AWS Lambda Puppeteer

This repository contains a sample code template for creating AWS Lambda functions with Puppeteer, a headless browser automation tool. Puppeteer is used to control headless Chrome or Chromium instances, allowing you to perform tasks such as web scraping, generating screenshots, or automating web interactions.

Why Puppeteer?

Puppeteer provides a high-level API to control headless Chrome or Chromium instances. It allows you to interact with web pages programmatically, enabling various use cases such as:

• Web scraping: Extracting data from websites.
• Automated testing: Running tests in a headless browser environment.
• Generating screenshots or PDFs of web pages.
• Web automation: Automating repetitive tasks on websites.

Dependencies

This project uses the following npm packages:

• axios: A promise-based HTTP client for making HTTP requests. It is used to fetch data from external APIs.
• chrome-aws-lambda: A package that provides a version of Chromium that can run on AWS Lambda. It is required for Puppeteer to work in a serverless environment.
• puppeteer: The official Puppeteer package. It is used to control headless Chrome or Chromium instances.

Why Node.js 14.x?

Node.js Runtime Version

The runtime field in the provider section of the serverless.yml file specifies the Node.js runtime version for AWS Lambda functions. In this project, Node.js version 14.x (nodejs14.x) is specified because it is the only version that works with chrome-aws-lambda. Puppeteer relies on certain features and APIs that are available in Node.js 14.x but may not be available in older versions.

It's important to note that while you may be able to deploy AWS Lambda functions with newer Node.js versions (such as 16, 18, or 20), Puppeteer may not be compatible with these versions due to dependencies on specific Node.js features or APIs.

Usage

1. Clone or fork this repository.

2. Install dependencies by running the following command in your terminal:

   npm install

3. Customize the code in index.js to suit your specific use case.

4. Run the function locally using the following command:

   serverless invoke local -f fetchData

5. Deploy the AWS Lambda function using your preferred deployment method. For example, you can use the Serverless Framework by running:

   serverless deploy

6. Test the deployed Lambda function to ensure it behaves as expected.

Requirements

• Node.js
• AWS account with permissions to create and manage Lambda functions
• Serverless Framework (optional, but recommended for streamlined deployment)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you encounter any issues or have suggestions for improvements, feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.