Overview
The AWS CloudFormation Starter Kit gives you a batteries-included repository for managing infrastructure with declarative templates. It pairs Rain-powered deployments with opinionated scripts, validation tooling, and GitHub Actions so you can standardize how environments move from pull request to production.
Why teams choose it
- GitHub OIDC workflows bootstrap cross-account deploy roles without storing long-lived IAM keys
- Rain CLI wrappers keep deployments reproducible while letting you parameterize each environment
- Checkov and cfn-lint run locally and in CI to catch drift and compliance gaps before they ship
- Guided provisioning script scaffolds environment folders and workflows with a single prompt
What is inside
- CloudFormation templates under
templates/plus matching parameter folders per environment - Automation scripts for provisioning, validation, and deployment in
scripts/ - Ready-to-run GitHub Actions for linting, security scanning, and Rain-based deploys
- Documentation and examples to help you extend the starter kit with your own stacks
Who it is for
Infrastructure or platform engineers who prefer managing AWS with native CloudFormation but still want modern CI/CD, guardrails, and repeatable deployments across accounts.
What you will learn
- How to install prerequisites, personalize parameters, and ship the bootstrap stack
- How to model environments and share configuration across Rain deployments
- How the CI/CD workflows execute, what they validate, and where to customize them
Documentation map
- Install — bootstrap requirements, run the provisioning helpers, and deploy the OIDC stack
- Guides — day-to-day workflows for local development and continuous delivery
- Configuration — structure, environment strategy, and template usage patterns
- Reference — deep dives into templates, parameter packs, scripts, and workflows
Ready to get hands-on? Head to Install to prepare your environment, then explore the Guides once you have the bootstrap stack running.