aws / aws/aws-cdk

`aws_stepfunctions`: Programmatic IO

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@aws-cdk/aws-stepfunctions effort/medium feature-request p3
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

### Describe the feature

One of the most frustrating areas when defining step functions is defining how values are passed between states (e.g. [`JsonPath`](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/api/v2/docs/aws-cdk-lib.aws_stepfunctions.JsonPath.html)).

This could be greatly improved if states had properties to get their input and outputs.

### Use Case

```
const myPass = new sfn.Pass(this, 'MyPassState', {
parameters: {
'someValue.$': '$$.Execution.Input'
},
});
const mySfn = new sfn.StateMachine(this, 'MyStepFunction', {
definition: myPass,
timeout: cdk.Duration.hours(24)
});
```

### Proposed Solution

```
const mySfn = new sfn.StateMachine(this, 'MyStepFunction', {
timeout: cdk.Duration.hours(24)
});
const myPass = new sfn.Pass(this, 'MyPassState', {
parameters: {
'myValue': mySfn.input,
},
});
mySfn.definition = myPass;
```

### Other Information

Fixing this might be difficult, I just want to highlight this problem and see if others also experience it. Any programmatic solution would be a great improvement over using `JsonPath`s directly.

### Acknowledgements

- [ ] I may be able to implement this feature request
- [X] This feature might incur a breaking change

### CDK version used

2.132.1

### Environment details (OS name and version, etc.)

Linux 6.5.0-21-generic #21~22.04.1-Ubuntu x86_64 GNU/Linux

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the aws_stepfunctions Pass and StateMachine entry points and the JsonPath API referenced in the issue. Clarify the intended input and output semantics and the breaking-change boundaries before implementation. Done should let the shown use case express state data programmatically instead of embedding JsonPath strings.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
aws, typescript
Domain
cloud
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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