Using async keyword in AWS Lambda

Question

I am playing with AWS Lambda using Node.js. After being tired of having to deal with callbacks I figured I could elegantly use async/await just like I am used to in C#.

exports.handler = async(event, context, callback) => {
    db = await MongoClient.connect(process.env['MONGODB_URI']);
}

Even though this seemingly works when testing offline using lambda-local, it fails miserably when uploaded to AWS. It appears as if async keyword is not recognized. I am using the latest Node.js 6.10 runtime on AWS while my local version is 8.5. Is there a way around or should I abandon this approach and go back to using callbacks?

Jyotman Singh · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-12 07:23:24Z

6

The async/await feature was launched in Node.js v7.0 but was behind the --harmony flag as it was experimental. It was fully supported without the flag after Node.js v7.6.

Hence, you can't use async/await with Node.js v6.10.

Look here to know exactly which versions are supported.

answered Oct 12, 2017 at 7:23

Jyotman Singh

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Gabriel Bleu · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-12 09:45:11Z

5

You can bundle your lambda with webpack and babel to write node 8 code and deploy node 6 compatible code.

The easiest way to do this is to use the serverless framework with plugins like :

answered Oct 12, 2017 at 9:45

Gabriel Bleu

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Khashayar · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-12 09:03:57Z

3

Node.js v8.10 runtime is available in AWS Lambda as of April 2nd, 2018. Follow the link below for more information:

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/node-js-8-10-runtime-now-available-in-aws-lambda/

answered Apr 12, 2018 at 9:03

Khashayar

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Noel Llevares · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-12 12:07:53Z

2

You can also write your handler in Typescript which can compile your code to ES5.

You can use async/await with Typescript.

answered Oct 12, 2017 at 12:07

Noel Llevares

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