github.com/floci-io/floci @1.5.29 sqlite

Light, fluffy, and always free

No account. No auth token. No feature gates. Just docker compose up.

Quick Start · Features · Services · SDKs · Testcontainers · Migration · Docs

What is Floci?

Floci is a free, open-source local AWS emulator for development, testing, and CI.

It gives you AWS-shaped services on your machine without requiring a cloud account, an auth token, or paid feature gates. Point your AWS SDK, CLI, Terraform, CDK, OpenTofu, or test suite at http://localhost:4566 and keep your existing workflows.

Floci is named after floccus, the cloud formation that looks like popcorn.

Quick Start

The fastest way to run Floci is with the official CLI

floci start

Export the AWS environment variables:

eval $(floci env)

Use your existing AWS tools normally:

aws s3 mb s3://my-bucket

aws dynamodb create-table \
  --table-name demo-table \
  --attribute-definitions AttributeName=pk,AttributeType=S \
  --key-schema AttributeName=pk,KeyType=HASH \
  --billing-mode PAY_PER_REQUEST

aws dynamodb list-tables

Watch it run

This short demo shows the CLI flow: start Floci, export the local AWS environment, run standard AWS CLI commands, and stop the emulator.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b55714dc-ef36-40ae-a734-cd2cadc288a8

All AWS services are available at http://localhost:4566. Any region works. Credentials can be any non-empty values.

Prefer Docker Compose?

Create a compose.yaml file:

services:
  floci:
    image: floci/floci:latest
    ports:
      - "4566:4566"

Start Floci:

docker compose up

Then configure your AWS environment manually:

export AWS_ENDPOINT_URL=http://localhost:4566
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=test
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=test

Using the old hectorvent/floci image?

Update your image name:

# Before
image: hectorvent/floci:latest

# After
image: floci/floci:latest

The old hectorvent/floci repository no longer receives updates.

Features

Local AWS without the cloud account

Run AWS-compatible services locally without an AWS account, auth token, or paid feature gates.

Real Docker where fidelity matters

Lambda, RDS, Neptune, ElastiCache, MSK, ECS, EC2, EKS, OpenSearch, and CodeBuild use real Docker-backed execution instead of shallow mocks.

Drop-in AWS compatibility

Point standard AWS clients at http://localhost:4566. Existing credentials, regions, SDKs, CLI commands, and IaC workflows stay familiar.

Fast enough for CI

The native image starts in milliseconds and keeps idle memory low, making it practical for local development and test pipelines.

Configurable persistence

Choose from in-memory, persistent, hybrid, and write-ahead log storage depending on the durability profile you need.

Why Floci?

LocalStack's community edition sunset in March 2026, requiring auth tokens and freezing security updates. Floci is the no-strings-attached alternative.

65 AWS services. Broad coverage. Free forever.

Architecture Overview

flowchart LR
    Client["AWS SDK / CLI"]

    subgraph Floci ["Floci, port 4566"]
        Router["HTTP Router\nJAX-RS / Vert.x"]

        subgraph Stateless ["Stateless Services"]
            A["SSM · SQS · SNS\nIAM · STS · KMS\nSecrets Manager · SES\nCognito · Kinesis\nEventBridge · Scheduler · AppConfig\nCloudWatch · Step Functions\nCloudFormation · ACM · Config\nAPI Gateway · AppSync · ELB v2 · Auto Scaling\nElastic Beanstalk · CodeDeploy · CodePipeline · Backup · Bedrock Runtime · Route53 · Transfer"]
        end

        subgraph Stateful ["Stateful Services"]
            B["S3 · DynamoDB\nDynamoDB Streams"]
        end

        subgraph Containers ["Container Services"]
            C["Lambda\nElastiCache\nRDS\nNeptune\nECS\nEC2\nMSK\nEKS\nOpenSearch\nCodeBuild"]
            D["Athena -> floci-duck\nDuckDB sidecar"]
        end

        Router --> Stateless
        Router --> Stateful
        Router --> Containers
        Stateless & Stateful --> Store[("StorageBackend\nmemory · hybrid · persistent · wal")]
    end

    Docker["Docker Engine"]
    Client -->|"HTTP :4566\nAWS wire protocol"| Router
    Containers -->|"Docker API\nIAM / SigV4 auth"| Docker

Supported Services

Floci supports local emulation for application services, data services, eventing, identity, infrastructure, billing, and container-backed workloads.

For operation-level compatibility, see the Services Overview.

Detailed service notes