Demo Building With the CDK

Welcome — this guide walks through creating a minimal AWS CDK application in Python that provisions an S3 bucket. Follow the steps in order: prepare your environment, scaffold a CDK app, edit the stack to add an S3 bucket, bootstrap, synthesize, and deploy. Links and commands are included so you can reproduce the demo.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following are installed and configured before starting:

Resource	Purpose	Example / Notes
AWS CLI	Communicate with AWS from your workstation	Install from the AWS CLI docs
Python	Run the CDK Python app and virtualenv	Use a supported runtime (3.8+)
Node.js & npm	Required by the CDK CLI	Use `nvm` to manage versions
CDK CLI	Synthesizes and deploys CDK apps	Installed globally with `npm`
Python CDK libraries	`aws-cdk-lib`, `constructs` for CDK v2	Install into a virtualenv
AWS IAM user	Programmatic access (access key & secret)	Grant appropriate permissions for deployment

First, install and configure the AWS CLI so your local environment can authenticate to AWS.

A dark-themed browser screenshot of the AWS documentation page titled "AWS CLI install instructions," showing a left navigation menu and expandable sections for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The top bar shows browser tabs and a "Return to the Console" button.

Node.js & CDK CLI

Install Node.js (or use nvm to manage versions). Example Unix-like shell commands:

# Install nvm (follow upstream instructions for the latest version)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.5/install.sh | bash

# Use nvm to install Node.js LTS
nvm install --lts

Install the CDK CLI globally:

npm install -g aws-cdk
# or to install a specific CDK v2 version:
npm install -g aws-cdk@2.XX.X

Python CDK libraries

For CDK v2, install the consolidated libraries into your project environment (virtualenv recommended):

pip install aws-cdk-lib constructs

Note: CDK v2 packages service L2 constructs inside aws-cdk-lib (older tutorials that reference aws-cdk.aws-s3 are outdated).

AWS credentials and IAM

Create an IAM user with programmatic access and attach the required policies. For experimentation in a controlled account, AdministratorAccess is convenient; for production follow least-privilege practices. Configure the AWS CLI with the user’s credentials:

aws configure

Example (values masked):

AWS Access Key ID [None]: AKIA****************
AWS Secret Access Key [None]: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCY****************
Default region name [None]: us-east-2
Default output format [None]: json

Protect your access keys. Do not commit credentials to source control. Use IAM roles, secrets managers, or temporary credentials for production workflows.

On Windows use cls to clear the prompt; on macOS/Linux use clear.

Create the CDK project

Open a terminal in your workspace (for example, ~/Desktop) and scaffold a Python CDK app:

# Create and enter project directory
mkdir cdk-demo
cd cdk-demo

# Initialize a Python CDK app
cdk init app --language python

cdk init scaffolds a Python project with files like app.py, cdk.json, a package directory that contains the generated stack file, and requirements.txt. You should now see the generated files in your editor.

Edit the stack to add an S3 bucket

Open the generated stack file inside the project package directory (the directory named after your project). Modify the stack to import the S3 construct and create a bucket. A minimal CDK v2 Python stack example:

from aws_cdk import Stack, aws_s3 as s3
from constructs import Construct

class CdkDemoStack(Stack):
    def __init__(self, scope: Construct, construct_id: str, **kwargs) -> None:
        super().__init__(scope, construct_id, **kwargs)

        # Create an S3 bucket in this stack
        bucket = s3.Bucket(self, "My-KodeKloud-bkt-cld2")

Key points:

s3.Bucket(self, "ConstructId") defines a bucket construct inside the stack. The construct ID (here "My-KodeKloud-bkt-cld2") uniquely identifies the resource in the CDK app.
The construct ID is an internal identifier; the physical S3 bucket name is generated by CDK unless you pass bucket_name="your-bucket-name".
Ensure the stack __init__ signature includes **kwargs and calls super().__init__(...) to accept standard CDK options.

Bootstrap the environment

Before deploying, bootstrap the target AWS environment so CDK can create required deployment resources (assets bucket, execution role, etc.):

cdk bootstrap

Example output (shortened):

⏳ Bootstrapping environment aws://123456789012/us-east-2...
Using default execution policy of 'arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AdministratorAccess'.
✅ Environment aws://123456789012/us-east-2 bootstrapped (no changes)

Bootstrapping requires the AWS credentials you configured and sufficient IAM permissions. If bootstrapping fails, verify your IAM user’s permissions and the configured AWS region.

Inspect the synthesized CloudFormation template

To review the CloudFormation template CDK will generate from your Python code:

cdk synth

This prints the synthesized template (YAML/JSON). Use this to confirm resources, properties, and logical IDs before deployment.

Deploy the stack

Deploy your stack to the configured account and region:

cdk deploy

CDK synthesizes the app and calls CloudFormation to create/update the stack. Example success summary:

✅ CdkDemoStack

✨ Deployment time: 30.00s
Stack ARN:
arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-2:123456789012:stack/CdkDemoStack/abcd1234-ef56-78gh-90ij-klmnopqrstuv

✨ Total time: 90.00s

Verify resources in the AWS Console

Open the AWS Management Console and navigate to CloudFormation — confirm the deployed stack appears in Stacks.
In the same region, open the S3 console to view the created bucket.

A screenshot of the AWS CloudFormation "Stacks" console showing a list of stacks. It lists stacks like "CdkDemoStack" and "CDKToolkit" with statuses such as UPDATE_COMPLETE and CREATE_COMPLETE, and toolbar buttons (Delete stack, Update stack, Create stack).

Useful CDK commands

Use these commands during development and cleanup:

cdk ls        # list stacks in the app
cdk synth     # emit the synthesized CloudFormation template
cdk deploy    # deploy the stack to your default AWS account/region
cdk diff      # compare deployed stack to local stack
cdk destroy   # delete the stack

To remove deployed resources when finished:

cdk destroy

Links and references

AWS CLI installation: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/getting-started-install.html
AWS CDK documentation: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/latest/guide/home.html
CDK Python guide: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/latest/guide/work-with-cdk-python.html

Wrapping up: you now have a minimal Python CDK workflow to provision an S3 bucket — scaffold, edit the stack, bootstrap, synth, deploy, and verify. Use cdk diff to preview changes and cdk destroy to clean up.

Introduction

Domain 1 - SDLC Automation

Domain 2 - Configuration Management and IaC

Domain 3 - Resilient Cloud Solutions

Domain 4 - Monitoring and Logging

Domain 5 - Incident and Event Response

Domain 6 - Security and Compliance

Demo Building With the CDK

Prerequisites

Node.js & CDK CLI

Python CDK libraries

AWS credentials and IAM

Create the CDK project

Edit the stack to add an S3 bucket

Bootstrap the environment

Inspect the synthesized CloudFormation template

Deploy the stack

Verify resources in the AWS Console

Useful CDK commands

Links and references

Watch Video

​Prerequisites

​Node.js & CDK CLI

​Python CDK libraries

​AWS credentials and IAM

​Create the CDK project

​Edit the stack to add an S3 bucket

​Bootstrap the environment

​Inspect the synthesized CloudFormation template

​Deploy the stack

​Verify resources in the AWS Console

​Useful CDK commands

​Links and references

Watch Video

Prerequisites

Node.js & CDK CLI

Python CDK libraries

AWS credentials and IAM

Create the CDK project

Edit the stack to add an S3 bucket

Bootstrap the environment

Inspect the synthesized CloudFormation template

Deploy the stack

Verify resources in the AWS Console

Useful CDK commands

Links and references