AWS Step Functions

• Service for building serverless visual workflows to orchestrate distributed applications and microservices.

• Integrates with AWS services and custom code to coordinate tasks reliably and at scale.

Key Features

• Sequential and parallel execution of tasks.

• Conditional branching to define different execution paths.

• Built-in error handling and retry mechanisms.

• Timeout controls for individual steps and the entire workflow.

• State management handled automatically by the service.

Integrations

• Direct integrations with over 200 AWS services, including:
• Lambda (function execution)
• EC2 / ECS (compute tasks)
• API Gateway (API-driven workflows)
• SQS (message-based orchestration)
• On-premises systems through API calls or AWS SDK.

Additional Capabilities

• Human approval steps with integration to services like SNS or email notifications.

• Service Integrations enable API calls without needing extra Lambda wrappers.

• Supports both Standard Workflows (long-running, up to 1 year) and Express Workflows (high-throughput, short-lived).

Common Use Cases

• Order processing and fulfillment.

• ETL and data processing pipelines.

• Multi-step web application flows.

• Automated operational processes and approvals.