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25 changes: 15 additions & 10 deletions src/content/docs/aws/tutorials/cloud-pods-collaborative-debugging.mdx
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---
title: "How To: Collaborative AWS local development with LocalStack’s Cloud Pods"
title: "How To: Collaborative AWS local development with LocalStack's Cloud Pods"
description: Replicating development environments ensures that all developers, regardless of their local machine configurations or operating systems, work within an environment that closely mirrors production. This consistency helps identify and solve environment-specific issues early in the development cycle, reducing the "it works on my machine" problem where code behaves differently on different developers' machines.
services:
- iam
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -123,9 +123,11 @@ resource "aws_iam_policy" "lambda_dynamodb_policy" {

Bob has mistakenly used `dynamodb:Scan` and `dynamodb:Query`, but missed adding the `dynamodb:GetItem` action to the policy document above.

## Testing the application

### Reproducing the issue locally

Let’s test out the current state of the application.
Let's test out the current state of the application.
The Terraform configuration file outputs the REST API ID of the API Gateway.
We can capture that value and use it further to invoke the **`add-product`** Lambda:

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -199,7 +201,7 @@ Services: sts,iam,apigateway,dynamodb,lambda,s3,cloudwatch,logs

LocalStack provides a remote storage backend that can be used to store the state of your application and share it with your team members.

The Cloud Pods CLI is included in the LocalStack CLI installation, so there’s no need for additional plugins to begin using it.
The Cloud Pods CLI is included in the LocalStack CLI installation, so there's no need for additional plugins to begin using it.
The `LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN` needs to be set as an environment variable.

Additionally, there are other commands for managing Cloud Pods included in the CLI:
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -249,7 +251,7 @@ involved, meaning that the Lambda logs are still in the CloudWatch log groups.

![CloudWatch Logs](/images/aws/cloudwatch-logs.png)

By spotting the error message, there’s an instant starting point for checking the source of the problem.
By spotting the error message, there's an instant starting point for checking the source of the problem.
The error message displayed in the logs is very specific:

`"Error: User: arn:aws:sts::000000000000:assumed-role/productRole/get-product is not authorized to perform: dynamodb:GetItem on resource: arn:aws:dynamodb:us-east-1:000000000000:table/Products because no identity-based policy allows the dynamodb:GetItem action (Service: DynamoDb, Status Code: 400, Request ID: d50e9dad-a01a-4860-8c21-e844a930ba7d)"`
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -335,12 +337,15 @@ The Cloud Pods command-line interface enables users to manage these remotes with

## Conclusion

Cloud Pods play a crucial role in team collaboration, significantly speeding up development processes.
The multiple and
versatile options for remote storage can support different business requirements for companies that prefer using the
environments they control.
Cloud Pods are not just for teamwork; they also excel in other areas, such as creating
resources in Continuous Integration (CI) for ultra-fast testing pipelines.
Cloud Pods play a crucial role in team collaboration, significantly speeding up development processes. The multiple and versatile options for remote storage can support different business requirements for companies that prefer using the environments they control. Cloud Pods are not just for teamwork; they also excel in other areas, such as creating resources in Continuous Integration (CI) for ultra-fast testing pipelines.

This tutorial demonstrated how Cloud Pods enable seamless collaboration between team members by:
- Capturing exact environment states for easy sharing
- Providing immediate access to service data and logs for debugging
- Maintaining consistency across different developer machines
- Supporting multiple storage backends for compliance needs

The workflow from Bob capturing the problematic state, to Alice debugging and fixing it, to Carol using the stable version for testing showcases how Cloud Pods streamline development cycles and eliminate environment-specific issues.

## Additional resources

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