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Interactive command — Guides you through creating organisations and applications with smart defaults.

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Overview

The fjall create command is your entry point for building AWS infrastructure. It creates either organisational structures (accounts, SSO, billing) or applications (compute, storage, networking).

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Usage

fjall create [target] [options]

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Targets

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Organisation

Set up your AWS organisation structure: 
fjall create organisation
This creates:
  • AWS Organization root
  • Platform account for shared services
  • SSO configuration
  • Cost allocation tags
  • Billing alerts

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Application

Create a new application: 
fjall create application
# or
fjall create app
Choose from application types:
  • Starter: Blank canvas to build your way
  • Standard: Production-ready with Multi-AZ, Fargate ECS, RDS
  • Lightweight: Streamlined with Single-AZ, Instance-backed ECS, RDS
  • Resilient: High-availability with Multi-AZ, Encrypted, Fargate ECS, Aurora
  • Tinkerer: Free experimental with Single-AZ, Free tier ECS, RDS

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Examples

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Create Organisation (Interactive)

fjall create organisation
Prompts: 
? Organisation name: exampleorg
? Email address: [email protected]
? Primary region: us-east-1
? Secondary regions: eu-west-1, ap-southeast-2
? AWS Access Key ID: AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
? AWS Secret Access Key: ****************************************

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Create Application (Interactive)

fjall create app
Prompts: 
? Choose your starting point:
  ❯ Starter    Blank canvas · Build your way
    Standard   Production-ready · Multi-AZ, Fargate ECS, RDS
    Lightweight Streamlined · Single-AZ, Instance-backed ECS, RDS
    Resilient  High-availability · Multi-AZ, Encrypted, Fargate ECS, Aurora
    Tinkerer   Free experimental · Single-AZ, Free tier ECS, RDS

? Name your application: app
? Include database: Yes
? Provide Dockerfile: No

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Non-Interactive Mode

Skip all prompts with flags: 
# Create organisation
fjall create organisation \
  --name exampleorg \
  --email [email protected] \
  --primary-region us-east-1 \
  --secondary-regions eu-west-1,ap-southeast-2 \
  --aws-access-key AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE \
  --aws-secret-access-key wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY

# Create application
fjall create app \
  --name app \
  --type standard \
  --no-prompt

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Options

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Common Options

OptionDescriptionExample
-v, --verboseShow detailed logsfjall create -v
--np, --no-promptSkip confirmation promptsfjall create --np

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Organisation Options

OptionDescriptionExample
--name <name>Organisation name--name mycompany
--email <email>Root account email--email [email protected]
--primary-region <region>Primary AWS region--primary-region us-east-1
--secondary-regions <regions>Additional regions--secondary-regions eu-west-1,ap-south-1
--aws-access-key <key>AWS access key--aws-access-key AKIA...
--aws-secret-access-key <key>AWS secret key--aws-secret-access-key ...

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Application Options

OptionDescriptionExample
--name <name>Application name--name api-service
--type <type>Application type--type resilient
--no-databaseSkip database creation--no-database
--dockerfile <path>Custom Dockerfile--dockerfile ./Dockerfile
--container-port <port>Container port--container-port 8080

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Application Types Explained

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Standard

  • RDS Instance database
  • ECS Fargate compute
  • Application Load Balancer
  • Best for: Most production workloads

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Resilient

  • Multi-region deployment
  • Aurora Global database
  • Route 53 failover
  • Best for: Mission-critical applications

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Tinkerer

  • RDS Instance (cheaper than Aurora)
  • ECS with EC2 (more control)
  • Development-friendly defaults
  • Best for: Experimentation and learning

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Lightweight

  • DynamoDB for storage
  • Lambda functions
  • API Gateway
  • Best for: Simple APIs and microservices

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Starter

  • Interactive selection of components
  • Mix and match resources
  • Full customisation
  • Best for: Specific requirements

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What Gets Created

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Organisation Structure

fjall/
├── organisation/
│   ├── infrastructure.ts
│   ├── package.json
│   └── cdk.json
├── platform/
│   ├── infrastructure.ts
│   ├── package.json
│   └── cdk.json
├── accounts-config.json
├── fjall-config.json
└── profile-config.json

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Application Structure

fjall/
├── app/
│   ├── infrastructure.ts
│   ├── package.json
│   ├── cdk.json
│   └── Dockerfile (if applicable)
├── accounts-config.json
└── fjall-config.json

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Post-Creation Steps

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After Creating Organisation

  1. Deploy the organisation: 
    fjall deploy organisation
  2. Configure SSO: 
    fjall user add --email [email protected]
  3. Create platform resources: 
    fjall deploy platform

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After Creating Application

  1. Review infrastructure code: 
    cat fjall/app/infrastructure.ts
  2. Deploy the application: 
    fjall deploy app
  3. Add more resources: 
    fjall add storage:aurora --app app

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Best Practices

  1. Organisation First: Always create organisation before applications
  2. Naming Convention: Use lowercase with hyphens (app, not App)
  3. Region Selection: Choose regions close to your users
  4. Type Selection: Start with Tinkerer for learning, use Standard for production

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Troubleshooting

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Name Already Exists

If you see “Application already exists”:
  • Choose a different name
  • Or remove existing: rm -rf fjall/existing-app

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Invalid Credentials

For “Invalid AWS credentials”:
  • Verify access key is correct
  • Ensure secret key has no spaces
  • Check IAM user has required permissions

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Region Not Available

Some services aren’t available in all regions:
  • Use us-east-1 for full service availability
  • Check AWS service availability by region
  • Consider multi-region setup for resilience
The create command generates CDK TypeScript code. You can modify the generated infrastructure.ts files to customise your setup further.