eistrati · eistrati · Apr 9, 2026 · Apr 9, 2026
diff --git a/backend/README.md b/backend/README.md
@@ -86,8 +86,9 @@ To tail logs in real-time:
 
 ```sh
 # Example: Get logs for {{service-name}}
-awslocal logs tail /aws/lambda/{{function-name}} \
-         --follow --format short --color on
+AWS_ENDPOINT_URL="http://localhost:4566" \
+    aws logs tail /aws/lambda/{{function-name}} \
+        --follow --format short --color on
 ```
 
 Replace `{{function-name}}` with corresponding service name

diff --git a/bin/README.md b/bin/README.md
@@ -200,9 +200,7 @@ Sets up the complete local development environment on Ubuntu 22.04.
 * Installs Docker (Container runtime)
 * Installs LocalStack (AWS service emulation)
 * Installs AWS CLI v2 (AWS command-line tools)
-* Installs awslocal (AWS CLI wrapper for LocalStack)
 * Installs Terraform (Infrastructure as Code)
-* Installs tflocal (Terraform wrapper for LocalStack)
 * Installs PostgreSQL (Relational database)
 * Installs MongoDB (NoSQL database)
 * Optionally: Installs and configures dnsmasq (DNS resolution)

diff --git a/bin/deploy-backend.sh b/bin/deploy-backend.sh
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ if [ "$1" = "-h" ] || [ "$1" = "--help" ]; then
     echo ""
     echo "Requirements:"
     echo "  - terraform installed"
-    echo "  - tflocal installed (for local development)"
     echo "  - ENVIRONMENT.config file (auto-created for AWS)"
     echo ""
     echo "Examples:"
@@ -40,7 +39,6 @@ export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
 export AWS_REGION=${AWS_REGION:-us-east-1}
 
 # Verify required dependencies
-tflocal --version > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "ERROR: 'tflocal' is missing. Aborting..."; exit 1; }
 terraform --version > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "ERROR: 'terraform' is missing. Aborting..."; exit 1; }
 
 # Resolve script directory and project root paths

diff --git a/bin/deploy-frontend.sh b/bin/deploy-frontend.sh
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ if [ "$1" = "-h" ] || [ "$1" = "--help" ]; then
     echo "Requirements:"
     echo "  - aws cli installed"
     echo "  - npm installed"
-    echo "  - terraform/tflocal installed"
+    echo "  - terraform installed"
     echo "  - Backend infrastructure deployed first"
     echo ""
     echo "Examples:"
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ echo ""
 # Verify required dependencies
 aws --version > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "ERROR: 'aws' is missing. Aborting..."; exit 1; }
 npm --version > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "ERROR: 'npm' is missing. Aborting..."; exit 1; }
-tflocal --version > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "ERROR: 'tflocal' is missing. Aborting..."; exit 1; }
 terraform --version > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "ERROR: 'terraform' is missing. Aborting..."; exit 1; }
 
 # Resolve script directory and project root paths
@@ -52,9 +51,6 @@ FRONTEND_DIR="$PROJECT_ROOT/frontend"
 INFRA_DIR="$PROJECT_ROOT/infra"
 ENVIRONMENT=${1:-"aws"}
 
-# Select terraform command (terraform or tflocal)
-TF_CMD="terraform"
-
 # Set up PATH and AWS region
 export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
 export AWS_REGION=${AWS_REGION:-us-east-1}
@@ -76,24 +72,20 @@ if [ "$ENVIRONMENT" = "aws" ]; then
     fi
 else
     # Local development configuration
-    if command -v tflocal > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-        TF_CMD="tflocal"
-    else
-        # Fallback to terraform with local endpoint
-        export AWS_ENDPOINT_URL="http://localhost:4566"
-    fi
+    export AWS_ENDPOINT_URL="http://localhost:4566"
+    export AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3="http://s3.localhost.localstack.cloud:4566"
 
-    # Set dummy AWS credentials for local development
-    export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=test
-    export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=test
-    AWS_ENDPOINT="--endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566"
+    BUCKET_NAME="coding-workshop-tfstate-${PARTICIPANT_ID:-abcd1234}"
+    if ! aws s3 ls | grep -q "$BUCKET_NAME"; then
+        aws s3 mb "s3://$BUCKET_NAME"
+    fi
 fi
 
 # Change to infrastructure directory
 cd "$INFRA_DIR"
 
 # Retrieve S3 bucket name from Terraform outputs
-BUCKET_NAME=$($TF_CMD output -raw s3_bucket_name 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+BUCKET_NAME=$(terraform output -raw s3_bucket_name 2>/dev/null || echo "")
 echo "INFO: Target bucket - $BUCKET_NAME"
 
 # Verify S3 bucket exists (indicates backend infrastructure is deployed)
@@ -104,9 +96,9 @@ if [ -z "$BUCKET_NAME" ]; then
 fi
 
 # Retrieve API configuration from Terraform outputs
-API_BASE_URL=$($TF_CMD output -raw api_base_url 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+API_BASE_URL=$(terraform output -raw api_base_url 2>/dev/null || echo "")
 echo "INFO: API Base URL - $API_BASE_URL"
-API_ENDPOINTS=$($TF_CMD output -json api_endpoints 2>/dev/null || echo "{}")
+API_ENDPOINTS=$(terraform output -json api_endpoints 2>/dev/null || echo "{}")
 echo "INFO: API Endpoints - $API_ENDPOINTS"
 
 # Local Development: Skip frontend build (use start-dev.sh instead)
@@ -165,7 +157,7 @@ if [ "$ENVIRONMENT" = "aws" ]; then
     cd "$INFRA_DIR"
 
     # Retrieve CloudFront distribution ID from Terraform outputs
-    DISTRIBUTION_ID=$($TF_CMD output -raw cloudfront_distribution_id 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+    DISTRIBUTION_ID=$(terraform output -raw cloudfront_distribution_id 2>/dev/null || echo "")
 
     # Create cache invalidation for all files
     if [ -n "$DISTRIBUTION_ID" ]; then
@@ -180,7 +172,7 @@ echo "INFO: Frontend deployment complete!"
 
 # Display CloudFront URL
 cd "$INFRA_DIR"
-URL=$($TF_CMD output -raw website_url 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+URL=$(terraform output -raw website_url 2>/dev/null || echo "")
 
 if [ -n "$URL" ]; then
     echo ""

diff --git a/bin/generate-env.sh b/bin/generate-env.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ if [ "$1" = "-h" ] || [ "$1" = "--help" ]; then
     echo "  -h, --help      Show this help message"
     echo ""
     echo "Requirements:"
-    echo "  - terraform or tflocal installed"
+    echo "  - terraform installed"
     echo "  - Backend infrastructure deployed"
     echo ""
     echo "Output:"

diff --git a/bin/setup-environment.sh b/bin/setup-environment.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #   - Browser: Google Chrome
 #   - Containers: Docker (with sudo-less access)
 #   - Cloud Tools: Terraform CLI, AWS CLI v2
-#   - LocalStack: LocalStack CLI, tflocal, awslocal
+#   - LocalStack: LocalStack CLI
 #   - Database: PostgreSQL, pgAdmin
 #   - Database: MongoDB, MongoDB Compass
 #   - Runtimes: Node.js, Python
@@ -93,7 +93,6 @@ Installed tools:
   - Terraform CLI
   - AWS CLI v2
   - LocalStack CLI
-  - tflocal, awslocal
   - PostgreSQL with pgAdmin
   - MongoDB with MongoDB Compass
   - Node.js
@@ -1272,65 +1271,6 @@ EOF
     fi
 }
 
-install_tflocal() {
-    print_section "tflocal (terraform-local)"
-
-    if is_dry_run; then
-        print_dry_run_header "TFLOCAL" "tflocal (terraform-local)"
-        if command -v tflocal &> /dev/null || [ -f "$ACTUAL_HOME/.local/bin/tflocal" ]; then
-            print_dry_run_status "Already installed"
-        else
-            print_dry_run_missing "Not installed"
-            print_dry_run_action "Would install: terraform-local (via pip3)"
-            print_dry_run_action "Would update PATH in ~/.bashrc"
-        fi
-        return
-    fi
-
-    print_info "Installing tflocal..."
-
-    # Idempotency check
-    if command -v tflocal &> /dev/null || [ -f "$ACTUAL_HOME/.local/bin/tflocal" ]; then
-        print_info "tflocal already installed"
-        return
-    fi
-
-    if python3 -m pip install terraform-local; then
-        print_status "tflocal installed"
-    else
-        add_failure "Failed to install tflocal"
-    fi
-}
-
-install_awslocal() {
-    print_section "awslocal (awscli-local)"
-
-    if is_dry_run; then
-        print_dry_run_header "AWSLOCAL" "awslocal (awscli-local)"
-        if command -v awslocal &> /dev/null || [ -f "$ACTUAL_HOME/.local/bin/awslocal" ]; then
-            print_dry_run_status "Already installed"
-        else
-            print_dry_run_missing "Not installed"
-            print_dry_run_action "Would install: awscli-local (via pip3)"
-        fi
-        return
-    fi
-
-    print_info "Installing awslocal..."
-
-    # Idempotency check
-    if command -v awslocal &> /dev/null || [ -f "$ACTUAL_HOME/.local/bin/awslocal" ]; then
-        print_info "awslocal already installed"
-        return
-    fi
-
-    if python3 -m pip install awscli-local; then
-        print_status "awslocal installed"
-    else
-        add_failure "Failed to install awslocal"
-    fi
-}
-
 # ============================================================================
 # SECTION 13: DNSMASQ CONFIGURATION (OPTIONAL)
 # ============================================================================
@@ -1472,8 +1412,6 @@ run_verification() {
 
     # LocalStack
     verify_tool "LocalStack" "localstack --version"
-    verify_tool_path "tflocal" "$ACTUAL_HOME/.local/bin/tflocal"
-    verify_tool_path "awslocal" "$ACTUAL_HOME/.local/bin/awslocal"
 
     # Database
     verify_tool "MongoDB" "mongod --version" "grep 'db version'"
@@ -1793,8 +1731,6 @@ main() {
     install_terraform
     install_awscli
     install_localstack
-    install_tflocal
-    install_awslocal
     configure_dnsmasq
 
     # Verification and summary

diff --git a/bin/start-dev.sh b/bin/start-dev.sh
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ if [ "$1" = "-h" ] || [ "$1" = "--help" ]; then
     echo "  - mongod installed"
     echo "  - npm installed"
     echo "  - localstack installed"
-    echo "  - tflocal installed"
     exit 0
 fi
 
@@ -43,6 +42,10 @@ PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd $SCRIPT_DIR/.. > /dev/null 2>&1 || exit 1; pwd -P)"
 INFRA_DIR="$PROJECT_ROOT/infra"
 FRONTEND_DIR="$PROJECT_ROOT/frontend"
 
+# Ensure local development
+export AWS_ENDPOINT_URL="http://localhost:4566"
+export AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3="http://s3.localhost.localstack.cloud:4566"
+
 # ============================================================
 # STEP 1: Check and Start PostgreSQL
 # ============================================================
@@ -300,13 +303,6 @@ echo ""
 # ============================================================
 echo -e "[4/5] Checking Backend Infrastructure..."
 
-# Verify required tools
-if ! command -v tflocal &> /dev/null; then
-    echo -e "ERROR: tflocal is not installed"
-    echo "Install: pip install terraform-local"
-    exit 1
-fi
-
 # Detect MongoDB host for LocalStack Lambda functions
 if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "linux-gnu"* ]]; then
     export TF_VAR_mongodb_host="172.17.0.1"
@@ -327,9 +323,9 @@ rm -rf "$INFRA_DIR/builds"
 
 # Check if backend is deployed
 BACKEND_OK=false
-if tflocal output lambda_urls > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+if terraform output lambda_urls > /dev/null 2>&1; then
     # Backend is deployed, verify functions are accessible
-    LAMBDA_URLS=$(tflocal output -json lambda_urls 2>/dev/null | grep -o 'http://[^"]*' | head -1 || echo "")
+    LAMBDA_URLS=$(terraform output -json lambda_urls 2>/dev/null | grep -o 'http://[^"]*' | head -1 || echo "")
 
     if [ -n "$LAMBDA_URLS" ]; then
         # Test if at least one function responds
@@ -357,7 +353,7 @@ fi
 
 # Display Lambda URLs
 echo -e "  Lambda Function URLs:"
-tflocal output -json lambda_urls 2>/dev/null | grep -o 'http://[^"]*' | sed 's/^/    /' || echo "    (none)"
+terraform output -json lambda_urls 2>/dev/null | grep -o 'http://[^"]*' | sed 's/^/    /' || echo "    (none)"
 
 echo ""
 

diff --git a/docs/testing.md b/docs/testing.md
@@ -51,8 +51,9 @@ To tail backend logs in real-time:
 
 ```sh
 # Example: Get logs for {{service-name}}
-awslocal logs tail /aws/lambda/{{function-name}} \
-         --follow --format short --color on
+AWS_ENDPOINT_URL="http://localhost:4566" \
+    aws logs tail /aws/lambda/{{function-name}} \
+        --follow --format short --color on
 ```
 
 Replace `{{function-name}}` with corresponding service name

diff --git a/infra/README.md b/infra/README.md
@@ -41,21 +41,28 @@ To run your application locally:
 localstack start -d
 ```
 
+Make sure that AWS APIs are accessible locally:
+
+```sh
+export AWS_ENDPOINT_URL="http://localhost:4566"
+export AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3="http://s3.localhost.localstack.cloud:4566"
+```
+
 To deploy infrastructure locally:
 
 ```sh
 cd infra
 rm -rf .terraform*
-tflocal init -backend-config bucket=coding-workshop-us-east-1-abcd1234
-tflocal apply -var aws_app_code=abcd1234
+terraform init -backend-config bucket=coding-workshop-us-east-1-abcd1234
+terraform apply -var aws_app_code=abcd1234
 ```
 
 **Note:** Replace `abcd1234` from above with your participant id shared by workshop organizer(s).
 
 After successful execution, view outputs:
 
 ```sh
-tflocal output
+terraform output
 ```
 
 ### Cloud Deployment
@@ -66,6 +73,13 @@ To setup participant environment:
 ./bin/setup-participant.sh
 ```
 
+Make sure that AWS APIs are accessible remotely:
+
+```sh
+unset AWS_ENDPOINT_URL
+unset AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3
+```
+
 To deploy your infrastructure to AWS:
 
 ```sh