awsflow-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)

Parameters

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:

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.