What is AWS Builder ID - and how to get one
Fri, Dec 30, 2022
Read in 3 minutes
A new type of identity and credential - unrelated to any other AWS credential -- launched to allow you to as an individual to interact with builder tools.
AWS has recently launched “AWS Builder ID” – which is a new type of security credential that you can sign up for.
This credential is for you as an individual user – and is unrelated to any AWS account you may or may not manage, any root user or IAM users in any AWS account (personal or work related), or any IAM SSO or Cognito user anywhere.
This is only an individual profile that you setup and manage for yourself, and it will stay with you even when you move roles or jobs across organizations. There is also an option to secure this credential with a MFA device.
Now why would you need this Builder ID or what exactly can you use this for? Great question!
Currently there are three developer-oriented services whose engagement model with developers falls a little outside the scope of the AWS Management console experience and is not tightly linked to any specific AWS account. These are the three services that currently leverage the new AWS Builder ID as the user’s authentication credential.
AWS re:Post
A technical Q&A forum for builders on AWS where you can engage with the wider AWS community as well as AWS employees & experts to get help and support on various AWS- and adjacent queries. This is more Stack Overflow than AWS Support. At launch this was tied to only your AWS Account login – which did not make much sense, though it is still an option even now. With AWS Builder ID you can now engage in an individual capacity. You access this forum at this dedicated URL – https://repost.aws/
Amazon CodeCatalyst
Newly launched in re:Invent 2022, CodeCatalyst is billed as a cloud-based collaboration space for development teams, and provides tools for developers across the SDLC including continuous integration/continuous delivery with ready-to-use templates and minimal administration overhead. When you sign up you will be prompted to create a “space” and will access this tool using a separate UI at https://codecatalyst.aws/ (Boy, AWS loves flaunting their new .aws TLD don’t they). This service is positioned as a more broader developer-oriented service than the CodeStar service that is available from inside the AWS Console.
Amazon Code Whisperer
We can think of this service as an analog for Github Copilot. While copilot is out of preview and is now a paid service, Amazon CodeWhisperer is currently still in preview and hence does not require any credit card to use. You access this service not from any webpage but from inside your own development environment / IDE. The product documentation has detailed steps on how you can set it up on VS Code / Jetbrains / Cloud9 which are the IDEs supported currently.
Here is a detailed guide on setting up CodeWhisperer and getting started.
One can only imagine that there will be more such services in the future coming from Amazon’s ecosystem that will get integrated with AWS Builder ID as the entry point for individual developers.
Now it is anybody’s guess why Alexa developer ecosystem has not been integrated with this at launch, though one can also understand there could be some challenges there with the established user base of Alexa developers and devices.
Setup your AWS Builder ID
Here is where you can get started: AWS Builder ID Profile
You go through a fairly straightforward email-based signup and verification process, and at the end you have a working Builder ID hat you can start using.
You can always bookmark and use this URL – https://profile.aws.amazon.com/ – to manage your Builder ID profile, make any edits, re/register an MFA device etc. or even delete your profile if so desired.
Happy Building!