# atmos aws cloudformation watch

Attach to a stack's operation and stream its events until the stack reaches
a terminal status — whether that operation is currently in progress,
already finished, or was started outside Atmos entirely (the AWS Console, a
CI pipeline running raw `aws cloudformation`, another teammate's terminal).
This is distinct from
[`apply`](/cli/commands/aws/cloudformation/apply)/[`deploy`](/cli/commands/aws/cloudformation/deploy)/[`delete`](/cli/commands/aws/cloudformation/delete)'s
automatic inline streaming, which only covers the operation that command
itself just started.

> ⚠️ Experimental

## Usage

```shell
atmos aws cloudformation watch <component> --stack <stack> [options]
```

```shell
atmos aws cloudformation watch vpc -s plat-ue2-dev
```

Watch all or affected components in dependency order:

```shell
atmos aws cloudformation watch --all -s plat-ue2-dev
atmos aws cloudformation watch --affected --base origin/main
```

## Flags

- **`--stack`, `-s` (required)**
  Atmos stack.
- **`--all` (optional)**
  Watch all 
  `aws/cloudformation`
   components in dependency order.
- **`--affected` (optional)**
  Watch affected 
  `aws/cloudformation`
   components and their dependencies.
- **`--include-dependents` (optional)**
  With 
  `--affected`
  , include dependent 
  `aws/cloudformation`
   components.
- **`--tags` (optional)**
  Filter by tags (comma-separated, matches any): 
  `--tags=production,tier-1`
  . Composes with 
  `--all`
  /
  `--affected`
   to narrow the selected set further; cannot be combined with a single component argument.
- **`--labels` (optional)**
  Filter by labels (comma-separated 
  `key=value`
   or 
  `key:value`
   pairs, matches all): 
  `--labels=cost-center=platform,compliance=sox`
  . Composes with 
  `--all`
  /
  `--affected`
  /
  `--tags`
  ; cannot be combined with a single component argument.

## Behavior

If the stack ends in a failed status, `watch` exits non-zero, the same
failure signal `apply`/`delete` give when the operation they started fails.

:::note
`watch` does not fire `before`/`after` hook events — only
[`apply`](/cli/commands/aws/cloudformation/apply),
[`diff`](/cli/commands/aws/cloudformation/diff), and
[`delete`](/cli/commands/aws/cloudformation/delete) do.
:::