Serialization

The AWS lexicon serializes resources into CloudFormation JSON templates.

Building

Run chant build to produce a CloudFormation template from your declarations:

chant build
# Writes dist/template.json

The generated template includes:

• AWSTemplateFormatVersion header
• Parameters section (if any parameters are declared)
• Resources section with typed resource definitions
• Outputs section for exported values
• Full support for intrinsic functions (Fn::Sub, Ref, Fn::GetAtt, etc.)

Deploying

The output is standard CloudFormation JSON. Deploy with any CF-compatible tool:

# AWS CLI
aws cloudformation deploy \
  --template-file dist/template.json \
  --stack-name my-stack \
  --capabilities CAPABILITY_IAM

# Rain (faster, with diff preview)
rain deploy dist/template.json my-stack

# SAM CLI (if using serverless transforms)
sam deploy --template-file dist/template.json --stack-name my-stack

Compatibility

The output is compatible with:

• AWS CloudFormation service (direct deployment)
• AWS SAM CLI
• AWS CDK (as an escape hatch via CfnInclude)
• Rain and other CloudFormation tooling
• Any tool that accepts CloudFormation JSON templates