Solve - Invalid base64 Error when invoking Lambda - AWS CLI

Solving Invalid base64 Error in AWS CLI #

The "Invalid base64: {"key": "value"}" error most often occurs when a lambda function is invoked with --payload parameter, consisting of JSON, without setting the --cli-binary-format to raw-in-base64-out.

To solve the "Invalid base64" error set the --cli-binary-format parameter to raw-in-base64-out when invoking the lambda function:

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aws lambda invoke --function-name testFunction --cli-binary-format raw-in-base64-out --payload '{"name": "John Smith"}' response.json

If you are on Windows, you have to escape the double quotes in the --payload parameter - '{\"name\": \"John Smith\"}'.

The reason the AWS CLI throws the "Invalid base64" error is that by default the --payload parameter is of type blob and expects valid base64 encoded input - docs.

By setting the --cli-binary-format parameter to raw-in-base64-out we are able to provide a raw JSON string to the --payload parameter.

For example if we had an event.json file with the contents of:

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{
  "name": "John Doe"
}

Invoke the lambda function like so:

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aws lambda invoke --function-name testFunction --cli-binary-format raw-in-base64-out --payload file://event.json response.json

If we were to omit setting the --cli-binary-format parameter we would still get the "Invalid base64" error.

Further Reading #

• Invoke Lambda Functions with AWS CLI - Complete Guide
• Create a Lambda Function with AWS CLI - Complete Guide
• Create Lambda Layers with AWS CLI - Complete Guide
• Create a Role with AWS CLI - Complete Guide
• View your AWS CLI logs in Real Time (tail)
• How to turn off the Pager in AWS CLI
• Tag an S3 Bucket with AWS CLI
• AWS CDK Tutorial for Beginners - Step-by-Step Guide
• How to use Parameters in AWS CDK