`localstack/localstack:latest` will require auth token from March 23 — LocalStack module docs & examples need updating

Hey folks 👋

I'm Harsh from the LocalStack team. Wanted to flag an upcoming change that will directly affect users of the LocalStack module in this library.

What's changing: Starting March 23, 2026, localstack/localstack:latest on Docker Hub will consolidate into a single unified image that requires authentication via a LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN. The free Community image, as it exists today, will no longer be available under that tag without an auth token set.

What this means for this repo:

The LocalStackContainer in modules/localstack pulls localstack/localstack by default to spin up the container during tests. Any user who instantiates LocalStackContainer after March 23 without a LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN set will hit an authentication error and their tests will fail immediately.

The places most likely to need updating:

• The LocalStack module docs and any related examples in modules/localstack, which don't currently mention auth token setup as a prerequisite
• The LocalStackContainer class itself, where passing LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN as an environment variable should be documented or facilitated
• The CI/CD pipeline (.github/workflows/ci-community.yml) if it runs LocalStack-based tests without an auth token

What users will need to do:

1. Sign up for a free LocalStack account at [localstack.cloud](https://localstack.cloud/)
2. Generate an auth token from the LocalStack Web App
3. Set LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN as an environment variable when starting the container

With testcontainers-python, this would look like:

import os
from testcontainers.localstack import LocalStackContainer

with LocalStackContainer() \
        .with_env("LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN", os.environ.get("LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN", "")) as localstack:
    # your test code here
    pass

The good news: A free tier is staying — no one has to pay. CI credits are now unlimited on all plans, including free, and open-source projects like this one can apply for free access to paid plans.

Full details in our announcements:

• https://blog.localstack.cloud/the-road-ahead-for-localstack/
• https://blog.localstack.cloud/localstack-single-image-next-steps/
• https://blog.localstack.cloud/2026-upcoming-pricing-changes/

Happy to help with any doc updates, review PRs, or answer questions. Let us know if there's anything we can do to make this easier — and thanks for maintaining the LocalStack module for the Python community! 🙏

Commencez par la documentation du module LocalStack et les exemples sous modules/localstack, puis lisez la classe LocalStackContainer pour comprendre sa configuration actuelle de l’image et de l’environnement. Vérifiez .github/workflows/ci-community.yml pour les tests basés sur LocalStack. Le travail est considéré comme terminé lorsque la documentation concernée, les indications de configuration du conteneur et les attentes de CI prennent en compte les exigences de LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN.