Accelerate infrastructure deployments up to 4x with AWS CloudFormation Express mode
AWS CloudFormation introduces Express mode, a new deployment option that speeds up infrastructure deployments by up to four times by completing when resource configuration is applied, without waiting for full stabilization. This benefits iterative development and AI-assisted workflows and is available in all AWS commercial Regions at no extra cost.
Today, AWS announced AWS CloudFormation Express mode, a new deployment mode that accelerates infrastructure deployments by completing when resource configuration is applied rather than waiting for extended stabilization checks. This reduces deployment time by up to 4 times for iterative development workflows and production scenarios. Normally, CloudFormation performs stabilization checks after resource configuration to confirm readiness before shifting traffic. Express mode benefits workflows that do not require full stabilization, such as iterative development, testing components, and AI-assisted infrastructure development with sub-minute feedback loops. Deployments complete when resource configuration is applied; resources continue becoming operational in the background. CloudFormation retries dependent resources on transient failures automatically. For example, creating an Amazon SQS queue with a dead letter queue takes 64 seconds in Standard mode but up to 10 seconds in Express mode. Deleting an AWS Lambda function with network interface attachment takes 20-30 minutes in Standard mode but up to 10 seconds in Express mode. To enable Express mode, select Enable under Stack deployment options in the AWS Management Console or set --deployment-config to EXPRESS in AWS CLI, SDKs, or IaC tools like AWS CDK and AI tools such as Kiro. Express mode disables rollback by default but rollback can be re-enabled for production. AWS CDK users can deploy with cdk deploy --express. Express mode supports all CloudFormation features including nested stacks. It is available today in all AWS commercial Regions at no additional cost. Users can find regional availability and roadmap on AWS Capabilities by Region and learn more in the CloudFormation documentation. Feedback can be sent via AWS re:Post or AWS Support contacts. — Channy Yun (윤석찬)