How to Delete a CDK Stack in AWS CDK

# Deleting a CDK Stack

To delete a CDK stack, we have to use the cdk destroy command.

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npx aws-cdk destroy

If we have more than 1 stack in our CDK app, we have to explicitly specify the name of the stack we want to delete.

For example, the following command deletes both my-stack-dev and my-stack-prod stacks.

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npx aws-cdk destroy my-stack-dev my-stack-prod

# Stateful Resources don't get deleted by default

For example, if we want to change the default behavior for an S3 bucket, we have to specify the removalPolicy and autoDeleteObjects props when instantiating the construct.

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import * as dynamodb from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-dynamodb';
import * as s3 from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-s3';
import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib';

export class MyCdkStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope: cdk.App, id: string, props: cdk.StackProps) {
    super(scope, id, props);

    const s3Bucket = new s3.Bucket(this, 'avatars-bucket', {
      // 👇 set removalPolicy to DESTROY
      removalPolicy: cdk.RemovalPolicy.DESTROY,
      autoDeleteObjects: true,
    });
  }
}

In the code sample:

1. We have defined an S3 Bucket using the Bucket construct.

2. We set the bucket's removalPolicy property to DESTROY, which means that if the bucket is empty when we delete the CDK stack, the bucket will also get deleted.

   To delete the bucket even if it's not empty, we set the autoDeleteObjects prop to true. This will take care of emptying the bucket before deleting it.

The default removalPolicy for stateful resources (S3 buckets, databases) is RemovalPolicy.RETAIN, which causes the resources to remain in our account even after we've deleted the CDK stack.

The same example, but with a Dynamodb table looks as follows.

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import * as dynamodb from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-dynamodb';
import * as s3 from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-s3';
import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib';

export class MyCdkStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope: cdk.App, id: string, props: cdk.StackProps) {
    super(scope, id, props);

    const table = new dynamodb.Table(this, 'my-table', {
      partitionKey: {name: 'todoId', type: dynamodb.AttributeType.NUMBER},
      // 👇 set removalPolicy to DESTROY
      removalPolicy: cdk.RemovalPolicy.DESTROY,
    });
  }
}

If the removal policies of our stateful resources have been set to DESTROY, the cdk destroy command will completely clean up the resources our stack provisions.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• AWS CDK Tutorial for Beginners - Step-by-Step Guide
• What is an identifier (id) in AWS CDK
• CDK Constructs - Complete Guide
• What is a Token in AWS CDK
• How to use Context in AWS CDK
• How to use Parameters in AWS CDK
• How to set a Deletion Policy on a Resource in AWS CDK