# Amazon CloudWatch Synthetics Construct Library
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Amazon CloudWatch Synthetics allow you to monitor your application by generating **synthetic** traffic. The traffic is produced by a **canary**: a configurable script that runs on a schedule. You configure the canary script to follow the same routes and perform the same actions as a user, which allows you to continually verify your user experience even when you don't have any traffic on your applications.
## Canary
To illustrate how to use a canary, assume your application defines the following endpoint:
```console
% curl "https://api.example.com/user/books/topbook/"
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
```
The below code defines a canary that will hit the `books/topbook` endpoint every 5 minutes:
```python
# Example automatically generated without compilation. See https://github.com/aws/jsii/issues/826
import aws_cdk.aws_synthetics as synthetics
canary = synthetics.Canary(self, "MyCanary",
schedule=synthetics.Schedule.rate(Duration.minutes(5)),
test=Test.custom(
code=synthetics.Code.from_asset(path.join(__dirname, "canary")),
handler="index.handler"
),
runtime=synthetics.Runtime.SYNTHETICS_NODEJS_2_0
)
```
The following is an example of an `index.js` file which exports the `handler` function:
```js
var synthetics = require('Synthetics');
const log = require('SyntheticsLogger');
const pageLoadBlueprint = async function () {
// INSERT URL here
const URL = "https://api.example.com/user/books/topbook/";
let page = await synthetics.getPage();
const response = await page.goto(URL, {waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: 30000});
//Wait for page to render.
//Increase or decrease wait time based on endpoint being monitored.
await page.waitFor(15000);
// This will take a screenshot that will be included in test output artifacts
await synthetics.takeScreenshot('loaded', 'loaded');
let pageTitle = await page.title();
log.info('Page title: ' + pageTitle);
if (response.status() !== 200) {
throw "Failed to load page!";
}
};
exports.handler = async () => {
return await pageLoadBlueprint();
};
```
> **Note:** The function **must** be called `handler`.
The canary will automatically produce a CloudWatch Dashboard:
![UI Screenshot](images/ui-screenshot.png)
The Canary code will be executed in a lambda function created by Synthetics on your behalf. The Lambda function includes a custom [runtime](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/CloudWatch_Synthetics_Canaries_Library.html) provided by Synthetics. The provided runtime includes a variety of handy tools such as [Puppeteer](https://www.npmjs.com/package/puppeteer-core) and Chromium. The default runtime is `syn-nodejs-2.0`.
To learn more about Synthetics capabilities, check out the [docs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/CloudWatch_Synthetics_Canaries.html).
### Configuring the Canary Script
To configure the script the canary executes, use the `test` property. The `test` property accepts a `Test` instance that can be initialized by the `Test` class static methods. Currently, the only implemented method is `Test.custom()`, which allows you to bring your own code. In the future, other methods will be added. `Test.custom()` accepts `code` and `handler` properties -- both are required by Synthetics to create a lambda function on your behalf.
The `synthetics.Code` class exposes static methods to bundle your code artifacts:
* `code.fromInline(code)` - specify an inline script.
* `code.fromAsset(path)` - specify a .zip file or a directory in the local filesystem which will be zipped and uploaded to S3 on deployment. See the above Note for directory structure.
* `code.fromBucket(bucket, key[, objectVersion])` - specify an S3 object that contains the .zip file of your runtime code. See the above Note for directory structure.
Using the `Code` class static initializers:
```python
# Example automatically generated without compilation. See https://github.com/aws/jsii/issues/826
# To supply the code inline:
canary = Canary(self, "MyCanary",
test=Test.custom(
code=synthetics.Code.from_inline("/* Synthetics handler code */"),
handler="index.handler"
),
runtime=synthetics.Runtime.SYNTHETICS_NODEJS_2_0
)
# To supply the code from your local filesystem:
canary = Canary(self, "MyCanary",
test=Test.custom(
code=synthetics.Code.from_asset(path.join(__dirname, "canary")),
handler="index.handler"
),
runtime=synthetics.Runtime.SYNTHETICS_NODEJS_2_0
)
# To supply the code from a S3 bucket:
canary = Canary(self, "MyCanary",
test=Test.custom(
code=synthetics.Code.from_bucket(bucket, "canary.zip"),
handler="index.handler"
),
runtime=synthetics.Runtime.SYNTHETICS_NODEJS_2_0
)
```
> **Note:** For `code.fromAsset()` and `code.fromBucket()`, the canary resource requires the following folder structure:
>
> ```plaintext
> canary/
> ├── nodejs/
> ├── node_modules/
> ├── <filename>.js
> ```
>
> See Synthetics [docs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/CloudWatch_Synthetics_Canaries_WritingCanary.html).
### Alarms
You can configure a CloudWatch Alarm on a canary metric. Metrics are emitted by CloudWatch automatically and can be accessed by the following APIs:
* `canary.metricSuccessPercent()` - percentage of successful canary runs over a given time
* `canary.metricDuration()` - how much time each canary run takes, in seconds.
* `canary.metricFailed()` - number of failed canary runs over a given time
Create an alarm that tracks the canary metric:
```python
# Example automatically generated without compilation. See https://github.com/aws/jsii/issues/826
cloudwatch.Alarm(self, "CanaryAlarm",
metric=canary.metric_success_percent(),
evaluation_periods=2,
threshold=90,
comparison_operator=cloudwatch.ComparisonOperator.LESS_THAN_THRESHOLD
)
```
### Future Work
* Add blueprints to the Test class [#9613](https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/issues/9613#issue-677134857).