploys all Lambda functions, and outputs the API endpoints.

Deploy a single function (faster for code changes)

# Deploy only the updated function (skips CloudFormation)
sls deploy function -f functionName

Invoke a function

# Invoke and show logs
sls invoke -f functionName -l

# Invoke with a JSON payload
sls invoke -f functionName -d '{"key": "value"}' -l

View logs

# Tail live CloudWatch logs for a function
sls logs -f functionName -t

Remove the deployment

# Delete all deployed resources (CloudFormation stack)
sls remove

Local development

# Run a function locally without deploying
sls invoke local -f functionName -d '{"key": "value"}'

Basic serverless.yml structure

service: my-service
provider:
  name: aws
  runtime: python3.12
  region: us-east-1

functions:
  hello:
    handler: handler.hello
    events:
      - http:
          path: hello
          method: get