how to add description to changeset when running deploy

[yapanchla]

Is it possible to add a description to the changeset when running sam deploy?

[uldyssian-sh]

No, sam deploy does not currently support setting a CloudFormation Change Set description.

Why:

When you run sam deploy, SAM internally creates and executes a CloudFormation change set, but it does not expose the ChangeSetDescription parameter that exists in the CloudFormation API. There is no flag in sam deploy to pass a description through.

What you can do instead:

Option 1: Use CloudFormation directly
If a change set description is important, you must bypass sam deploy and use the AWS CLI directly:

• aws cloudformation create-change-set (supports --description)
• review the change set
• aws cloudformation execute-change-set

Option 2: Encode context elsewhere
Common workarounds include:

• adding deployment metadata as stack tags
• embedding deployment info (git SHA, ticket ID) in stack parameters
• using commit messages / CI job metadata instead of change set descriptions

Summary:

sam deploy does not support change set descriptions.
There is no CLI flag or configuration option for this today.
Use raw CloudFormation commands if you require a description on the change set.

[uldyssian-sh]

Thanks! If this helps, please consider marking it as “Helpful” or “Accepted” 😊