Go Powertools Lambda¶
Build Go Lambda functions with less boilerplate.
Go Powertools brings structured logging, OpenTelemetry tracing, CloudWatch metrics and HTTP routing to your AWS Lambda functions. Choose the independent Go modules your application needs.
Powertools for AWS Lambda (Go) is an independent community Go port of Powertools for AWS Lambda (TypeScript). The source repository is rambow-cloud/powertools-lambda-go. See the compatibility boundaries and release notes. This is not an official AWS distribution.
Explore the documentation¶
| Category | What you can build |
|---|---|
| Getting started | Install modules and build your first Go Lambda function. |
| Observability | Add structured logging, OpenTelemetry tracing and CloudWatch metrics. |
| Event handlers | Route HTTP APIs and resolve AppSync or Bedrock requests. |
| Data processing | Process batches, parse and validate events, and handle duplicates. |
| Security and configuration | Load parameters, mask sensitive data and sign AWS requests. |
| Release notes | Read features and fixes in published versions. |
Getting started¶
Install one utility to begin. For example, add structured logging:
Use Go 1.27 or newer, target arm64 or x86_64, and keep CGO disabled. Install the published modules using the module guide, which explains dependencies, imports, and the shared release version.
Your first Lambda¶
Write a typed handler with structured logging, then build a static Lambda executable.
Route HTTP requests¶
Start with app.Get and app.Post. Read path parameters and JSON bodies, and return JSON responses.
Install only what you use¶
Pick independent modules and add middleware or AWS integrations when your application needs them.
Start with the essentials¶
Logger¶
Structured JSON logs with Lambda context, correlation IDs and configurable levels.
Tracer¶
Trace handlers and downstream calls with OpenTelemetry. Send spans to AWS X-Ray through a collector.
Metrics¶
Emit custom CloudWatch metrics with Embedded Metric Format, including cold-start metrics.
Features¶
Choose the utilities your application needs. Each feature has its own Go module; adding one utility does not install the entire toolkit.
| Utility | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Tracer | Trace handlers, operations, HTTP requests, and AWS SDK calls using OpenTelemetry. Export to AWS X-Ray through a collector. |
| Logger | Write structured JSON logs with Lambda context, correlation IDs, configurable levels, and optional buffering. |
| Metrics | Emit application metrics using CloudWatch Embedded Metric Format. |
| Event handlers | Route HTTP requests, stream responses, and handle AppSync Events, AppSync GraphQL, and Bedrock Agent functions. |
| Parameters | Retrieve and cache configuration from SSM, Secrets Manager, DynamoDB, and AppConfig. |
| Idempotency | Protect operations from duplicate execution with DynamoDB or optional Redis/Valkey persistence. |
| Batch processing | Process SQS, Kinesis, and DynamoDB Streams batches with partial failure handling. |
| JMESPath | Query JSON documents and unwrap supported event envelopes. |
| Parser | Parse event payloads into typed values and compose validation with your handler. |
| Validation | Validate inputs and responses against JSON Schema. |
| Data Masking | Erase or transform selected fields, with optional regex and KMS providers. |
| Kafka | Decode Kafka events with JSON, Avro, or Protobuf payloads. |
| Signer | Sign HTTP requests with AWS Signature Version 4. |
| Commons and Metadata | Reuse runtime primitives and retrieve Lambda execution-environment metadata. |
The manifest contains 31 modules, including 28 public modules. The legacy X-Ray SDK adapter is included in that count but is deprecated and frozen. Follow the OpenTelemetry migration guide for maintained X-Ray support.
Examples¶
Every main utility guide starts with maintained code and expected results. Browse the examples directory or choose a use case:
- Simple GET/POST routing, then middleware, observability or response streaming.
- Batch processing with typed event parsing.
- AppSync Events, AppSync GraphQL, and Bedrock Agents.
Project status¶
Read usage patterns for object lifetimes and environment variables for configuration. Utilities can be adopted independently, and maintained v1 APIs follow the version policy.
Use the TypeScript feature comparison, project progress and roadmap to distinguish implemented behavior from remaining compatibility and release work. Local acceptance records describe the scope of previous verification; they do not establish exhaustive parity or cloud acceptance.
Original contributions are licensed under MIT. Third-party content retains its original attribution. This project is not an official AWS distribution.
Common questions¶
What is Powertools Lambda Go?¶
Powertools Lambda Go is this community toolkit for AWS Lambda applications written in Go. It provides reusable modules for observability, HTTP APIs, configuration, idempotency, batch processing and validation. Install only the utilities you need; start with a complete Logger example or build a simple GET/POST API.
Is Powertools for Go an official AWS project?¶
No. This is an independent community implementation maintained in the rambow-cloud repository. It is a Go port of Powertools for AWS Lambda (TypeScript); the compatibility guide describes the maintained subset and differences.
Do I need to install every utility?¶
No. Install only the Go modules your application uses. Logger, Metrics, Tracer and the other utilities have independent import paths. The installation guide explains the shared release version and module dependencies.
How do I send Go Lambda traces to AWS X-Ray?¶
Use the maintained OpenTelemetry Tracer and send spans through an OTLP collector with an awsxray exporter. The legacy tracer/xray SDK adapter is deprecated and frozen; follow the migration guide.
Which Lambda runtime and architectures are supported?¶
Build static Go binaries with CGO_ENABLED=0 for Linux amd64 or arm64 and deploy them to AWS Lambda's provided.al2023 runtime. The first Lambda guide includes the handler and build commands.