February 2, 2026
YAML fatigue vs CDK faith
Stelvio: Ship Python to AWS
New Python tool says “ship to AWS fast” — comments ask ‘why not just use CDK’
TLDR: Stelvio is a new open-source tool to deploy AWS apps using only Python, promising quick setup and automatic wiring. Commenters are split between CDK loyalists citing stability and docs, and dev-experience fans cheering speed—while some side-eye broken links and wonder if a newcomer can handle real-world edge cases.
Stelvio crashed into the timeline promising a dream: build and deploy Amazon apps using only Python, no confusing config files, automatic permissions, and a live “edit-save-ship” dev mode. The pitch is bold, the demo is slick… and the comments instantly turned into a courtroom drama. The opening jab? A reader spots broken links: “the first 2 links are 404s,” cue the meme: “404-driven development.” Ouch.
Then came the showdown. CDK loyalists (that’s Amazon’s official toolkit) asked the million-dollar question: why pick a brand-new tool over the well-known one with docs, examples, and a giant community? One commenter even flexed that they “one-shot” their entire setup by having ChatGPT spit out CDK code. Another waved the caution flag: new tools rarely cover every weird edge case, and when it breaks, you’re on your own.
But it wasn’t all skepticism. Fans of developer-friendly tools like SST and Encore said Stelvio’s “pure Python” and “smart defaults” could save hours of trial-and-error. Fewer footguns, more shipping. The vibe? A classic internet split: the “don’t reinvent the wheel, use CDK” crowd vs. the “let me move fast without YAML trauma” crew. If Stelvio fixes the 404s and proves it can handle real-world weirdness, this could go from spicy thread to sleeper hit.
Key Points
- •Stelvio is an open-source framework to build and deploy AWS applications using pure Python, avoiding YAML or new DSLs.
- •The stlv CLI provides live dev mode (stlv dev) to sync code changes instantly and commands to init and deploy projects.
- •Stelvio applies smart defaults for IAM, networking, and configuration, and auto-configures permissions by linking resources to functions.
- •It offers high-level components for AWS services including Lambda, API Gateway, EventBridge, S3, DynamoDB, SQS, SNS, and SES.
- •A quick start demonstrates setup with uv and stlv commands; the project is Apache 2.0 licensed and open to community contributions.