Forem: TaeSeong Park

AWS App Studio: Building an Application as a Beta User of the Low-Code Solution - Cons (Part 2 of 2)

TaeSeong Park — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 04:59:46 +0000

Hi 👋🏻

AWS App Studio is the Low-code application build service.

I was a beta tester for AWS App Studio (and maybe I still am), I would like to share my experience of making application with AWS App Studio.

Following my blog post on “Pros” of AWS App Studio, I’m doing a series of blog posts on “Cons” of AWS App Studio.

Cons of using AWS App Studio

Initial Setup Hurdles

Activating AWS IAM Identity Center

AWS App Studio integrates with AWS IAM Identity Center, making it easy to securely manage access by integrating with existing Single Sign-On (SSO) and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) setups.

👆 This image explains that I should have "Administrator permissions to manage AWS IAM Identity Center" to create AWS App Studio instance

👆 This image explains that the configuration already exists at "N. Virginia" region should be deleted

Setting up the IAM Identity Center was essential for configuring the App Studio environment. However, as someone who had little prior knowledge of IAM Identity Center, the setup process was challenging.

Since IAM Identity Center can only be configured in one region, I had to set it up in the Oregon region, where App Studio is available. This required me to delete existing configurations in other regions.

I couldn’t easily determine which region or services were using IAM Identity Center in my account. As my AWS account had been inactive for over a year, I ended up deleting previous setups in other regions and successfully configured IAM Identity Center in the Oregon region.

Completing the setup without fully understanding IAM Identity Center wasn’t the most pleasant experience.

Creating an App Studio Instance

👆 that saids "The setup may take up to 30 minutes. Please come back and check the setup status."

After completing the IAM Identity Center setup, I created an App Studio instance. I added the IAM Group and User created in AWS IAM Identity Center to the "Administrator Group" and initiated instance creation. However, the process of creating the App Studio instance took a very long time.

It took almost half a day to see the completed instance. I began the process at 7:30 PM, and after waiting 30 minutes with no response, I had to check back the next day. This process occurred in mid-September 2024, so I hope the time required has since been reduced.

During the instance creation process, I also received an email from notifications@codecatalyst.aws at 12:30 AM, titled "Increased error rates and latencies for Workflows," which I still remember.

Disappointing contents of manual document

Personally, I prefer documents with attached screenshots or videos, but App Studio's documents are all text. So I had a hard time learning about parameters, JS expressions types, etc.

It was regrettable that even the instructions to follow the menu button were only in text.

I made a suggestion to the App Studio team in Slack, thinking that it would have been better if at least screenshots were included, but the team responded that they were intentionally cautious because the maintenance costs would be significant if the UI of the service were changed in the future, and the contents such as screenshots and videos would have to be changed together.

DynamoDB

Join disappears when mapping DynamoDB

In the App Studio itself, there was a Join feature, which was convenient for connecting with other Entities.

However, I only realized after changing the Data Connection to DynamoDB that it does not support the Join feature.

If I had known this in advance, I wouldn't have used Join, and I wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of modifying the Entity connection method, resulting in both emotional energy and time being wasted.

The moment I figred out that DynamoDB does not support JOIN.

DynamoDB Connector Setup

It was very cumbersome to have to go to the main page to update the Connector settings every time the column type of the DynamoDB table changed.

Unknown Warning about field setting

I suspect that if the DynamoDB table has Partition Key and Sort Key at the same time, App Studio’s Entity showed Warning “Entity field constraints must match the constraints of the mapped data source column.”

I cannot match the constraints at App Studio.

I wish S3 upload component has option for don’t upload directly

When selecting an image file locally with the S3 upload component, I would like to have an option to upload it to the S3 bucket only when the user clicks the Confirm button, rather than uploading it directly to the S3 bucket.

When creating a page where the user selects a photo to upload from the photo gallery and enters other data, if the user suddenly changes their mind and cancels the image posting, the S3 image that has already been uploaded must be deleted again, which is very inefficient.

Generated by AI

Undo the Javascript code generated by AI

Sometimes, when entering a prompt in Generate JavaScript, it completely deletes the already entered code.

When this happened, I thought that closing the window would prevent saving, so I closed it and opened the window again to check the code, only to find that the AI-generated code had already been saved, making it impossible to recover the original code.

At that time, there was no undo function, which was really frustrating.

I wish there was a button for undo.

Inconvenience of AI chat UI

When selecting the Gen AI component, the AI chat screen should ideally expand, but it didn't.

I spent quite a while figuring out what I could do in the Properties screen on the right sidebar.

Only after expanding the closed Build with AI chat on the lower left did I realize that this is where I should be working.

Users who are not sensitive to such things might not use the Gen AI component features at all.

And one more thing,

And if you just move to another tab within the same page, all the chatbot content will disappear.

This is a very fatal and bad experience. So, you need to be very careful when using it.

The generative AI make disappointing results

I wanted to create the customized Loader component, so I asked to the AI how to make it.

I expected it to automatically create “Expression” and insert it into the new component, but I received disappointing results as it only created the UI component.

The component doesn’t include the condition what I want to put.

I wish the JavaScript variable type definition system would stabilize

I want to properly define the types for each variable to fully utilize the auto-completion feature for variable types when entering values in components within the Page tab.

Currently, there are too many cases where the type is shown as undefined, leading to uncertainty about whether I'm entering the correct values.

There are frequent red underlines for JavaScript code that works normally within Automation, and even when defining types for variables, there are many cases where the definition does not work properly.

And sometimes IntelliSense didn't work in the input fields because there was a red underline, but often it worked fine.

Slow Page Loading Speed

I implemented a photo gallery, but it takes about 10 seconds to load the photo list data from DynamoDB and then load the images from S3.

There's no caching feature on the webpage, so when I go to the next page and then return to the previous page in the image gallery component with pagination, I have to wait over 5 seconds to load the data again, which is very inconvenient.

I understand that the backend logic runs on Lambda, so I wish there were options to either set Provisioned throughputs directly or take actions for warming the App Studio Lambda function created in my account.

so I think at least app studio team provide some Loader component to show the loading status gracefully.

So, I think the App Studio team should at least provide a Loader component to display the loading status more gracefully.

Limited Customization

Unfortunately, App Studio currently allows only limited UI layouts.

Without CSS support, it is impossible to use flexible layouts like flexbox.

A particularly critical issue for me was the lack of proper support for responsive mobile views.

However, it seems that CSS support will soon be added. Discussions about this are reportedly ongoing within the App Studio team!

Future Expectations

When I first created my project in October 2024, App Studio was still in its preview stage. Now, it has become a generally available (GA) service.

Communicating with the development team on Slack and seeing my feedback reflected in improvements was fascinating. I see great potential in App Studio.

Here are some areas in which I hope App Studio will improve:

Enhanced DynamoDB Integration: Support for JSON data types and Join clauses.
Performance Optimization: Improve page loading speeds.
Increased UI Component Variety: Add more customizable UI tools.
Improved Developer Documentation: Provide more comprehensive guides with visual aids.

Conclusion

This experience allowed me to truly feel how much AWS values feedback from the developer community. Being a beta tester and participating in the service’s development process was an incredibly unique and rewarding experience.

I hope that this positive culture of the service team actively accepting and incorporating feedback continues in the future.

AWS App Studio: Building an Application as a Beta User of the Low-Code Solution - Pros (Part 1 of 2)

TaeSeong Park — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 10:44:26 +0000

Hi 👋🏻

I’d like to share my experiences and insights about the Low-code application build service, AWS App Studio.

As a beta tester of AWS App Studio, I plan to write blog posts about the 'Pros' and 'Cons' of the platform. Through these posts, I hope to share my experiences and insights with others.

What is AWS App Studio?

Build and modify apps using natural language with AWS App Studio, now generally available | AWS News Blog

aws.amazon.com

AWS App Studio is a generative AI-based application development service that allows users to create applications using natural language without requiring professional software development skills.

It is introduced as a tool that not only "enables easy AI-driven app development without developers" but also "provides security and governance that meet internal IT guidelines and reduces costs by up to 80% compared to similar low-code tools."

👆 AWS App Studio was first introduced at the AWS Summit New York on July 10, 2024.

👆 In Korea, AWS Tech Evangelist Channy Yun introduced it on YouTube on August 30, 2024.

My First Encounter with AWS App Studio

I personally encountered the App Studio service at a session about App Studio during the 2024 Heroes Summit held in Seattle.

John Brock, the Product Manager of App Studio, introduced App Studio at the session. Several aspects introduced in the session caught my attention. I thought I might try using it to create an app for managing my photos, which had become difficult to manage.

When creating a project, you can complete the use case, user flow, and database structure through conversations with an AI chatbot.
Functional UI components such as buttons, date pickers, S3 uploaders, and image viewers can be placed on the page using drag and drop.
Button events can be implemented through visualized workflows. Conditional statements, loops, and various AWS service components can be defined using drag-and-drop, or directly implemented with JavaScript code.
There are three deployment stages: Development, Testing, and Production. You can share the project with desired users.

I thought it might be a good tool to collect and organize photos from the AWS Korean User Group, and at the same time, I had hopes of creating a personal photo gallery application similar to Google Photos.

So, after returning to Korea, I started developing a photo gallery application using App Studio, beginning my journey as an App Studio beta tester.

Photo Gallery App Development Process

The main features of the photo gallery app I created are as follows:

Viewing and creating album lists
Uploading and managing photos
Viewing photos by album
Leaving comments on each photo
Granting editing permissions for albums based on user roles

I utilized several features of App Studio during the development process:

DynamoDB integration
S3 file upload
Business logic implementation through automation
Code generation via AI chatbot

Communication on the AWS Developers Slack Channel

App Studio has a private channel within the AWS Developers Slack workspace. You can join this private channel by submitting an entry request form on the App Studio homepage and getting approval.

After joining the App Studio Slack channel, I began sharing the issues I discovered during the development process.

To my surprise, I was able to receive real-time feedback from the App Studio development team, including François Gast and other product developers, much faster than I expected.

Meeting the App Studio Team at re:Invent 2024

#awsappstudio #reinvent2024 #reinvent2024 #awsappstudio | Tae-Seong Park

#AWSAppStudio 를 사용해 보면서 AWS Developers Slack에 많은 질문과 답변, 피드백을 주고받으며 가까워진 François Gast 와 #reInvent2024 엑스포에서 처음으로 대면했네요! 만나서 정말 반가웠고 Arunsankar Muralitharan 님도 만나서 반가웠습니다 🙌 그리고 또한 올해 7월 시애틀 히어로 서밋에서 발표자로 보았던 John Brock 도 다시 만나게 되어서 반가웠습니다! 제가 이야기한 피드백이 얼른 반영되어서 사용하기 좋은 서비스가 되었으면 좋겠네요 👍 I met François Gast for the first time at the #reInvent2024 expo while using #AWSAppStudio and getting close to him through many questions, answers, and feedback in the AWS Developers Slack! It was really nice to meet him and nice to meet Arunsankar Muralitharan as well 🙌 And it was also nice to meet John Brock again, who I saw as a presenter at the Seattle Hero Summit in July this year! I hope the feedback I gave will be reflected quickly so that it becomes a good service to use 👍

linkedin.com

After active communication on Slack, I finally had the chance to meet the development team in person at the re:Invent 2024 expo booth.

I met François Gast, Arunsankar Muralitharan, and John Brock, who had been a presenter at the July Seattle Hero Summit, and we discussed the App Studio service in detail.

First, I asked about their plans for performance improvements. I pointed out that page loading times were too slow, often exceeding 5 seconds. I also brought up the issue of the lack of support for JSON types when connecting Entities that serve as databases in App Studio to DynamoDB tables, and whether this feature might be available in the future.

The team explained that they were doing their best to improve loading performance and mentioned that support for JSON types in DynamoDB tables could be possible in the future.

Finally, François Gast expressed gratitude, saying that I was one of the most dedicated developers and contributors among the early adopters of App Studio.

This made sense, as I had previously spent about an hour providing feedback to another App Studio staff member via Amazon Chime. I believe that might be why they extended their thanks to me.

Pros of using AWS App Studio

S3 Image Upload and Preview

App Studio includes an "S3 Upload" component, which allows you to specify the S3 bucket where you want to store files. Once configured, you can implement functionality to select and upload images directly to the S3 bucket from the page you’ve created.

Additionally, there is an "Image Viewer" component that displays images stored in the S3 bucket. This made it incredibly easy to implement functionality to show uploaded images.

To retrieve this data, you need to set up a "Connector." This involves configuring the Amazon S3 bucket you want to access. Although it was a bit tedious, I was able to complete it without much difficulty by following the guide documentation.

Database Data Integration

App Studio allows you to create and manage DynamoDB tables directly. Alternatively, it’s possible to connect to existing DynamoDB tables.

To fetch data, you also need to configure a Connector. This involves selecting the database service and table you wish to connect to.

Implementing Logic with Visual Workflows

As a developer, implementing a single piece of logic often requires careful consideration of numerous aspects: database connections, selecting which service or object to retrieve, iterating through data, and applying conditional statements—all while translating these ideas into code. This creative process can be quite challenging.

The "Automation" feature in App Studio allows you to build logic by dragging and dropping components, which was impressive.

It also provides the flexibility to insert customized logic as needed, making it a convenient tool.

I was especially impressed by the ability to loop through database data and query specific items. If I decided to retrieve data from a different table, I could change the configuration with just a few clicks.

User Access and Permission Management

The ability to selectively display certain content to specific users in the app I developed seemed like a powerful feature.

It was surprisingly easy to implement with just a few clicks and one line of code.

Deployment Environment

The deployment stages are structured as Development → Testing → Production.

It’s not possible to move directly from the Development stage to Production. Instead, you must go through the Testing stage before deploying to Production, which I found to be a well-thought-out deployment process.

Project Duplication

There is a feature that allows you to duplicate an existing project.

For example, if you completed creating a photo album as a community project and want to create a personal project with the same functionality, you can do it in just a few clicks by following these steps:

Duplicate the project.
Create a new connector for the database or S3 bucket you want to link to.
Link the newly created connector to the duplicated project.

This Post will continue

Those are the "Pros" of AWS App Studio's personal experience.
I am going to post the "Cons" of AWS App Studio soon.

Journey of a Korean Community Hero in AWS Activities 2024

TaeSeong Park — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 14:41:25 +0000

Hello! In this post, I’d like to share a summary of the AWSKRUG (AWS Korea User Group) community activities I’ve participated in throughout 2024.

AWSKRUG has always been a source of motivation and positive energy for me, providing valuable opportunities to connect with global developers.

I also took the stage as a keynote speaker to inspire others to actively participate in community activities and to encourage stepping beyond local boundaries into the global stage.

Additionally, I took part in various events as a booth staff member, promoting AWS communities and AWSKRUG to a wider audience.

Let’s dive into the key activities I was involved in this year!

Key Activities

Organized 12 AWSKRUG Meetups

This year, I hosted a total of 12 AWSKRUG meetups, covering the following themes:

Guro Digital Complex (#gudi) - 3 events

The Guro Digital Complex sub-group has been active since 2017, providing a casual environment for people working or living nearby to network.
Due to challenges in finding large venues, we opted for small, cozy gatherings at my office space, which helped create an intimate and engaging atmosphere.

Game Tech (#gametech) - 3 events

The Game Tech sub-group focuses on AWS gaming and game technology topics and is hosted at the AWS Korea office.
Co-managed with the AWS gaming team, we occasionally feature technical sessions led by AWS experts.

Frontend (#frontend) - 6 events

The Frontend sub-group, a spin-off initiative, covers all topics related to frontend technology.
This group maintains a well-balanced gender ratio among participants and attracts younger audiences, leading to enthusiastic Q&A sessions and an influx of volunteer speakers.
Thanks to the synergy between the energetic participants and supportive organizers, these events regularly draw 50-60 attendees.

As a host, I worked to create a welcoming atmosphere for first-time participants and supported new organizers in their roles. Beyond presentations, we incorporated discussions to allow attendees to dive deeper into specific topics.

I also experimented with scheduling snack breaks at different times (beginning, middle, or end) to optimize networking opportunities. While the perfect solution remains elusive, hosting snack breaks in the middle or end proved more effective than at the start, as attendees were often more comfortable after warming up to the environment.

May - AWS Summit Seoul

In May, I supported the AWS Summit Seoul as a booth staff member, introducing AWSKRUG to first-time attendees. It was a rewarding experience, showcasing the community’s activities and fostering interest and participation.

July - AWS Heroes Summit

In July, I attended the AWS Heroes Summit in Seattle as an invitee of the AWS Hero community program.

With courage, I engaged with AWS Heroes from around the world, exchanging ideas about how meetups are organized in different countries.

One key takeaway was the realization that Korean attendees could benefit greatly from more proactive networking, which inspired me to explore potential collaborations between Korean user groups and global meetup organizers.

September - Keynote at AUSGCON

On September 21, I delivered a keynote speech at AUSGCON, hosted by the AWS University Student Group (AUSG).

During my talk, I highlighted the boundless possibilities of community activities and encouraged active participation, advocating for stepping onto the global stage.

This event offered an inspiring opportunity to motivate students and make community involvement more approachable.

October - KWDC24 Community Partner Staff

On October 25, AWSKRUG participated as a community partner at KWDC24, Korea’s largest Apple ecosystem conference, held at Sejong University.

It was delightful to meet past AWSKRUG participants who joined the conference as speakers and reconnect with familiar faces from the Seoul iOS meetup community.

With a significant number of international attendees at this conference, I had the chance to introduce AWSKRUG to a global audience, answering their questions about AWS iOS SDKs and EC2 Mac instances. We also distributed custom KWDC-themed stickers.

November - Community Day Booth Staff

In November, I supported the Community Day event as a booth staff member, assisting attendees and promoting AWSKRUG activities.

During the event, I unexpectedly won the typing speed challenge, setting record-breaking scores, much to the amazement of other participants. It was both an amusing and memorable moment!

Additionally, the day coincided with the 10th anniversary of Channy Yun’s tenure at AWS. Before the afterparty, the Community Day staff surprised him with a celebratory cake, creating a heartwarming and joyful moment for everyone.

Future Plans and Goals

re:Invent 2024

I’ll be attending AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, participating in numerous sessions and community events. Having been deeply impressed by last year’s scale and opportunities to connect globally, I’m eager to return this year.

Excitingly, I’ll be volunteering at the Community Developer Lounge on Tuesday from 2 PM to 3 PM. I plan to bring a variety of AWSKRUG stickers, so be sure to stop by!

AWSKRUG End-of-Year Gathering (December 27)

AWSKRUG meetup organizers will come together for an end-of-year party on December 27 to reflect on this year’s achievements and plan for the future.

I hope to promote collaboration with global communities while ensuring that our activities remain manageable alongside everyone’s professional commitments.

Closing Thoughts

2024 reaffirmed the joy and energy that community activities bring me. The inspiration I’ve gained from AWS Global Communities and AWSKRUG motivates me to continue improving and contributing to these initiatives.

I’d also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the AWS community program coordinators. Your support has enriched our community activities tremendously.

Thank you!

AWSKRUG Community Chronicles: Insights from a Community Hero (2/2)

TaeSeong Park — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 16:18:31 +0000

Organizing Meetup Schedules

Initially, meetups were primarily organized based on location (gudi, gangnam). However, as meetups emerged based on technology categories (serverless, container, architecture, etc.), multiple meetups began to occur simultaneously on the same day.

To address this, organizers share the AWSKRUG Google Calendar to register schedules in advance and avoid overlapping meetup schedules. Despite these efforts, with over 20 active meetups currently, occasional schedule conflicts still occur. In such cases, adjustments are made to the schedule to avoid overlapping events and minimize participant dilemmas.

One day, a gudi meetup event was held with only four participants, including myself (no photo was taken at that time, so a photo of a meetup with six participants, including myself, is used as a replacement). Perhaps topics from other meetups held on the same day were more popular at that time.

However, despite the small number of participants at the gudi event, I realized the advantage of its atmosphere. Thanks to the small number of participants, we could deeply listen to each other's work, specialized skills, challenges, etc., and quickly become closer. Therefore, now even when the number of participants is small, there is no sense of urgency. Of course, there is still a desire for more people to participate.

Participant Payment Confirmation

Our meetup collects participation fees, mostly 5000 won (as of June 8, 2024, $3.62). Participation fees are collected to prevent no-shows and purchase snacks.

Each meetup has a treasurer responsible for managing participation fees, and each meetup has its own account. When participation fees are received in the meetup account, the treasurer checks the payment status by comparing the names of the participants who paid the fee with those who applied for the meetup.

However, sometimes there are situations where the participant who paid the fee does not match the meetup ID. In such cases, asking participants to enter their real names in the meetup registration form usually resolves the issue. If the payer is still not identified, DMs are sent to the meetup participants or inquiries are made in the Slack meetup channel.

We have been operating in this way for seven years, but we have not yet found a perfect way to confirm 100% of participant payments. Therefore, we personally verify the payment status of participants until the day of the meetup. The inability to directly collect participation fees through meetup applications seems to be the main reason for this.

Participant Entry Registration (Optional)

According to the security regulations of buildings like AWS Korea, meetup organizers must submit a visitor entry list to the building security team three days before the event. Meetup organizers provide the list of participants to the venue rental manager, who then submits the list to the building security team.

After submitting the visitor entry list, meetup registrations are closed. If new participants wish to join after that, they are sent a rejection message saying, "Sorry, please apply for the next meetup without being late."

Meetup organizers maintain this stance because they find it difficult to spend time and energy on this process as they are working in their respective companies.

Snacks

The snacks we prepare have evolved over time. When I first joined the community, it was mainly one roll of kimbap and carbonated drinks.

Later, we ordered pizza and divided it into 2-3 slices each, and now we prepare various snacks such as toast, sandwiches, and hamburgers.

Due to price increases after the pandemic, there are often cases where the snack order amount exceeds the participation fee of 5000 won ($3.62 as of 06.08), leading to an increase in meetup fees.

Currently, there are two opinions among organizers, and some meetups have raised their fees to provide better quality snacks.

I'm curious if snacks are prepared at meetups in other countries, so please leave a comment.

Icebreaking & Networking

I strive to provide positive experiences to participants who join this user group operated by me and other organizers, so they can feel welcomed and gain a sense of belonging, receive courage to present their experiences in front of others, and change their nature to speak up first.

Like me when I first attended a meetup event, typical Korean participants at events feel awkward and are often embarrassed to showcase their skills to others.

Therefore, we start the event by introducing the meetup and allowing each participant, starting with myself and the organizers, to introduce themselves.

When participants introduce themselves by talking about what they do and what technologies they are interested in, I believe they gain the experience of speaking up in this space, and this experience increases the likelihood of them speaking up during Q&A sessions or networking times after the main presentation. I think it's much easier than overcoming awkwardness and embarrassment until they speak up.

During networking time, we make sure to have snacks available. We set up snacks at each table so that people can gather around and have conversations while eating.

There was a time when the networking atmosphere was so good that the meetup exceeded its end time. The next day, there was a complaint from an adjacent office worker who was working overtime, stating that the noise from the meetup continued past the scheduled end time.

I feel sorry for the coworker who had to work overtime that day. However, I evaluate the atmosphere of that event as successful.

Sometimes, after the meetup event ends, we arrange a time to go to a nearby pub for drinks and networking.

Personally, I think networking outside the event venue is a much better opportunity for participants to get closer to each other. Moreover, the satisfaction of participants attending this networking session is much higher.

However, from the perspective of organizers preparing for the event, it requires a lot of energy. There is no guarantee that everyone who attended the event will join the networking session, and if more than 20 people suddenly try to visit a pub, it often becomes cumbersome as many pubs may not have enough space, requiring us to visit several places to find a suitable one.

Reflections as a User Group Leader

The process of preparing meetup events is not easy, especially for those with little experience. If even one participant feels uncomfortable at this event, it can be very burdensome.

However, after the event, receiving feedback from even one person saying that this meeting was very beneficial brings great satisfaction and joy.

Furthermore, there is an opportunity to expand one's network by directly communicating with presenters and receiving technical hints, as well as getting to know passionate meetup organizers who contribute to the operation of the community and have a great passion for AWS technology.

Being recognized for my consistent activities as a user group leader and being selected as the first member of AWS Community Builder, invited to the 2022 Thailand APJ Summit to meet overseas Community Builders, and being selected as an AWS Community Hero and invited to re:Invent events are experiences that I am extremely grateful for.

I consider it an honor to be part of a community where passionate people from all over the world can become friends, and I want to continue spreading the positive influence of the AWS community to many people in the future.

AWSKRUG Community Chronicles: Insights from a Community Hero (1/2)

TaeSeong Park — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 16:06:26 +0000

Currently, there are 24 meetups in the AWS Korea User Group(AWSKRUG).

Most of the meetups are held in Seoul, with some also in Pangyo, Gyeonggi-do, and Busan.

Currently, I am running the gudi, frontend, and gametech meetups with several other organizers. All three meetups are held in Seoul, with gudi being specifically located in the Guro Digital Complex area.

Starting in 2018, when I first began running meetups, I experienced preparing for the events alone, the atmosphere of the meetups when there were only four participants, and even complaints from employees working overtime during networking sessions.

I want to share the community management methods and various experiences I have had so far.

Shy guy Suddenly Becoming a Meetup Organizer

In August 2017, shortly after I joined my current company, our COO suggested attending a meetup near the company in Guro Digital Complex. The experience of attending the first meetup felt like entering a new world.

Active discussions, no hiding of shortcomings, an attitude of listening to others' opinions and seeking improvement, and a welcoming atmosphere even for first-time attendees were all impressive.

After attending several meetups, many participants recognized and greeted me warmly. I felt welcomed and acknowledged as part of the community. I also hoped to quickly build my skills so I could present in front of these people someday.

One day, the organizer of the Guro Digital meetup next to our company left for another job. As he couldn't dedicate time to the community anymore, he announced the meetup's closure.

Feeling sad about the potential end of the meetup, which provided great networking and skill-building opportunities just three minutes away from our office, I volunteered to take over to keep the community alive.

Despite not having the personality to speak in public or any experience presenting at meetups at that time, I volunteered to lead the meetup.

Thus, I started operating the meetup with a sense of responsibility and pressure.

Overview of Meetup Event Preparation

The process of opening a meetup event is as follows:

Find speakers
Announce the meetup
Confirm attendance fees
Choose snacks for the event
Arrive at the venue 30 minutes before the meetup to set up snacks
Check attendees' names upon entry

Typically, 1 to 10 people prepare for each meetup, handling roles such as venue reservation, microphone operation during events, assisting attendees, bringing snacks, and managing attendance fees.

Initially, 1-2 people prepared meetup events, but as meetup culture matured, these roles became established.

Some meetups still have one person handling everything. Currently, I am the one of these meetups's member, I run the gudi meetup alone.

Running a meetup event alone is challenging. I usually reserve the venue at my workplace, announce the meetup, monitor attendance fees, order pizza on the event day, start and finish the event, dismiss attendees, and lock the office door afterward. Although I've simplified the process as much as possible, there's still a lot to manage.

Meetup Event Content Preparation

Meetup content is typically organized in the following formats:

Keynote
Discussions
Hands-on sessions

Keynote

The most common and manageable format is speaker-led sessions resembling lectures or seminars. also Q&A session after Keynote session satisfy many participants as well.

To add a personal experience, in the early days of the Guro Digital(#gudi) meetup, I felt pressured to hold monthly events regularly. (there were some other organizers who felt the same as well) Sometimes, there were no speakers for the next month's event. To maintain the meetup, I volunteered to prepare and present my experiences with AWS.

This became my first AWS community presentation, fulfilling my aspiration since joining the meetup.

Discussions

At my first meetup event, the topic was "Your thoughts on DevOps?" I shared a blank Google Slide for participants to edit and add their thoughts on DevOps. Each person briefly spoke about their thoughts, followed by a discussion.

As meetup operations matured, we organized several discussions without speakers. We shared a Google Slide with a common topic for participants to discuss.

During the pandemic, we hosted an Amazon Chime online meetup with engaging topics like:

Tools or furniture recommendations for improving work experiences
Tips for staying productive while working remotely
Motivation for study groups
Job recruiting
Development problem consultations

Participants shared spontaneous ideas and enjoyed the sessions.

After the pandemic, we organized discussions on AWS challenges, advice for newcomers, and advice for new AWSKRUG community members.

Before these events, I invited experienced AWS users and frequent community participants as mentors via Slack DM. They helped newcomers with technical questions, and I rewarded them with community hero credits.

After the events, we received feedback about cost-saving, minimizing downtime during updates, RDS issues, and satisfying answers to participants' questions.

Hands-On Sessions

Before the pandemic, we held hands-on sessions on AWS basics that even beginners could follow for about four hours. We invited participants on weekends.

Multiple community members passionately contributed to preparing these sessions, assisting participants during the events, and resolving unexpected situations. Despite the energy required, successfully completing these events brought immense satisfaction.

Event Content Summary

After each event, presentation slides or discussion history are organized and uploaded to the AWSKRUG meetup GitHub repository. Additionally, some meetups record the presentations during the event or upload them to the AWSKRUG YouTube via live streaming.

...

I think this content is too long for one page, so let's continue in the next post!

AWS Korean User Group had 500th meetup celebration party 🎉

TaeSeong Park — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 16:54:20 +0000

AWSKRUG had 500th offline meetup!

at June 30. 2023, AWSKRUG(Korean UserGroup) had special event for celebrating 500th offline meetup!

More than 130 participants gathered in the meeting room at the AWS Korea office. We had various types of sessions, such as sharing career experiences from the organizers and AWS Heroes, as well as a networking session where attendees talked and exchanged contact information with each other.

Prepare for this event

This event was held by all the members of AWSKRUG only. The members, including myself, went to the venue early where the event was going to be held and prepared everything. Me and other members went there even at lunchtime, had lunch together, and worked until 5 pm, then started preparing for the event with other members (in the middle of a weekday 🤣).

Introduction of meetups

at the beginning of the 500th meetup, the "introduction of each meetup" section was held.

Each organizer of each meetup came to the front and introduced their respective meetup.

AWSKRUG held around 9-10 offline meetups per month. look at that events took place at this June and July.
We hold around 9~10 meetups per month.

Events at June. 2023

Events at July. 2023

I am managing the "frontend", "Gudi(local area in Seoul)", "gametech" meetup, so I came to the front three times 🤣

Although when all three events took place in one month, my schedule was crazy, I was happy to have been a part of it all.

Introduction of Korean AWS Heroes

The next session was introduction of Korean AWS Heroes.

They were welcomed on stage and greeted the participants.

(from the left, Yan So, Kyuhyun Byun, Jungyoul Yu, TaeSeong Park(me!), Juyoung Song)

(Hyunmin Kim)

Lightning Talk - "My Career's Growth by AWS Community"

The next session was lightening talk by organizers. the topic was "My Career's Growth by AWS Community".
more than 5 guys including myself shared stories on how the community helped grow their careers.

Wrapping up the events

I hope that we maintain this positive vibe and energy forever!
The 500th event brought me back to my experience with AWSKRUG.

Flashback to my AWSKRUG experience

Since I joined this community at Aug 2017, I have had tons of great experiences.

Every time I attend a community event, I gain inspiration and insight into my work as a developer, and I meet many fantastic people related to AWS.

Meeting and talking with participants in the community events with their warm and welcoming atmosphere energizes me. Sometimes, it takes away my stress.

After I started to feel this positive vibe and energy, I wanted to keep this community with my effort.

Became an Organizer

So, I decided to become an organizer of the meetup.

With my commitments and hard work, the events I organized were well-received, and almost every participant enjoyed the vibe, shared experiences, and discussed technical topics.

Became the Community Hero

Soon enough, people recognized me, and I was recommended as a Community Hero.

It was such an honor for me, and I was humbled by the celebration from everyone who attended.

First Ever Foreign Keynote Speaker

This year, the community had its first-ever foreign keynote speaker.

I remember that moment preparing for that event. for those who couldn't understand English well, I got the a copy of the keynote script beforehand, translated it to Korean, and gave it to the participants.

This made many participants could understand better and they asked many questions! Although I forcibly was a translator between speaker and participants, it was the unique experience for me and so much fun!

Continuing to run Meetups

I am still running meetups, and now I am writing this post after "frontend" meetup ended 🤣

I love this community, and I can't wait to see you guys who attend AWS community events! 🤘

🇰🇷 Review of "AMAZING" AWS APAC Community Summit 2022

TaeSeong Park — Sun, 09 Oct 2022 11:40:27 +0000

AWS APAC Community Summit 2022 was held from September 15 to 16.

But I was lazy. Three weeks after the event, I posted a review of the event participation. 🙏
It took this long to prepare little by little, thinking about various photos and experiences. I will share my experience as much as possible, so you can look forward to it.

An invitation to an event

One day, The Leader of AWSKRUG(South Korean UserGroup) Yoon Seok-chan shared the news on the AWSKRUG Organizer Slack channel that the APAC Community Summit event was being held. AWS will send invitations only to those who apply. Looking at the offer, I thought, "I'll really regret it if I don't go."

a round-trip airfare

Stay at the hotel for 3 nights (September 14th - September 17th)

All meals on the day of the event (September 15 and 16)

Event contents

Keynote Address by AWS Leader

Technical and non-technical detailed sessions.

Best practices for community operations and building social media influence

APAC Community Awards / Networking Opportunities

Fun activities

But I was hesitating while looking at my work schedule. Fortunately, the month-long vacation schedule that our company gave me matched the schedule of this event, so I applied without hesitation.

Travel arrangements

After working so hard, I found out that I had a week left on my trip. I prepared for the trip as busily as I did for work.

Insurance - I subscribed to insurance that supports COVID-19 quarantine costs.

Multi-adapter - Looking for Daiso all over the town. I also took a multi-tap just in case. But the hotel already had a 220 volt outlet.

TaeGukKi (Korean Flag) - Starts searching for the Korean flag a day before the trip. I went to the district office and they sold a big one, but they didn't sell a mini Korean flag. I looked it up on Daiso, but I couldn't find it. I thought I could get it easily, but it was the hardest. Fortunately, the same travel member has three at home, so I decided to rent it

User Group Gifts - I bought "YangBanGim" (drived laver, black and paper-thin) as a gift for global members. I bought about 35 from the mart and put them in the carrier, which accounted for almost 90% of the contents of the carrier. The remaining 10% is well compressed and crumpled clothes and shoes

Vaccination certificate - I printed a total of 3 certificates in English version, but when I showed the vaccination history through the COOV mobile application at Incheon International Airport, it just passed without showing the certificate...
And then when I arrived Bangkok airport in Thailand, I simply put down my fingerprint, and taking pictures without mask at the place where passport inspection. The person in charge of the passport He asked nothing like "give me some paper" and "why you are come to Thailand?".
after confirming that I am South Korean, He said "Welcome" with smile. so I finally arrived Bangkok with happiness 😀.

Riding Thailand Taxi

There is an application called GRAB, which prevents tourists from feeling bad by paying a high fee while taking a taxi.
If you enter your destination in advance in the GRAB app, you will get the exact fee you need to pay. You can even get a bike with this app!
I rode a bike with the GRAB app once and it was a thrilling and fun experience.

Day1

First Expression of Hotel

I checked in to a five-star hotel called [Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel] (https://goo.gl/maps/q96Xtye6SCWdxXB97 provided by AWS, and the hotel was better than I thought.

I received a welcome kit prepared by AWS at the front desk. I was surprised to see that there are two APAC Community Summit T-shirts, AWS user group stickers, Thai transportation "TukTuk" wooden models, wet tissues, and so on.

The room I was assigned was one room per person, but there were two large beds 😻.

After seeing this, I realized that it is a five-star hotel.

And I heard a lot that Thailand is hot, but compared to the weather in Korea now, it was similar. But it's so cold inside because the air conditioner is operating so hard inside.

I've been feeling cold ever since the plane. But when I arrived in Thailand, I felt air conditioning sickness. So as soon as I unpacked, I took a warm shower, wrapped myself in a blanket, and slept until dinner.
(I didn't get COVID, you should know that haha 😁)

Welcome Dinner

AWS opened a big welcome dinner. Outside the door of the venue, there was a hotel buffet.

Entering the venue, other foreign members were seen holding champagne glasses, especially Western members standing up and talking and networking with other members. However, on the Korean side, I could see other members, including myself, sitting still. 😆

It was my first time, so I was intimidated at first, but a Malaysian member sat at our table and talked to me, and it was nice to talk to me first, and we talked a lot.

If I have a chance to participate in such an event again next time, I would like to approach and talk to global members more actively first.

No more TukTuk

Because Thai massage is so famous, I tried to go to a massage shop with Korean members at night after the event.

While walking out of the hotel, a member suddenly talked to the tuktuk driver, saying he wanted to ride the tuktuk. We decided to go to 50 baht, and we managed to get five people on board in a tight space.

20220914_213850.mp4 - Google Drive

drive.google.com

When I first rode the tuktuk, I was excited to drive on the road with colorful lights inside and open on all sides.

However, after more than 10 minutes of running, I realized that I was going to the wrong place when I looked at Google Maps. Actually, it's a 15-minute walk to the massage shop. So we asked the driver where he was going, and the driver spoke unknown English and suddenly asked for 200 baht. We felt a strange atmosphere and asked the driver to pull over, but the driver couldn't communicate and tried to bargain. In the end, Tuk-Tuk stopped and we got off, and when we told the driver that we would call the police if we kept doing this, he made a bold expression and gesture and just left.

In the end, we ended up using a grab taxi in an unknown place.

I made a promise at this time. I'm not going to ride "tuktuk" anymore. 😅

The Thai massage expert at the massage shop where I arrived was too professional. Thanks to the massage specialist, I was able to get rid of my bad feelings about Tuk-Tuk and end the day well 😆

Day2

Session Started

The symptoms of air conditioning disease had not yet recovered.
I had a hotel breakfast in the morning with a cloudy mind and entered the venue in earnest.

Entering the entrance of the event hall, there was a fun photo zone in front of it, and desserts were prepared in front of the door.
When I entered the venue, I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere.

A session called Future of AWS Community shows a video of community operations in different countries. As a Korean, the case of Korea stood out.
In the past, AWSKRUG rented an entire movie theater and held a community event, and the panel commented that it was Super Cool 👍

Later sessions also covered actual technical topics.
What I remember the most was the presentation about "Services' Past and Present."
And I had 2 or 3 sessions in a row, so my concentration was a little disorganized

In the next session, there was also a time to go into small rooms and have a hands-on session.
I participated in hands-on on Amazon Event Bridge, and the speaker kindly helped demonstrate and answered all the questions uploaded by the participants in the Q&A session.
I was sitting here at the same table with a member of New Zealand and Indonesia, and we talked a lot with each other during the session, but we talked so much that another member asked us to be quiet. I'm sorry to disturb others. 🙏
After the session, they exchanged contacts with members of New Zealand and Indonesia.
Personally, I think this session was very useful.

What we did in break Time between Sessions

A swimming pool

I went to the hotel swimming pool with the members during the break.

"Ttakjichigi" Game (flat and square game pieces)

The Game Ttakjichigi is a Korean game played by two or more players with "Ttakji". "Ttakji" is constructed by folding two square pieces of paper together into a square. maybe you already know if you had watched "SQUID GAME" 😆

A game taking each other’s "Ttakji" by hitting and flipping them over on the ground.

In the middle of the event, an opinion came out on the Korean member's own Slack channel "Shall we do Ttakjichigi to attract global members attention?" and one member spontaneously folded "Ttakji" using a sheet of paper in the event hall. So our members took it to the swimming pool and tried "Ttakjichigi" once, but no one showed up in the swimming pool, so we failed to attract attention. 😂

Dress code

In the picture above, I am the one wearing a black shirt with a black mask, and I knew that there was a dress code called "Smart Casual" during the event, but most people showed up at the venue wearing T-shirts and shorts they received as souvenirs when checking in at the hotel. I even thought I was misunderstanding the concept of smart casual. 😅

Group Photo

It was time for all the global members to gather in one place and take pictures waving their respective flags.
I thought it was a good thing that I borrowed a mini Korean flag from another Korean member, but when I saw the size of the flags of other countries, they all brought huge flags. At this time, I regretted it. "Oh, I should have bought a large Korean flag at City Hall."”

One of the Korean members wearing Korean traditional clothes and a mask of "Gaksital" (Korean traditional mask) drew attention from members around the world. And several global members approached and talked to me. “you look so cool!!”

APAC Community Awards & Networking dinner

Among all the communities in APAC, award ceremonies were held for each category.

At the beginning of the ceremony, a celebration performance was held. It seemed to be a traditional Thai dance. It was a very colorful and interesting performance.
At the next award ceremony, South Korea's Yoo Jeong-yeol won the "Ownership Award" category. I was proud. 👍

And a member of the Indian community came out and said he wanted to teach traditional Indian dance to everyone who participated.
So all the APAC members had a good time getting up and dancing along.

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Meals and networking times continued after the awards ceremony

During the meal, a Japanese member approached me and asked me first if you followed me on Twitter today, so I greeted him warmly and talked about contacting him. I thought this was a good chance to give "YangBanGim," so I gave the Japanese member the "YangBanGim" that I prepared, and I felt good because they liked it very much.

I also distributed "YangBanGim" to Indonesian or Bangladeshi members who were sitting at the same table, and the reaction was, "What is this? "Isn't it spicy?" was the response. I think the members were a little wary because it was their first time seeing "YangBanGim."

Even after distributing it to many people, there was a little bit of "YangBanGim" left, so I gave it to all the Japanese members who responded well. Then, a Japanese male member who greeted me first drew attention to all the Japanese members sitting at the two round tables, and _"Taesung-sang presented YangBanGim as a gift! A round of applause! I remember being applauded and feeling very embarrassed at the same time, but in a good mood

However, the start time of the award ceremony was 7 p.m., and I could not have dinner until well past 8:30 p.m. I was hungry throughout the event, but this part was a little disappointing.

Final destination is Thai Massage

Thai massage is the best to warm up your tired body after all the fun events!

I received one massage a day.

Day3

Korean UserGroup Member was in Lightening Talk Session

The third day since I came to Bangkok was the official last day of the APAC Community Summit.

Hwang Soo-yeon, a member of the AUSG (AWSKRUG University Student User Group), made a presentation in English as a speaker.
He announced the journey of running the AUSG community, and it seems that it is similar in any country to worry about running a steady community. It is said that a group leader from India and other countries talked to Hwang Soo-yeon and asked her opinions on community management.

There was a session to discuss diversity within the community, and female panelists came out and talked.

This time made me think about what efforts should be made to allow many female members to participate in the Korean community.

First ever experience of Durian

I ate a lot of traditional food at Thai restaurant in a big shopping mall center near the hotel and it was very delicious.

"Morning Glory", "Tom Yum Goong", etc. I don't remember the other foods, but all the foods were delicious

And for the first time, I came across a fruit called "Durian" as ice cream.
The Korean AUSG members who saw Durian looked very concerned. Because they told me the failure experience of buying it at the mart yesterday and saying it was too bad. It was evaluated that it probably tasted worse than garbage. 😅

But this "Durian" ice cream I ordered came with a thin slice of "Durian" on the ice cream. Once I tried it, I smelled a unique durian, and it smelled a little like gas, but after that, it tasted like a fruit that was not bad.
In conclusion, my first durian experience was successful. 👍

End of AWS APAC Community Summit 2022

After several Lightning Talk sessions, the official event of the AWS APAC Community Summit ended.

Kris Howard & Shafraz Rahim, who played the role of a header in hosting the event, came out and talked about where to do it next year, and ended it with a promise of next time.

Special Dinner time with KR User Group members

The official event ended around 3 p.m., and Korean user group members booked a rooftop restaurant at another hotel for dinner.

The view of the rooftop after sunset was so wonderful. After ordering the food in such a good mood, it took more than an hour and a half for the main dish to come out. 😕
Was the food served too fast in Korea? We were so frustrated.

After that, the food finally came out, and the food was really delicious, so I think the annoying emotions have been relieved a little.

Day4

The next day, I spent all my time buying souvenirs and came back to Korea.

I went around the BigC Market and several large supermarkets near the hotel and bought a lot of gifts for my acquaintances, friends, and family. I bought them one by one, and before I knew it, I bought too much haha.
However, fortunately, I was able to exhaust all the people I met in Korea because I gave them away.

Long Live AWS community!

The final review of the trip and the AWS APAC Community Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, is so good. I want to go again. And I was motivated to work harder on AWS community activities. 👍

Thanks to AWS and the AWS Community Builders program, I was able to communicate with people all over the world in these wonderful places. Thank you very much. And thank you very much to AWS Yoon Seok-chan) in Korea for introducing us to participate in this event.

Amazing AWS! Keep going with amazing job!! 👏🙇🏻‍♀️

Jump over a hurdle of working with Amplify backend environment

TaeSeong Park — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 11:15:37 +0000

Introducing

I'm a member of AWSKRUG which is AWS community in Korea,

and I am working on a Open Source project named kendra-button.
This project is the serivice using ML service Amazon Kendra.

I'm in charge of all of the frontend and Auth, Hosting of backend.

This post is my experience working on separating the backend environment into dev and prod.

and any opinions or advice are welcome. cause the "AWS Community Builders" is the organization for developing better experience and better features using AWS 😆👍

Amplify Team Environment

Amplify is a tool and service that I am passionately using because it supports a number of functions that deploy in a fully managed AWS infrastructure such as web hosting, membership authentication, and functions, etc.

Among this numerous features,
Amplify backend environment looked great for team project to switch the stage like dev/prod.

The reason I decieded to use this feature is to simplify the tool to use.
I'm already using Amplify Hosting / Auth for Cognito / and Function for Cognito Lambda trigger,
so It would be nice to group together and easy to manage.

Amplify Document said, "Every Amplify backend environment is a container for the categories added to your project. To deploy updates to an environment, run amplify push."
and "Amplify matches the standard Git workflow"

Reality of Amplify Team Environment

Let me start to share my frustrating experience working with Amplify Environment.
I was using only one environment called dev. so this is the experience of the process about adding a new environment called prod.

To tell the conclusion first,

the way hit the env checkout command (e.g., from dev to prod)

  amplify env checkout prod (x) -> amplify env checkout prod --restore

be careful to use amplify pull command with appId and envName flag when you already configured amplify environment in your project. amplify folder would be disappears at once

  amplify pull --appId {appId} --envName {name of env}

don't checkout the amplify environment in same git branch. It's not good at your mental health.
- because team-provider-info.json doesn't follow the context exactly with making several amplify env checkout actions.
- and actually not only team-provider-info.json do, but others do by unknown reason.
- so please split into different "git branch" per "amplify env"

Override wrong info to "Auth" when checkout another env

This is what I discovered incidentally so let me share.

the status of prod environment.

| Category | Resource name                        |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663PreSignup |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663          |

the status of devs.

| Category | Resource name                        |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127dPreSignup |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127d          |

In a state that is already set as the prod environment, I tried to checkout the env dev.

but I had to re input the social provider's info which is I'd already configured.

$ amplify env checkout dev

✔ Initialized provider successfully.

 You've opted to allow users to authenticate via Facebook.  If you haven't already, you'll need to go to https://developers.facebook.com and create an App ID. 

 Enter your Facebook App ID for your OAuth flow:  {AMPLIFY_FACEBOOK_CLIENT_ID}
 Enter your Facebook App Secret for your OAuth flow:  {AMPLIFY_FACEBOOK_CLIENT_SECRET}

 You've opted to allow users to authenticate via Google.  If you haven't already, you'll need to go to https://developers.google.com/identity and create an App ID. 

 Enter your Google Web Client ID for your OAuth flow:  {AMPLIFY_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID}
 Enter your Google Web Client Secret for your OAuth flow:  {AMPLIFY_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET}
Initialized your environment successfully.

team-provider-info.json

I saw the content difference of team-provider-info.json.

keys of [dev.categories.auth, dev.categories.function] are overwritten by prod environment's keys.

kendrabuttonhosting28eb127d_userpool_28eb127d(dev) -> kendrabuttonhosting84e32663_userpool_84e32663(prod)

seeing this happens, I thought I wanna go back to prod.

$ amplify env checkout prod

✔ Initialized provider successfully.
Initialized your environment successfully.


$ amplify status

Current Environment: prod

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | Create    |                   |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663PreSignup | Update    | awscloudformation |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663          | No Change | awscloudformation |

Hosted UI Endpoint: https://social-kendra-prod.auth.us-west-2.amazoncognito.com/
Test Your Hosted UI Endpoint: https://social-kendra-prod.auth.us-west-2.amazoncognito.com/login?response_type=code&client_id=26t8thf04jdel3p73gh4vp99hk&redirect_uri=https://admin.kendra.fun/

Amplify hosting urls: 
┌──────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ FrontEnd Env │ Domain                                            │
├──────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ frontend-dev │ https://frontend-dev.dcj1fh5deo5r3.amplifyapp.com │
│              ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│              │ https://dev.kendra.fun                            │
├──────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ master       │ https://master.dcj1fh5deo5r3.amplifyapp.com       │
│              ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│              │ https://admin.kendra.fun                          │
├──────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ service      │ https://service.dcj1fh5deo5r3.amplifyapp.com      │
│              ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│              │ https://service.kendra.fun                        │
└──────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

I will skip Hosted UI Endpoint and Amplify hosting urls: section from now. because it is exact same contents when I hit amplify status command.

Umm, something wrong happens.
Let me make Function and Hosting's Operations to No Change.

Making "Function" Operation to "No Change"

amplify env checkout prod --restore

$ amplify env checkout prod --restore

✔ Initialized provider successfully.
Initialized your environment successfully.

$ amplify status

Current Environment: prod

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | Create    |                   |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663          | No Change | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663PreSignup | No Change | awscloudformation |

and there is one file changes in git.
this is Amplify Function cloudformation template json file.

see what is changed..
just tab to space. contents are not changed at all.

so I discard changes this file via git

and checking amplify status, there is Function Operation status changed to Update. hmm...

$ amplify status

Current Environment: prod

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | Create    |                   |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663PreSignup | Update    | awscloudformation |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663          | No Change | awscloudformation |

so I recovered the file, Function's Operation status is back to No Change.

Making "Hosting" Operation to "No Change": the whole "amplify" folder disappears?

I want to make the Hosting's Operation to No Change. because I haven't changed hosting.

so I tried to pull the backend environment again. because I have no clue how to recover the Hosting's Operation status!

following command below is reference to Amplify Console for web.

Even though it checks out master environment, which is different from what we're working, key point is answering "No" at "Do you plan on modifying this backend?"

$ amplify pull --appId dcj1fh5deo5r3 --envName master

For more information on AWS Profiles, see:
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-multiple-profiles.html

? Do you want to use an AWS profile? Yes
? Please choose the profile you want to use kendra-geoseong
Amplify AppID found: dcj1fh5deo5r3. Amplify App name is: kendrabuttonhosting
Backend environment master found in Amplify Console app: kendrabuttonhosting
? Choose your default editor: Visual Studio Code
? Choose the type of app that you're building javascript
Please tell us about your project
? What javascript framework are you using react
? Source Directory Path:  frontend/kendra-button-front/src
? Distribution Directory Path: frontend/kendra-button-front/src/out
? Build Command:  npm run-script build
? Start Command: npm run-script start

? Do you plan on modifying this backend? No  # <--- look at this carefully

Added backend environment config object to your project.
Run 'amplify pull' to sync upstream changes.

after this process done, amplify folder disappears.

$ amplify status

You are not working inside a valid amplify project.
Use 'amplify init' in the root of your app directory to initialize your project with Amplify
Error: You are not working inside a valid amplify project.
Use 'amplify init' in the root of your app directory to initialize your project with Amplify
    at getAmplifyDirPath (/Users/geoseong/.npm-packages/lib/node_modules/@aws-amplify/cli/lib/extensions/amplify-helpers/path-manager.js:45:11)
    at getBackendDirPath (/Users/geoseong/.npm-packages/lib/node_modules/@aws-amplify/cli/lib/extensions/amplify-helpers/path-manager.js:51:37)
    at Object.getAmplifyMetaFilePath (/Users/geoseong/.npm-packages/lib/node_modules/@aws-amplify/cli/lib/extensions/amplify-helpers/path-manager.js:93:37)
    at getCloudInitStatus (/Users/geoseong/.npm-packages/lib/node_modules/@aws-amplify/cli/lib/extensions/amplify-helpers/get-cloud-init-status.js:8:41)
    at AmplifyToolkit.showResourceTable [as _showResourceTable] (/Users/geoseong/.npm-packages/lib/node_modules/@aws-amplify/cli/lib/extensions/amplify-helpers/resource-status.js:194:38)
    at Object.run (/Users/geoseong/.npm-packages/lib/node_modules/@aws-amplify/cli/lib/commands/status.js:6:31)
    at Object.executeAmplifyCommand (/Users/geoseong/.npm-packages/lib/node_modules/@aws-amplify/cli/lib/index.js:110:25)
    at executePluginModuleCommand (/Users/geoseong/.npm-packages/lib/node_modules/@aws-amplify/cli/lib/execution-manager.js:131:32)
    at process._tickCallback (internal/process/next_tick.js:68:7)
    at Function.Module.runMain (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:757:11)
FAIL: 1

🤪
this is really frustrating.

I tried to hit pull command again, and I chose Yes in the last question: Do you plan on modifying this backend?

...

so amplify folder recovered. only prod environment.

$ amplify pull --appId dcj1fh5deo5r3 --envName prod

For more information on AWS Profiles, see:
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-multiple-profiles.html

? Do you want to use an AWS profile? Yes
? Please choose the profile you want to use kendra-geoseong
Amplify AppID found: dcj1fh5deo5r3. Amplify App name is: kendrabuttonhosting
Backend environment prod found in Amplify Console app: kendrabuttonhosting
? Choose your default editor: Visual Studio Code
? Choose the type of app that you're building javascript
Please tell us about your project
? What javascript framework are you using react
? Source Directory Path:  src
? Distribution Directory Path: build
? Build Command:  npm run-script build
? Start Command: npm run-script start

? Do you plan on modifying this backend? Yes  # <-- look at this carefully. choose "Yes"

Successfully pulled backend environment prod from the cloud.
Run 'amplify pull' to sync upstream changes.

$ amplify status

Current Environment: prod

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | Create    |                   |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663          | No Change | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663PreSignup | No Change | awscloudformation |

Hosting Still return Create Operation status,
so I followed the instruction of amplify pull --appId dcj1fh5deo5r3 --envName prod which is I hit just before.

Run 'amplify pull' to sync upstream changes.

$ amplify pull

Pre-pull status:

Current Environment: prod

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | Create    |                   |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663          | No Change | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663PreSignup | No Change | awscloudformation |

Local changes detected.
Pulling changes from the cloud will override your local changes.
? Are you sure you would like to continue? Yes
✔ Successfully pulled backend environment prod from the cloud.


Post-pull status:

Current Environment: prod

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | No Change |                   |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663          | No Change | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663PreSignup | No Change | awscloudformation |

Oh, finally I made Hosting's Operation status to No Change.

(actually I don't understand why I have to hit amplify pull command twice.)

Anyways even though the status of amplify displays No Change Operation in every Category, the content team-provider-info.json in my local doesn't have Function and Auth.

Somebody help?
😳

I wanted to know how this happen, but I cannot find in any Amplify Documents.

The reason why split into different "git branch" per "amplify env"

I thought I ended up the issue that the whole amplify folder disappears and recover the environment.

but when I tried to checkout another env to dev, this error returns. dev environment doesn't exist on my local.

$ amplify env checkout dev --restore
Please pass in a valid environment name. Run amplify env list to get a list of valid environments

$ amplify env list

| Environments |
| ------------ |
| *prod        |

In this stuation, Trying to hit the command from Amplify Web Console.

amplify pull --appId dcj1fh5deo5r3 --envName dev

Don't forget to answer Yes when "Do you plan on modifying this backend?" comes.

$ amplify pull --appId dcj1fh5deo5r3 --envName dev

For more information on AWS Profiles, see:
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-multiple-profiles.html

? Do you want to use an AWS profile? Yes
? Please choose the profile you want to use kendra-geoseong
Amplify AppID found: dcj1fh5deo5r3. Amplify App name is: kendrabuttonhosting
Backend environment dev found in Amplify Console app: kendrabuttonhosting
? Choose your default editor: Visual Studio Code
? Choose the type of app that you're building javascript
Please tell us about your project
? What javascript framework are you using react
? Source Directory Path:  src
? Distribution Directory Path: build
? Build Command:  npm run-script build
? Start Command: npm run-script start

? Do you plan on modifying this backend? Yes  # <-- don't forget to choose "Yes"

Successfully pulled backend environment dev from the cloud.
Run 'amplify pull' to sync upstream changes.


$ amplify pull

Pre-pull status:

Current Environment: dev

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | No Change |                   |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127d          | No Change | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127dPreSignup | No Change | awscloudformation |

✔ Successfully pulled backend environment dev from the cloud.


Post-pull status:

Current Environment: dev

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | No Change |                   |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127d          | No Change | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127dPreSignup | No Change | awscloudformation |


$ amplify env list

| Environments |
| ------------ |
| *dev         |
| prod         |

One more experimental try

In a state that is in dev environment, I tried to checkout prod env again. and hit the command without --restore flag. (In the same git branch!)

$ amplify env checkout prod

For more information on AWS Profiles, see:
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-multiple-profiles.html

? Do you want to use an AWS profile? Yes
? Please choose the profile you want to use kendra-geoseong
✔ Initialized provider successfully.

 You've opted to allow users to authenticate via Facebook.  If you haven't already, you'll need to go to https://developers.facebook.com and create an App ID. 

 Enter your Facebook App ID for your OAuth flow:  {AMPLIFY_FACEBOOK_CLIENT_ID}
 Enter your Facebook App Secret for your OAuth flow:  {AMPLIFY_FACEBOOK_CLIENT_SECRET}

 You've opted to allow users to authenticate via Google.  If you haven't already, you'll need to go to https://developers.google.com/identity and create an App ID. 

 Enter your Google Web Client ID for your OAuth flow:  {AMPLIFY_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID}
 Enter your Google Web Client Secret for your OAuth flow:  {AMPLIFY_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET}
? Do you want to configure Lambda Triggers for Cognito? (Y/n) 

# I cancelled it!! (Ctrl + C in OSX)

wow. amplify recognize like Auth is never exists before. 😭
I just cancelled configuring Lambda Trigger step.

and I check the status again

$ amplify status

Current Environment: prod

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | Create    |                   |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127d          | Create    | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127dPreSignup | Create    | awscloudformation |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663          | Delete    | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663PreSignup | Delete    | awscloudformation |

kendrabuttonhosting28eb127d is the resources of dev, kendrabuttonhosting84e32663 is resources of prod.
If I push with this status, The epic disaster would happen...

omg, I'm gonna hit amplify pull with panic 😰

$ amplify pull

Pre-pull status:

Current Environment: prod

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | Create    |                   |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127d          | Create    | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127dPreSignup | Create    | awscloudformation |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663          | Delete    | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663PreSignup | Delete    | awscloudformation |

Local changes detected.
Pulling changes from the cloud will override your local changes.
? Are you sure you would like to continue? Yes
✔ Successfully pulled backend environment prod from the cloud.


Post-pull status:

Current Environment: prod

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | No Change |                   |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663          | No Change | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting84e32663PreSignup | No Change | awscloudformation |

😀 The nightmare ended.
I think checking out to another "ampilfy env" cause unexpected errors in same branch.

so after this painful process passed,
I think It would be better to get an independent "amplify env" from each "git branch".

Split branch and configure amplify environment

so far I worked in master branch in git,
I checkout new git branch called frontend-dev.

and I checkout a dev amplify environment. (with --restore flag!)

$ git checkout -b frontend-dev
Switched to a new branch 'frontend-dev'


$ amplify env checkout dev --restore

✔ Initialized provider successfully.
Initialized your environment successfully.

$ amplify status

Current Environment: dev

| Category | Resource name                        | Operation | Provider plugin   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------ | --------- | ----------------- |
| Hosting  | amplifyhosting                       | No Change |                   |
| Auth     | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127d          | No Change | awscloudformation |
| Function | kendrabuttonhosting28eb127dPreSignup | No Change | awscloudformation |

so I can check the amplify file changed properly from prod to dev.

Conclusion

It would be better to get an independent "amplify env" from each "git branch"

Take a look the team-provider-info.json carefully

be sure to do git commit management when you're changing amplify environment

The Experienced AWS User like me can handle this problem,
Newbie of AWS would feel painful using Amplify to be honest.

And I think Amplify Document still lack of contents especially CLI and Hosting.
also late feedback from amplify github repository. issue or PRs.

I hope these confusion will be end soon.

I still love AWS Amplify and I wanna keep support and contribute Amplify so Every AWS Amplify user including me have such a great experience using AWS easily!