AWS Serverless Application Repository

What it is

The AWS Serverless Application Repository is a catalog where developers and organizations find, deploy, and publish serverless applications. An application is packaged as an AWS Serverless Application Model (AWS SAM) template plus its code, and describes resources such as Lambda functions, API (Application programming interface)A defined way for one program to ask another for data or actions, such as a set of HTTPS requests and responses. Every AWS service is controlled through its API, which the console, the CLI, and the SDKs call for you.Glossary entry Gateway APIs, DynamoDB tables, and IAM roles.

Instead of building common pieces from scratch, such as an image resizer, a Slack notifier, or a log processor, you choose an application, set its parameters, and deploy it into your own account in a few clicks. Teams also use it to share reusable serverless components privately across their organization.

How it works

Publishing

Define the application in an AWS SAM template.
Package the code with sam package (or aws cloudformation package), which uploads it to an S3 bucket. The bucket policy must let serverlessrepo.amazonaws.com read the objects, limited to your account with aws:SourceAccount.
Publish with the AWS SAM CLI or the console, giving a name, author, description, README, and optionally a semantic version, license, and source code URL.
Publish new versions as the application changes.

Visibility	Who can deploy it
Private (the default)	Only your own account
Privately shared	Specific AWS accounts, or all accounts in your AWS Organizations organization
Public	Everyone; requires a semantic version and a license

Sharing is controlled by a resource-based application policy. The management account of an organization can unshare an application that was shared with the organization.

Deploying

Browse in the repository or from the Lambda console ("Browse serverless app repository"), review the application's template, permissions, license, and README, then set its parameters.
The application is deployed as an AWS CloudFormation stack named with the prefix serverlessrepo-. You manage and delete it like any other stack.
If the application creates custom IAM roles or resource policies, or includes nested applications, you must explicitly acknowledge those capabilities before it deploys.
Nested applications let one SAM template include other applications from the repository as components.

Security, resilience, performance, and cost

Security

Review before you deploy: check the template, the IAM permissions it creates, and the publisher. AWS validates that third-party applications use permissions correctly, and you can see which resources an application can access or modify.
The capability acknowledgement is your checkpoint for applications that create IAM resources.
Publishers control access with application policies, and should keep applications private or shared only within their organization unless they mean to publish them.
Information you enter when publishing, such as the author name, isn't encrypted; leave out anything sensitive.

Resilience and performance

Deployed applications are ordinary CloudFormation stacks of serverless services, so they inherit the scaling and availability of Lambda, API Gateway, and the other services they use.
Pin a version when you deploy, and update to new versions deliberately.

Cost

Browsing, publishing, and deploying applications is free. You pay for the AWS resources the deployed application uses, such as Lambda invocations and storage.

Monitoring

After deployment, monitor the application's resources as usual: CloudWatch metrics and logs for its Lambda functions and APIs, and CloudFormation stack events for deployments and updates.

Serverless Application Repository or another service?

If the requirement is	Choose
Deploy a ready-made serverless application, or share one across accounts	AWS Serverless Application Repository
Define and deploy your own serverless application as code	AWS SAM or AWS CloudFormation
Offer approved infrastructure products to teams, with governance	AWS Service Catalog
Deploy a web application onto managed servers	AWS Elastic Beanstalk
Find and buy third-party software	AWS Marketplace

Reverse mindmap: when the question points here

Is it the Serverless Application Repository?

Yes, when the question says
- Deploy a prebuilt serverless app in a few clicks leads to Serverless Application Repository
- Share reusable Lambda components across teams leads to Privately shared application
- Share an application with the whole organization leads to Share with AWS Organizations
- Reuse published components inside a SAM template leads to Nested applications
Publish and deploy
- Package the code for publishing leads to SAM template with code in S3
- S3 bucket must allow the service to read code leads to Bucket policy for serverlessrepo.amazonaws.com
- Application creates IAM roles leads to Acknowledge capabilities
No, when the question says
- Governed catalog of approved products for teams leads to AWS Service Catalog
- Write your own infrastructure templates leads to AWS SAM or CloudFormation
- Buy third-party software leads to AWS Marketplace

Key takeaways

The Serverless Application Repository is a catalog of serverless applications packaged as AWS SAM templates.
Applications are private by default; share them with specific accounts, your organization, or the public.
Deploying creates a CloudFormation stack; applications that create IAM resources need you to acknowledge capabilities.
Nested applications let SAM templates reuse published components.
The repository is free; you pay for the resources deployed.