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StackPort

Quick Start

1. Start an emulator and StackPort

Section titled “1. Start an emulator and StackPort”

Pick the emulator you use. Each line starts it on your machine; StackPort itself is the same in every case.

Terminal window
# MiniStack
docker run -d -p 4566:4566 ministackorg/ministack


# Floci
docker run -d -p 4566:4566 floci/floci


# LocalStack (needs an account and auth token, see the LocalStack guide)
docker run -d -p 4566:4566 -e LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN=<your-token> localstack/localstack


# Moto
docker run -d -p 5000:5000 motoserver/moto

Then start StackPort and point it at the emulator:

Terminal window
pip install stackport
AWS_ENDPOINT_URL=http://localhost:4566 \
  AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=test AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=test stackport   # use :5000 for Moto

Emulators accept any credentials, but StackPort needs a pair to sign its requests. If your shell or ~/.aws already has some, you can leave the two test variables out.

Prefer containers for everything? The MiniStack, Floci, LocalStack and Moto guides each have a Compose file that runs the emulator and StackPort together.

2. Open the dashboard

Section titled “2. Open the dashboard”

Go to http://localhost:8080. The dashboard lists the 35 services StackPort knows about, with a resource count for each, and updates live as things change.

3. Create some resources

Section titled “3. Create some resources”

Use the AWS CLI against your emulator, or create them straight from the console (S3 buckets, DynamoDB tables, SQS queues, SNS topics, secrets and log groups all have a Create button).

Terminal window
export AWS_ENDPOINT_URL=http://localhost:4566
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=test
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=test
export AWS_REGION=us-east-1


aws s3 mb s3://my-bucket
aws sqs create-queue --queue-name my-queue
aws dynamodb create-table --table-name Orders \
  --attribute-definitions AttributeName=pk,AttributeType=S \
  --key-schema AttributeName=pk,KeyType=HASH \
  --billing-mode PAY_PER_REQUEST

4. Browse and interact

Section titled “4. Browse and interact”

The counts on the dashboard pick up the new resources within a few seconds. Click a service to open its view:

  • S3: browse folders, upload by drag and drop, download, edit versioning, lifecycle, CORS and notifications.
  • DynamoDB: scan or query by key, then create, edit and delete items as JSON.
  • SQS: send single or batch messages, poll, delete, purge, and keep reusable saved messages.
  • Lambda: inspect configuration, invoke with an event template, edit memory, timeout and environment.

Every view is listed in Service Browsers.

5. Try a guided lesson

Section titled “5. Try a guided lesson”

Open Learn in the side navigation (or press g then l). Lessons walk you through real AWS tasks against your emulator, and each step turns green once StackPort sees the resource actually exists. See Guided lessons.

6. Use the CLI

Section titled “6. Use the CLI”

The same package installs a CLI for scripts and CI:

Terminal window
stackport status                          # every service with its resource counts
stackport list s3                         # list buckets
stackport describe dynamodb tables Orders # full detail as JSON
stackport export dynamodb --format csv    # export for a spreadsheet or a diff

See CLI Commands for every flag.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”