Technology1 min read

Test your applications against AWS locally with AWS Emulator

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The free tool runs locally on address 127.0.0.1:9297, relying on a single default account ID and specialized credentials prefixed with "EMULATOR." Because it supports services documented in the AWS API models repository, existing code and tests run without any modifications. Teams can interact with it using the standard AWS CLI, official SDKs, and agents like Kiro and Claude Code. Linux users can install it via RPM or Debian packages, while macOS and Windows environments can deploy it through Docker.

Key points

  • Local replication of live cloud error structures and behaviors allows existing test suite…: Local replication of live cloud error structures and behaviors allows existing test suites to run unmodified.
  • Built in Rust, the software ensures minimal CPU and memory usage during local execution.: Built in Rust, the software ensures minimal CPU and memory usage during local execution.
  • Teams can iterate on complex cloud architectures without generating AWS service fees or d…: Teams can iterate on complex cloud architectures without generating AWS service fees or depending on live deployments.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

AWS News Blog

Test your applications against AWS locally with AWS Emulator

|

Today we’re announcing AWS Emulator, a local emulator for Amazon Web Services (AWS) that you run on your machine. The AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI), the AWS SDKs, and your coding agents speak to it over a local HTTPS endpoint using the same AWS APIs they would use in the cloud, from your laptop. AWS Emulator has no additional service fee. You pay only for AWS resources when you deploy on AWS. Its source is on GitHub. You install it from an RPM or Debian package on Linux, and on macOS and Windows you run it in Docker.

How it works

You install the emulator, start it, and point your tools at the local endpoint. When AWS Emulator starts, it generates its own credentials, a config file, and a certificate, and writes them to ~/.aws/emulator/9297/

. You set environment variables so the AWS SDK talks to your laptop instead of AWS, and your application code stays unchanged.

From there, your existing tests, CLI scripts, and coding…

Technology