The project's README from github.com/ministackorg/ministack. As one markdown file: README.md.
Free, open-source local AWS emulator. Free forever.
60+ AWS services on a single port · Multi-account & multi-region · Terraform compatible · Real databases · MIT licensed
Ministack.org · Docker Hub · LinkedIn
LocalStack recently moved its core services behind a paid plan. If you relied on LocalStack Community for local development and CI/CD pipelines, MiniStack is your free alternative.
boto3, AWS CLI, Terraform, CDK, Pulumi, any SDKMINISTACK_BEDROCK_PROXY_URL at Ollama, llama.cpp, or vLLM and get real completions through the Bedrock API# Option 1: PyPI (simplest)
pip install ministack
ministack
# Runs on http://localhost:4566 — use GATEWAY_PORT=XXXX to change
# Option 2: Docker Hub
docker run -p 4566:4566 ministackorg/ministack
# Option 2b: Docker Hub with real infrastructure (RDS, ECS, Lambda containers)
docker run -p 4566:4566 -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock ministackorg/ministack
# Option 2c: Full image — Debian/glibc base with DuckDB (Athena), psycopg2, pymysql.
# Larger (~360 MB vs ~110 MB) but enables Athena and native PostgreSQL/MySQL drivers
# that don't ship musllinux wheels. Reports `edition: full` on /_ministack/health.
docker run -p 4566:4566 ministackorg/ministack:full
# Option 3: Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/ministackorg/ministack
cd ministack
docker compose up -d
# Verify (any option)
curl http://localhost:4566/_ministack/health
That's it. No account, no API key, no sign-up.
MiniStack exposes internal endpoints for test automation:
# Health check — returns service status
curl http://localhost:4566/_ministack/health
# Reset all state — wipe every service back to empty (useful between test runs)
curl -X POST http://localhost:4566/_ministack/reset
# Reset and re-run init scripts (boot.d + ready.d)
curl -X POST http://localhost:4566/_ministack/reset?init=1
# Runtime config — change service-level settings without restart
curl -X POST http://localhost:4566/_ministack/config \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"lambda_svc.LAMBDA_EXECUTOR": "docker"}'
# Inspect emails sent via SES — returns every message grouped by account
curl http://localhost:4566/_ministack/ses/messages
# Filter by account (12-digit access-key ID used as the account ID)
curl "http://localhost:4566/_ministack/ses/messages?account=000000000000"
# Inspect SQS messages — returns every queue's messages grouped by account
# (includes Body, MessageId, ReceiveCount, VisibleAt, IsVisible, MessageAttributes, FIFO group/dedup)
curl http://localhost:4566/_ministack/sqs/messages
# Filter by account and/or a specific queue
curl "http://localhost:4566/_ministack/sqs/messages?account=000000000000&QueueUrl=http://localhost:4566/000000000000/my-queue"
The reset endpoint is especially useful in CI pipelines and test suites — call it in setUp/beforeEach to get a clean environment for every test without restarting the container. Add ?init=1 to re-run your init scripts after the reset, restoring any resources they create (VPCs, queues, seed data, etc.).
The config endpoint supports these keys:
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
lambda_svc.LAMBDA_EXECUTOR |
Lambda execution mode (local or docker) |
athena.ATHENA_ENGINE |
Athena query engine (duckdb or mock) |
athena.ATHENA_DATA_DIR |
Directory for Athena DuckDB data files |
stepfunctions._sfn_mock_config |
SFN mock config (AWS SFN Local compatible) |
stepfunctions._SFN_WAIT_SCALE |
Scale factor for Wait state durations and retry sleeps (0 = skip all waits) |
To set region or account ID, use environment variables at startup:
docker run -p 4566:4566 \
-e MINISTACK_REGION=eu-west-1 \
-e MINISTACK_ACCOUNT_ID=123456789012 \
ministackorg/ministack
Or use the multi-tenancy feature — a 12-digit access key automatically becomes the account ID (see Multi-Tenancy below).
Also compatible with LocalStack's health endpoint:
curl http://localhost:4566/_localstack/health
curl http://localhost:4566/health
MiniStack supports lightweight multi-tenancy without any configuration. If the AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID is a 12-digit number, it is used as the Account ID for all ARN generation. Non-numeric keys (like test) fall back to the MINISTACK_ACCOUNT_ID env var or 000000000000.
# Team A — gets account 111111111111
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=111111111111
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=test
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 sts get-caller-identity
# → { "Account": "111111111111", ... }
# Team B — gets account 222222222222
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=222222222222
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=test
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 sts get-caller-identity
# → { "Account": "222222222222", ... }
All ARNs and resource state (SQS queues, Lambda functions, IAM roles, S3 buckets, DynamoDB tables, etc.) are fully isolated per account. Resources with the same name in different accounts never collide. This allows multiple developers or CI pipelines to share a single MiniStack endpoint with complete tenant isolation — no extra setup needed.
Since 1.4.0 state is additionally isolated per region — see Multi-Region below.
| Access Key | Account ID Used |
|---|---|
111111111111 |
111111111111 |
048408301323 |
048408301323 |
test |
000000000000 (default) |
AKIA_TEST_KEY_DO_NOT_USE |
000000000000 (default) |
Terraform — set access_key in your provider block:
provider "aws" {
access_key = "048408301323"
secret_key = "test"
region = "us-east-1"
endpoints { ... }
}
boto3 — pass aws_access_key_id:
boto3.client("s3",
endpoint_url="http://localhost:4566",
aws_access_key_id="048408301323",
aws_secret_access_key="test",
)
Since 1.4.0, state is isolated per region as well as per account — no configuration needed. The region comes from the SigV4 credential scope (the region_name your SDK or --region your CLI is configured with), so two clients pointed at different regions see fully independent resources, exactly like real AWS:
# Same queue name, two regions — two independent queues
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 --region us-east-1 sqs create-queue --queue-name jobs
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 --region eu-west-1 sqs create-queue --queue-name jobs
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 --region us-east-1 sqs list-queues
# → .../000000000000/jobs (the us-east-1 queue)
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 --region eu-west-1 sqs list-queues
# → .../000000000000/jobs (a different queue — eu-west-1's)
use1 = boto3.client("dynamodb", endpoint_url="http://localhost:4566",
aws_access_key_id="test", aws_secret_access_key="test",
region_name="us-east-1")
euw1 = boto3.client("dynamodb", endpoint_url="http://localhost:4566",
aws_access_key_id="test", aws_secret_access_key="test",
region_name="eu-west-1")
use1.create_table(TableName="users",
KeySchema=[{"AttributeName": "id", "KeyType": "HASH"}],
AttributeDefinitions=[{"AttributeName": "id", "AttributeType": "S"}],
BillingMode="PAY_PER_REQUEST")
use1.list_tables()["TableNames"] # → ["users"]
euw1.list_tables()["TableNames"] # → [] — eu-west-1 is independent
Region-isolated services: as of 1.5.3, every regional service is region-isolated except S3 and Aurora DSQL (the isolation migrations rolled out service by service from 1.4.0 to 1.4.12 — see the CHANGELOG for the per-release history; services introduced later, like AWS Config and the Cloud Control API in 1.4.14, were born region-scoped).
Cross-resource references resolve in the referenced ARN's own account and region (SNS→SQS fanout, EventBridge targets, event source mappings), and cross-region references that real AWS rejects return the same errors AWS returns — e.g. invoking a eu-west-1 Lambda from a us-east-1 Step Functions task fails with Functions from 'eu-west-1' are not reachable in this region, exactly as on AWS.
Not yet region-isolated: S3 and Aurora DSQL — these share state across regions within an account (as all services did before 1.4.0); use unique resource names there if your tests exercise two regions, until their isolation lands in a subsequent release. IAM/STS, CloudFront, Route 53, and Organizations are global services on AWS, so their account-scoped shared state is correct, not a gap.
Upgrading with PERSIST_STATE=1: existing state files load and migrate automatically (on-disk format v2 with a version stamp — a newer-format file is refused instead of mis-parsed on downgrade). Each record's region is recovered from its stored ARNs; legacy records that carry no ARN migrate to the default region (MINISTACK_REGION).
# Option A — environment variables (no profile needed)
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=test
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=test
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 s3 mb s3://my-bucket
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 sqs create-queue --queue-name my-queue
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 dynamodb list-tables
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 sts get-caller-identity
# Option B — named profile (must pass --profile on every command)
aws configure --profile local
# AWS Access Key ID: test
# AWS Secret Access Key: test
# Default region: us-east-1
# Default output format: json
aws --profile local --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 s3 mb s3://my-bucket
aws --profile local --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 s3 cp ./file.txt s3://my-bucket/
aws --profile local --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 sqs create-queue --queue-name my-queue
aws --profile local --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 dynamodb list-tables
aws --profile local --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 sts get-caller-identity
chmod +x bin/awslocal
./bin/awslocal s3 ls
./bin/awslocal dynamodb list-tables
import boto3
# All clients use the same endpoint
def client(service):
return boto3.client(
service,
endpoint_url="http://localhost:4566",
aws_access_key_id="test",
aws_secret_access_key="test",
region_name="us-east-1",
)
# S3
s3 = client("s3")
s3.create_bucket(Bucket="my-bucket")
s3.put_object(Bucket="my-bucket", Key="hello.txt", Body=b"Hello, MiniStack!")
obj = s3.get_object(Bucket="my-bucket", Key="hello.txt")
print(obj["Body"].read()) # b'Hello, MiniStack!'
# SQS
sqs = client("sqs")
q = sqs.create_queue(QueueName="my-queue")
sqs.send_message(QueueUrl=q["QueueUrl"], MessageBody="hello")
msgs = sqs.receive_message(QueueUrl=q["QueueUrl"])
print(msgs["Messages"][0]["Body"]) # hello
# DynamoDB
ddb = client("dynamodb")
ddb.create_table(
TableName="Users",
KeySchema=[{"AttributeName": "userId", "KeyType": "HASH"}],
AttributeDefinitions=[{"AttributeName": "userId", "AttributeType": "S"}],
BillingMode="PAY_PER_REQUEST",
)
ddb.put_item(TableName="Users", Item={"userId": {"S": "u1"}, "name": {"S": "Alice"}})
# SSM Parameter Store
ssm = client("ssm")
ssm.put_parameter(Name="/app/db/host", Value="localhost", Type="String")
param = ssm.get_parameter(Name="/app/db/host")
print(param["Parameter"]["Value"]) # localhost
# Secrets Manager
sm = client("secretsmanager")
sm.create_secret(Name="db-password", SecretString='{"password":"s3cr3t"}')
# Kinesis
kin = client("kinesis")
kin.create_stream(StreamName="events", ShardCount=1)
kin.put_record(StreamName="events", Data=b'{"event":"click"}', PartitionKey="user1")
# EventBridge
eb = client("events")
eb.put_events(Entries=[{
"Source": "myapp",
"DetailType": "UserSignup",
"Detail": '{"userId": "123"}',
"EventBusName": "default",
}])
# Step Functions
sfn = client("stepfunctions")
sfn.create_state_machine(
name="my-workflow",
definition='{"StartAt":"Hello","States":{"Hello":{"Type":"Pass","End":true}}}',
roleArn="arn:aws:iam::000000000000:role/role",
)
# Step Functions — TestState API (test a single state in isolation)
# Note: inject_host_prefix=False prevents boto3 from prepending "sync-" to the hostname
from botocore.config import Config as BotoConfig
sfn_test = client("stepfunctions", config=BotoConfig(inject_host_prefix=False))
result = sfn_test.test_state(
definition='{"Type":"Pass","Result":{"greeting":"hello"},"End":true}',
input='{"name":"world"}',
)
print(result["status"]) # SUCCEEDED
print(result["output"]) # {"greeting": "hello"}
# TestState with mock — test error handling without calling real services
result = sfn_test.test_state(
definition=json.dumps({
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:000000000000:function:my-fn",
"Catch": [{"ErrorEquals": ["States.ALL"], "Next": "Fallback"}],
"End": True
}),
input='{}',
inspectionLevel="DEBUG",
mock={"errorOutput": {"error": "ServiceError", "cause": "Timeout"}},
)
print(result["status"]) # CAUGHT_ERROR
print(result["nextState"]) # Fallback
# EC2
ec2 = client("ec2")
reservation = ec2.run_instances(
ImageId="ami-00000001",
MinCount=1,
MaxCount=1,
InstanceType="t3.micro",
)
instance_id = reservation["Instances"][0]["InstanceId"]
print(instance_id) # i-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
# Security Groups
sg = ec2.create_security_group(GroupName="my-sg", Description="My SG")
ec2.authorize_security_group_ingress(
GroupId=sg["GroupId"],
IpPermissions=[{"IpProtocol": "tcp", "FromPort": 80, "ToPort": 80,
"IpRanges": [{"CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"}]}],
)
# VPC / Subnet
vpc = ec2.create_vpc(CidrBlock="10.0.0.0/16")
subnet = ec2.create_subnet(
VpcId=vpc["Vpc"]["VpcId"],
CidrBlock="10.0.1.0/24",
AvailabilityZone="us-east-1a",
)
| Service | Operations | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| S3 | CreateBucket, DeleteBucket, ListBuckets, HeadBucket, PutObject, GetObject, DeleteObject, HeadObject, CopyObject, ListObjects v1/v2, DeleteObjects, GetBucketVersioning, PutBucketVersioning, GetBucketEncryption, PutBucketEncryption, DeleteBucketEncryption, GetBucketLifecycleConfiguration, PutBucketLifecycleConfiguration, DeleteBucketLifecycle, GetBucketCors, PutBucketCors, DeleteBucketCors, GetBucketAcl, PutBucketAcl, GetBucketTagging, PutBucketTagging, DeleteBucketTagging, GetBucketPolicy, PutBucketPolicy, DeleteBucketPolicy, GetBucketNotificationConfiguration, PutBucketNotificationConfiguration, GetBucketLogging, PutBucketLogging, ListObjectVersions, CreateMultipartUpload, UploadPart, CompleteMultipartUpload, AbortMultipartUpload, PutObjectLockConfiguration, GetObjectLockConfiguration, PutObjectRetention, GetObjectRetention, PutObjectLegalHold, GetObjectLegalHold, PutBucketReplication, GetBucketReplication, DeleteBucketReplication, GetObjectTagging, PutObjectTagging, DeleteObjectTagging | Optional disk persistence via S3_PERSIST=1; Object Lock with retention & legal hold enforcement on delete; object tags are versioned (?tagging&versionId=… reads, writes, and deletes the per-version tag set); Multi-Region Access Points provision from CloudFormation (AWS::S3::MultiRegionAccessPoint) and <alias>.accesspoint.s3-global.amazonaws.com serves the member buckets through the regular S3 path |
| SQS | CreateQueue, DeleteQueue, ListQueues, GetQueueUrl, GetQueueAttributes, SetQueueAttributes, PurgeQueue, SendMessage, ReceiveMessage, DeleteMessage, ChangeMessageVisibility, ChangeMessageVisibilityBatch, SendMessageBatch, DeleteMessageBatch, TagQueue, UntagQueue, ListQueueTags | Both Query API and JSON protocol; FIFO queues with deduplication; DLQ support |
| SNS | CreateTopic, DeleteTopic, ListTopics, GetTopicAttributes, SetTopicAttributes, Subscribe, Unsubscribe, ListSubscriptions, ListSubscriptionsByTopic, GetSubscriptionAttributes, SetSubscriptionAttributes, ConfirmSubscription, Publish, PublishBatch, TagResource, UntagResource, ListTagsForResource, CreatePlatformApplication, ListPlatformApplications, GetPlatformApplicationAttributes, SetPlatformApplicationAttributes, CreatePlatformEndpoint, GetEndpointAttributes, SetEndpointAttributes, DeleteEndpoint, DeletePlatformApplication | SNS→SQS fanout delivery; SNS→Lambda fanout (asynchronous delivery); FIFO topics with 5-minute deduplication, sequence numbers, content-based deduplication, and subscription validation; mobile-push endpoint lifecycle with device-token dedup and Publish to platform-endpoint TargetArn |
| DynamoDB | CreateTable, UpdateTable, DeleteTable, DescribeTable, ListTables, PutItem, GetItem, DeleteItem, UpdateItem, Query, Scan, BatchWriteItem, BatchGetItem, TransactWriteItems, TransactGetItems, DescribeTimeToLive, UpdateTimeToLive, DescribeContinuousBackups, UpdateContinuousBackups, DescribeEndpoints, TagResource, UntagResource, ListTagsOfResource, EnableKinesisStreamingDestination, DisableKinesisStreamingDestination, DescribeKinesisStreamingDestination, UpdateKinesisStreamingDestination | TTL enforced via thread-safe background reaper (60s cadence); DynamoDB Streams — StreamSpecification emits INSERT/MODIFY/REMOVE records on all write operations, respects StreamViewType; Kinesis streaming destinations (aws_dynamodb_kinesis_streaming_destination) fan item mutations out into any Kinesis stream by ARN while the destination is ACTIVE |
| DynamoDB Streams | ListStreams, DescribeStream, GetShardIterator, GetRecords | Reads records emitted by the main DynamoDB service via boto3.client("dynamodbstreams") — single |