Invoke an AWS Lambda Function with awscli

Here's how to execute a deployed AWS Lambda function with the AWS command-line interface.

Create a payload.json file that contains a JSON payload.

{
  "foo": "bar"
}

Then convert the payload to base64.

base64 payload.json
# returns ewogICJmb28iOiAiYmFyIgp9Cg==

And replace the contents of payload.json with that base64 string.

ewogICJmb28iOiAiYmFyIgp9Cg==

Invoke your Lambda function using that payload.

aws lambda invoke \
--function-name My-Lambda-Function-Name \
--payload file://payload.json \
output.json

The request's response will be printed in the console and the output will be saved in output.json.

If you're developing locally, you can use the aws lambda update-function-code function to synchronize your local code with your Lambda funciton.