Amazon recently announced the general availability (GA) of AWS Lambda Powertools TypeScript. The set of utilities for Node.js Lambda functions helps developers follow best practices for tracing, structured logging, and custom metrics.
AWS Lambda Powertools is an open-source library that provides a collection of utilities for AWS Lambda functions to make developers' lives easier. The utility set focuses on implementing best practices such as structured logging, custom metrics, tracing, and more, as defined by the AWS Well-Architected Serverless Lens.
AWS Lambda Powertools supports the three most popular Lambda runtimes - Python, Java, and now Node.js, with the general availability release of AWS Lambda Powertools for TypeScript. The GA release is a follow-up of the beta release beginning of the year and receives the same features as the Python and Java versions in subsequent releases, as seen in the roadmap.
The GA release focuses on three observability features: distributed tracing (Tracer), structured logging (Logger), and asynchronous business and application metrics (Metrics) – each production is ready and provides the following benefits:
- The Tracer utility adds custom annotations and metadata during function invocation, which are then sent to AWS X-Ray. Developers can use annotations to search for and filter traces based on business or application contextual information such as product ID or cold start.
- The Logger utility adds contextual information to application logs. By structuring logs as JSON, developers can use Amazon CloudWatch Logs Insights to search for their structured data.
- And finally, the Metrics utility makes it easier to create complex high-cardinality application data. When developers include structured data with their metrics, they can search for it and perform additional analysis.
Ryan Toler, cloud architect at Trek10, stated in his recent blog post on AWS Lambda Powertools for TypeScript:
Think of each utility as a "power-up" for Lambda, adding a unique ability to help solve distinct challenges found in serverless applications.
Sara Gerion, a senior solutions architect at AWS, concluded in an AWS Compute blog post:
AWS Lambda Powertools for TypeScript can help simplify, accelerate, and scale the adoption of serverless best practices within your team and across your organization. The library implements best practices recommended as part of the AWS Well-Architected Framework without you needing to write much custom code.
In addition, Eoin Shanaghy, CTO of fourTheorem, concludes in his blog post on AWS Lambda Powertools:
Adding the AWS Lambda Powertools to your application gives you a fast way to establish good practices in all of your serverless applications.
Lastly, the Node.js runtime in the AWS Lambda Powertools TypeScript is available in all AWS regions where Lambda is available.