Format cdk diff output to html making review easier. Inspired by Terraform prettyplan.
If you are using aws-cdk <= v1:
npm install [email protected]
or aws-cdk >= v2:
npm install cdk-pretty-diff
If using aws-cdk v2 < v2.1017.0 then install cdk-pretty-diff v2.2.6
If using aws-cdk >= v2.1017.0 then install cdk-pretty-diff v3
Instead of running cdk diff command line and receiving diff output, use cdk-pretty-diff (in javascript). Examples below.
import { getCustomDiff } from 'cdk-pretty-diff';
import * as cdk from "aws-cdk-lib";
// Your existing cdk app and stack(s)
const app = new cdk.App();
const stack = new cdk.Stack(app, "YourStack");
const nicerDiffs = await getCustomDiff(app);
console.log(JSON.stringify(nicerDiffs, null, 2));import { getCustomDiff } from 'cdk-pretty-diff';
const nicerDiffs = await getCustomDiff();
console.log(JSON.stringify(nicerDiffs, null, 2));html sample screenshot:
- Original CDK Diff output is available (click the 
Orig CDK Diffbutton) 
import { resolve } from 'path';
import { writeFileSync } from 'fs';
import { getCustomDiff, renderCustomDiffToHtmlString } from 'cdk-pretty-diff';
// import your cdk.App
import { app } from './your-cdk-app'
const nicerDiffs = await getCustomDiff(app);
const html = renderCustomDiffToHtmlString(nicerDiffs, 'CDK Diff');
writeFileSync(resolve(__dirname, '../cdk.out/diff.html'), html);optionally, provide command line input args (as you could with cdk diff command):
import { resolve } from 'path';
import { writeFileSync } from 'fs';
import { Command, ConfigurationProps } from 'aws-cdk/lib/settings';
import { getCustomDiff, renderCustomDiffToHtmlString } from 'cdk-pretty-diff';
// import your cdk.App
import { app } from './your-cdk-app'
const configProps = { options: { context: { hello: 'world' } } }
const nicerDiffs = await getCustomDiff(app, configProps);
const html = renderCustomDiffToHtmlString(nicerDiffs, 'CDK Diff');
writeFileSync(resolve(__dirname, '../cdk.out/diff.html'), html);example: bin/diff-to-html-with-cli-args.ts
import { resolve } from 'path';
import { writeFileSync } from 'fs';
import { getCustomDiff, renderCustomDiffToHtmlString } from 'cdk-pretty-diff';
const nicerDiffs = await getCustomDiff();
const html = renderCustomDiffToHtmlString(nicerDiffs, 'CDK Diff');
writeFileSync(resolve(__dirname, '../cdk.out/diff.html'), html);optionally, provide command line input args (as you could with cdk diff command):
import { resolve } from 'path';
import { writeFileSync } from 'fs';
import { Command, ConfigurationProps } from 'aws-cdk/lib/settings';
import { getCustomDiff, renderCustomDiffToHtmlString } from 'cdk-pretty-diff';
const configProps: ConfigurationProps = {
  commandLineArguments: {
    _: [Command.DIFF],
    context: [
      'foo=bar',
      'hello=world',
    ],
  }
}
const nicerDiffs = await getCustomDiff({ configProps });
const html = renderCustomDiffToHtmlString(nicerDiffs, 'CDK Diff');
writeFileSync(resolve(__dirname, '../cdk.out/diff.html'), html);example: bin/diff-to-html-with-cli-args.ts
npm i
npm run build
# run cdk pretty diff for the example stack:
AWS_PROFILE=<yourawscredentials> npx ts-node bin/diff-to-html.ts
# pretty diff location: cdk.out/diff.html
