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go-to-k/cdkd

A drop-in CDK CLI that deploys existing CDK apps by calling AWS SDKs directly instead of going through CloudFormation, for faster dev and test deploys.

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What is it?

cdkd is a command-line tool that runs existing AWS CDK apps with the same workflow as the `cdk` CLI: you replace `cdk deploy` with `cdkd deploy` and keep your app code unchanged. Instead of creating CloudFormation changesets and waiting on stack operations, cdkd provisions resources through direct AWS SDK calls with aggressive parallelization. A `--no-wait` option skips slow stabilization waits for further speedup.

The project is aimed at dev and test workflows, including fast spin-up and tear-down loops for AI coding agents. It can import existing stacks and export them back to CloudFormation, and includes `cdkd local` for running functions, APIs and ECS tasks on your machine using resource references from a deployed stack. The project is early in development and not yet recommended for production, where the standard AWS CDK CLI remains the intended tool.

The tool requires Node.js 22.12 or later and is installed from npm as @cdkd/cli. It ships a skill for Claude Code and other agents that support the SKILL.md format.

Key features

  • 01Runs existing CDK apps unchanged, replacing `cdk deploy` with `cdkd deploy`.
  • 02Deploys resources through direct AWS SDK calls rather than CloudFormation changesets.
  • 03Offers `--no-wait` to skip stabilization waits for faster deploys.
  • 04Supports importing existing stacks and exporting back to CloudFormation.
  • 05Provides `cdkd local` to run functions, APIs and ECS tasks locally using deployed stack resources.

Use cases

  • Iterating quickly on a CDK stack in a personal or team dev AWS account.
  • Running spin-up and tear-down loops for AI coding agents testing infrastructure changes.
  • Speeding up deploys of test environments that do not need CloudFormation's full tooling.
  • Running Lambda functions or ECS tasks locally against resources from a deployed stack.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Install the cdkd CLI globally from npm

    npm i -g @cdkd/cli
  2. 2

    Bootstrap the AWS account once (creates S3 state bucket and asset storage)

    cdkd bootstrap
  3. 3

    Deploy your existing CDK app

    cdkd deploy

Things to know

  • Early in development and not yet production-ready; intended for dev/test only.
  • Requires Node.js 22.12 or later.
  • Deploys directly via AWS SDK calls, so it is not a full replacement for CloudFormation tooling in production.

In collections

CLI & terminal tools

Topics

#aws#aws-cdk#cloudformation#infrastructure-as-code#typescript#deployment#cli#aws-cloudformation#aws-sdk#awscdk

FAQ

What is cdkd?
A drop-in CDK CLI that deploys existing CDK apps by calling AWS SDKs directly instead of going through CloudFormation, for faster dev and test deploys. cdkd is a command-line tool that runs existing AWS CDK apps with the same workflow as the `cdk` CLI: you replace `cdk deploy` with `cdkd deploy` and keep your app code unchanged. Instead of creating CloudFormation changesets and waiting on stack operations, cdkd provisions resources through direct AWS SDK calls with aggressive parallelization. A `--no-wait` option skips slow stabilization waits for further speedup.
Is cdkd free to use? What license does it have?
cdkd is open source under the Apache-2.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is cdkd still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to cdkd was on Nov 7, 2026.
What can I use cdkd for?
Iterating quickly on a CDK stack in a personal or team dev AWS account. Running spin-up and tear-down loops for AI coding agents testing infrastructure changes. Speeding up deploys of test environments that do not need CloudFormation's full tooling. Running Lambda functions or ECS tasks locally against resources from a deployed stack.
How do I install cdkd?
Install the cdkd CLI globally from npm: npm i -g @cdkd/cli Bootstrap the AWS account once (creates S3 state bucket and asset storage): cdkd bootstrap Deploy your existing CDK app: cdkd deploy
Where can I get cdkd?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/go-to-k/cdkd

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