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deploy-stack

exec

Drop into a secure shell inside your live Fargate container to inspect files, check environment variables, or debug a running app — without opening the AWS console.

What it does

Section titled “What it does”
  • Finds a running container for the current project automatically and opens an interactive shell (/bin/sh by default) via ECS Exec.
  • Resolves its inputs automatically: cluster (<project-name>-cluster, overridable via ECS_CLUSTER), service (<project-name>-service, overridable via ECS_SERVICE), container (<project-name>-container, overridable via ECS_CONTAINER), and region (--region → AWS_REGION → terraform/main.tf → us-east-2).
  • Checks that the AWS CLI is installed first; if missing, prints install links and exits 1 instead of failing cryptically.
  • Checks that the Session Manager plugin is installed next; if missing, prints install instructions for your OS (brew install session-manager-plugin on Mac, download links on Windows/Linux) and exits 1.
  • When no containers are running (e.g. scaled to zero or still booting), explains that a running container is required, points you to status and apply, and exits 1.
  • On expired AWS credentials, points you to aws sso login / aws configure and exits 1 instead of throwing.
  • Emits an exec_run telemetry event recording success and outcome.

Usage

Section titled “Usage”
Terminal window
npx deploy-stack exec
npx deploy-stack exec --command /bin/bash
npx deploy-stack exec --service myapp-service --container myapp-container

Type exit to leave the shell.

Flags

Section titled “Flags”
Flag Description
[service] Service to connect to. Defaults to the project service.
--service <name> Explicit service name override.
--cluster <name> Explicit cluster name override.
--container <name> Explicit container name override.
--command <cmd> Shell to open (default /bin/sh).
--region <region> Explicit AWS region override.

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”
  • Run npx deploy-stack apply first: ECS Exec access (enable_execute_command plus the container’s session permissions) is provisioned with your infrastructure. If the connection is refused on an older deployment, re-run apply to enable it.
  • Install the AWS CLI and the Session Manager plugin (brew install session-manager-plugin on Mac; the command prints the right instructions for your OS when it’s missing). On expired credentials, refresh with aws sso login or aws configure. See the AWS credentials guide.

See also

Section titled “See also”