What is aws-lambda-go?

aws/aws-lambda-go — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-26

★ 3,797GoAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((aws-lambda-go))
    What it does
      Run Go on Lambda
      Handle AWS events
      Serverless functions
    Tech stack
      Go language
      AWS Lambda
      AWS event types
    Use cases
      S3 file processing
      API backend
      Event handlers
    Setup
      Compile for Linux
      Zip and upload
      Build flag needed

mindmap root((aws-lambda-go)) What it does Run Go on Lambda Handle AWS events Serverless functions Tech stack Go language AWS Lambda AWS event types Use cases S3 file processing API backend Event handlers Setup Compile for Linux Zip and upload Build flag needed

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Build a Go function that automatically processes files when they are uploaded to an S3 bucket.

USE CASE 2

Create a serverless HTTP API backend in Go that runs on AWS Lambda without managing any servers.

USE CASE 3

Handle DynamoDB stream events with a Go Lambda function to trigger side effects when database records change.

USE CASE 4

Write a Go function that receives API Gateway requests and returns structured JSON responses.

What is it built with?

GoAWS LambdaAWS SDK

How does it compare?

	aws/aws-lambda-go	egonelbre/gophers	gofireflyio/aiac
Stars	3,797	3,799	3,792
Language	Go	Go	Go
Setup difficulty	moderate	easy	easy
Complexity	3/5	1/5	2/5
Audience	developer	developer	ops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires setting CGO_ENABLED=0 at build time to avoid C library version mismatches on the Lambda runtime.

So what is it?

This is the official AWS library for writing Lambda functions in Go. AWS Lambda is Amazon's service for running code without managing a server: you upload a compiled program and AWS runs it in response to events or direct calls. This repository provides the Go packages that let you wire your Go code into that system. The core pattern is straightforward: you write a function in Go, pass it to a Lambda start call from this library, compile the result for Linux, and zip it up for upload. The README includes working starter code and the exact build commands needed to produce a deployable file. There are some packaging details that Go developers building on other operating systems or with certain build settings need to know. On Linux, Go can link to the system's C library by default, which may cause errors if the Lambda runtime's C library version differs from the build machine's version. The README explains how to disable that behavior with a single build flag. On Windows, there is an extra tool in this repository for producing zip files that correctly mark the binary as executable when it runs on Linux. The library also includes a package of type definitions for common AWS event sources, so your function can receive and decode structured data from things like S3 file uploads, API Gateway requests, or DynamoDB changes without having to define the data shapes yourself. Deployment steps (using the AWS CLI, CloudFormation, or AWS SAM) are covered in separate official AWS documentation linked from the README.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Using aws-lambda-go, write a Go Lambda function that receives an S3 event and logs the bucket name and file key for every uploaded file. Include the correct Linux build command.

Prompt 2

Help me set up a Go Lambda function that handles API Gateway HTTP requests and returns a JSON response. Show the handler signature, the main() start call, and the CGO_ENABLED=0 build flag.

Prompt 3

I am on Windows building a Go Lambda function. Show me how to use the build-lambda-zip tool from this repo to create a zip file that correctly marks the binary as executable on Linux.

Prompt 4

Write a Go Lambda function using aws-lambda-go that reads DynamoDB stream records and prints the new values of any inserted items.

Prompt 5

Show me how to use the aws-lambda-go event type definitions to decode an SNS message payload inside a Lambda function written in Go.

Frequently asked questions