awsclaw-stepfunc

Use the StepFuncTool language tool in VS Code to manage AWS Step Functions state machines, executions, activities, and lifecycle operations.

When to Use

• User wants to list or describe state machines
• User wants to start a new execution or inspect existing executions
• User wants to view execution history (step-by-step events)
• User wants to update a state machine definition
• User wants to validate a state machine definition
• User wants to list or describe activities and map runs
• User wants to create or delete state machines and activities
• User wants to stop executions or manage tags and aliases

Tool Reference

Tool name: StepFuncTool

Input Schema

{
  "command": "<CommandName>",
  "params": { ... }
}

Commands (28 total)

Command	Description
DescribeActivity	Describe an activity
DescribeExecution	Describe a specific execution
DescribeMapRun	Describe a Map Run
DescribeStateMachine	Describe a state machine
DescribeStateMachineAlias	Describe a state machine alias
DescribeStateMachineForExecution	Describe state machine associated with an execution
GetExecutionHistory	Get the step-by-step event history of an execution
ListActivities	List activities
ListExecutions	List executions for a state machine
ListMapRuns	List Map Runs for an execution
ListStateMachineAliases	List aliases for a state machine
ListStateMachines	List all state machines
ListStateMachineVersions	List versions of a state machine
StartExecution	Start a new execution of a state machine
UpdateStateMachine	Update a state machine definition, role, or configuration
ValidateStateMachineDefinition	Validate an Amazon States Language definition
CreateStateMachine	Create a new state machine
CreateActivity	Create an activity
CreateStateMachineAlias	Create a state machine alias
PublishStateMachineVersion	Publish a state machine version
TagResource	Tag a state machine or activity
UntagResource	Remove tags from a resource
DeleteStateMachine	Delete a state machine
DeleteActivity	Delete an activity
StopExecution	Stop a running execution
UpdateStateMachineAlias	Update a state machine alias
DeleteStateMachineAlias	Delete a state machine alias
DeleteStateMachineVersion	Delete a state machine version

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
stateMachineArn	string	State machine ARN (Required by: DescribeStateMachine, StartExecution, UpdateStateMachine; Used by: ListExecutions)
executionArn	string	Execution ARN (Required by: DescribeExecution, GetExecutionHistory)
maxResults	number	Maximum items to return (Used by: ListExecutions, ListStateMachines, GetExecutionHistory)
nextToken	string	Pagination token (Used by: ListExecutions, ListStateMachines, GetExecutionHistory)
reverseOrder	boolean	Return events in reverse chronological order (Used by: GetExecutionHistory)
statusFilter	string	Filter executions by status. Enum: RUNNING, SUCCEEDED, FAILED, TIMED_OUT, ABORTED (Used by: ListExecutions)
name	string	Execution name (Used by: StartExecution)
input	string	JSON string input for execution (Used by: StartExecution)
traceHeader	string	X-Ray trace header (Used by: StartExecution)
definition	string	State machine definition in Amazon States Language (Used by: UpdateStateMachine)
roleArn	string	IAM role ARN for the state machine (Used by: UpdateStateMachine)
loggingConfiguration	object	Logging configuration object (Used by: UpdateStateMachine)
tracingConfiguration	object	Tracing configuration object (Used by: UpdateStateMachine)
publish	boolean	Set true to publish a new version (Used by: UpdateStateMachine)
versionDescription	string	Description for the published version (Used by: UpdateStateMachine)

Usage Examples

List all state machines

{ "command": "ListStateMachines", "params": { "maxResults": 20 } }

Describe a state machine

{ "command": "DescribeStateMachine", "params": { "stateMachineArn": "arn:aws:states:us-east-1:123456789012:stateMachine:MyWorkflow" } }

List executions with status filter

{ "command": "ListExecutions", "params": { "stateMachineArn": "arn:aws:states:us-east-1:123456789012:stateMachine:MyWorkflow", "statusFilter": "FAILED", "maxResults": 10 } }

Start a new execution

{ "command": "StartExecution", "params": { "stateMachineArn": "arn:aws:states:us-east-1:123456789012:stateMachine:MyWorkflow", "input": "{\"orderId\": \"12345\", \"amount\": 99.99}" } }

Get execution history

{ "command": "GetExecutionHistory", "params": { "executionArn": "arn:aws:states:us-east-1:123456789012:execution:MyWorkflow:exec-id", "maxResults": 100, "reverseOrder": true } }

Describe an execution

{ "command": "DescribeExecution", "params": { "executionArn": "arn:aws:states:us-east-1:123456789012:execution:MyWorkflow:exec-id" } }

Update state machine definition

{ "command": "UpdateStateMachine", "params": { "stateMachineArn": "arn:aws:states:us-east-1:123456789012:stateMachine:MyWorkflow", "definition": "{\"StartAt\": \"Step1\", \"States\": { \"Step1\": { \"Type\": \"Pass\", \"End\": true }}}" } }

Validate a definition

{ "command": "ValidateStateMachineDefinition", "params": {} }

Create a state machine

{ "command": "CreateStateMachine", "params": { "name": "MyWorkflow", "definition": "{\"StartAt\":\"Step1\",\"States\":{\"Step1\":{\"Type\":\"Pass\",\"End\":true}}}", "roleArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/StepFuncRole" } }

Stop an execution

{ "command": "StopExecution", "params": { "executionArn": "arn:aws:states:...:execution:MyWorkflow:exec-id", "cause": "manual stop" } }

Related Services

Step Functions orchestrates workflows across many AWS services:

Relationship	Tool
Invokes Lambda functions	LambdaTool
Sends messages to SQS	SQSTool
Publishes to SNS topics	SNSTool
Reads/writes DynamoDB tables	DynamoDBTool
Starts Glue jobs	GlueTool
Starts EMR steps	EMRTool
Calls API Gateway endpoints	APIGatewayTool
Execution logs in CloudWatch	CloudWatchLogTool
IAM roles for execution	IAMTool
Deployed via CloudFormation	CloudFormationTool

CloudWatch Log Group Naming

Step Functions log groups typically follow:

/aws/vendedlogs/states/<state-machine-name>-Logs

Use CloudWatchLogTool → DescribeLogGroups with logGroupNamePrefix: "/aws/vendedlogs/states/" to find them.

Tips

• Use ListStateMachines → DescribeStateMachine to explore definition and configuration.
• Use ListExecutions with statusFilter: "FAILED" to find failed runs, then GetExecutionHistory to debug step-by-step.
• StartExecution requires stateMachineArn and accepts a JSON input string.
• The definition in UpdateStateMachine must be valid Amazon States Language JSON.
• Use reverseOrder: true in GetExecutionHistory to see the most recent events first.