How do I install a pre-release (i.e. latest git commit) of aws-cdk-lib?

[setvik]

A PR was just merged to aws-cdk that we would like to test out in our staging environment.

Is there a way to install a specific git commit version of aws-cdk-lib in our package.json and have it download/build correctly?

[MentalOfCrow]

A Git URL in package.json is not sufficient for this repository. aws/aws-cdk is a Lerna/jsii monorepo, the root is not the aws-cdk-lib npm package, generated JavaScript is not committed as a consumable package, and the source package has a development version (0.0.0). npm cannot turn an arbitrary repository commit into the released library by itself.

For a one-off TypeScript/JavaScript staging test, build the exact commit first:

git clone https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk.git
cd aws-cdk
git checkout <full-commit-sha>

yarn install --frozen-lockfile
npx lerna run build --scope=aws-cdk-lib

Those are the repository's documented aws-cdk-lib build steps.

For a local consuming app, the supported development shortcut is then:

cd /path/to/your-cdk-app
/path/to/aws-cdk/link-all.sh

link-all.sh symlinks the built modules into the app's node_modules; it is documented under Linking against this repository.

For a reproducible CI/staging environment, do not commit those symlinks. Package the already-built module into a tarball (or publish that tarball to your private registry) and pin the artifact by checksum:

cd /path/to/aws-cdk/packages/aws-cdk-lib
npm pack
# produces an aws-cdk-lib-0.0.0.tgz development artifact

Then copy the tarball into the staging app, for example:

{
  "dependencies": {
    "aws-cdk-lib": "file:vendor/aws-cdk-lib-0.0.0.tgz",
    "constructs": "^10.0.0"
  }
}

Commit the resulting lockfile. In CI, also record the upstream commit SHA next to the artifact; the 0.0.0 development version alone does not identify what you built.

A few cautions:

• Build in a clean container/runner and run the relevant unit and integration test from the merged PR before deploying.
• If the change touches the CLI, cloud assembly schema, assets, or another workspace package, build/package that dependency closure as well; testing only aws-cdk-lib could otherwise mix incompatible development and released packages.
• The repository's package workflow creates all jsii target artifacts (Python, Java, .NET, etc.) and requires the documented jsii superchain image. npm pack is the lightweight route only for a Node/TypeScript consumer. Follow the Pack section for other languages.
• Prefer the next official aws-cdk-lib release for production. A commit build has passed merge checks, but it is not a published, semantically versioned release artifact.

So: an exact-commit test is possible, but it is a build-and-package workflow, not a direct github:<sha> dependency.

If this gives you a reproducible staging install, please mark it as the accepted answer so future contributors can find the distinction quickly.