---
id: aws-cdk-aws-cloudformation
version: "1.204.0"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# aws-cdk.aws-cloudformation — The CDK Construct Library for AWS::CloudFormation

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 160.1K/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package is the AWS CloudFormation module of the AWS CDK v1, a framework for defining cloud infrastructure using Python code instead of templates. It provides high-level constructs that wrap CloudFormation resources, letting you compose AWS resources imperatively and synthesize them into CloudFormation templates for deployment. The package depends on core CDK modules (aws-cdk.core, aws-cdk.cx-api, constructs) and other AWS service modules (IAM, Lambda, S3, SNS) to enable multi-service infrastructure definitions.

You use it by importing constructs, instantiating them within a Stack, and then using the CDK CLI to synthesize or deploy. The package is part of the v1 line, which is marked inactive in its classifiers; AWS CDK v2 is the current recommended version for new projects. This module is suitable for maintaining existing v1 infrastructure code or for teams already invested in the v1 API.

Use it for:

- Synthesize Python infrastructure code into CloudFormation templates for version control and review
- Define reusable CloudFormation stacks as Python classes to share across projects
- Automate multi-service AWS deployments (IAM roles, Lambda functions, S3 buckets, SNS topics) from a single codebase
- Integrate infrastructure definition with application code in a single Python project
- Diff infrastructure changes before deployment using the CDK CLI

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Defines AWS CloudFormation resources programmatically in Python as part of the AWS CDK framework, allowing you to compose infrastructure constructs into stacks and synthesize them to CloudFormation templates.

Yes, if you are maintaining or extending existing AWS CDK v1 Python infrastructure code. No, if starting a new project—use AWS CDK v2 instead. The package is stable and permissively licensed, but its v1 status and inactive classifier indicate it is not receiving new feature development. Install only when required by an existing codebase or explicit organizational constraint.

## Install

pip install aws-cdk-aws-cloudformation
uv add aws-cdk-aws-cloudformation
poetry add aws-cdk-aws-cloudformation

## Installing aws-cdk.aws-cloudformation

Before you install: Low friction install with a pure-Python wheel. Active maintenance status with recent commits as of 2026-08-14. However, the package is marked Development Status 7 - Inactive in classifiers, which signals this is a legacy v1 release; v2 is the current active line.

License in practice: Licensed under Apache-2.0 (permissive), allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions beyond attribution and liability disclaimers.

Quickstart:

pip install aws-cdk.aws-cloudformation

from aws_cdk import core as cdk
from aws_cdk.aws_cloudformation import CfnStack

app = cdk.App()
stack = cdk.Stack(app, "MyStack")
# Define CloudFormation resources via CDK constructs
app.synth()

Requires Python ≥ 3.7 and the AWS CDK CLI (npm-based) to synthesize and deploy. This is a v1 package; v2 is the current recommended version.

Verify before relying:

- Whether v1 receives security patches or is in maintenance-only mode relative to v2
- Compatibility guarantees between v1.204.0 and current AWS service APIs
- Whether new AWS services are added to v1 or only to v2

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 160.1K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

AWS CDK CloudFormation constructs, infrastructure as code Python AWS, define cloud resources in Python, AWS CDK stack synthesis, CloudFormation template generation, AWS resource abstraction layer, CDK construct library, infrastructure-as-code, aws-cdk-v1, cloudformation

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