AWS Step Functions IDE Extension: A Game Changer, But What’s Next?

If you’ve ever worked with AWS Step Functions, you know the struggle. Debugging workflows locally? A nightmare. Testing small changes? Deploy, wait, check logs, repeat. The experience has been far from smooth—until now. AWS just launched a Step Functions extension for VS Code, and it’s a huge step forward. But as great as this update is, one big question remains: Why is this limited to VS Code? What about IntelliJ, Eclipse, and other IDEs? Let’s break down what’s new, why it matters, and what AWS should do next. The Pain Before This Update Before this extension, working with AWS Step Functions was a constant back-and-forth between AWS Console and local development. If you wanted to: ✅ Debug a workflow? You’d rely on CloudWatch logs—which meant extra time and effort. ✅ Test changes? You had to deploy to AWS every time—even for minor tweaks. ✅ Validate the output of an individual state? Practically impossible without running the full workflow. For developers, this meant longer development cycles, slower debugging, and more friction when building serverless workflows. What’s New in the AWS Step Functions IDE Extension? AWS finally heard our pain and introduced an enhanced local development experience for Step Functions in VS Code. Here’s what’s cool about it:

Mar 19, 2025 - 05:42

AWS Step Functions IDE Extension: A Game Changer, But What’s Next?

If you’ve ever worked with AWS Step Functions, you know the struggle. Debugging workflows locally? A nightmare. Testing small changes? Deploy, wait, check logs, repeat. The experience has been far from smooth—until now.

AWS just launched a Step Functions extension for VS Code, and it’s a huge step forward. But as great as this update is, one big question remains: Why is this limited to VS Code? What about IntelliJ, Eclipse, and other IDEs?

Let’s break down what’s new, why it matters, and what AWS should do next.

The Pain Before This Update

Before this extension, working with AWS Step Functions was a constant back-and-forth between AWS Console and local development. If you wanted to:

✅ Debug a workflow? You’d rely on CloudWatch logs—which meant extra time and effort.

✅ Test changes? You had to deploy to AWS every time—even for minor tweaks.

✅ Validate the output of an individual state? Practically impossible without running the full workflow.

For developers, this meant longer development cycles, slower debugging, and more friction when building serverless workflows.

What’s New in the AWS Step Functions IDE Extension?

AWS finally heard our pain and introduced an enhanced local development experience for Step Functions in VS Code. Here’s what’s cool about it: