npm package¶

Run AMW with Node.js from the published amazon-modern-widgets package. It contains the compiled server (dist/), the minified widget (dist/widgets/widget.js) and the configuration files.

AMW requires Node.js 26 or later (engines in package.json), the version used by CI and the Docker image.

Step 1: install the package¶

mkdir amw && cd amw
npm install amazon-modern-widgets
mkdir config
cp node_modules/amazon-modern-widgets/config/sample.yml config/production.yml
cp node_modules/amazon-modern-widgets/config/custom-environment-variables.yml config/

The second file maps environment variables such as AMAZON_CREDENTIAL_ID onto the configuration.

Step 2: configure¶

Edit config/production.yml (see Configuration), or export the AMAZON_* variables in the service environment. Two keys need attention with this layout:

Server.projectDir must be the absolute path of the installed package, because the server serves <projectDir>/dist/widgets/widget.js, for example /home/me/amw/node_modules/amazon-modern-widgets/;
Server.path should be /item if you use the widget as is (see API location).

Step 3: start the server¶

Start it from the directory that contains config/ (node-config looks for ./config in the current working directory):

NODE_ENV=production node node_modules/amazon-modern-widgets/dist/main.js

NODE_ENV defaults to production when it is not set, so config/production.yml is loaded. Then verify the installation.

Step 4: keep it running¶

With PM2:

sudo npm install -g pm2
pm2 start node_modules/amazon-modern-widgets/dist/main.js --name amw
pm2 startup     # then run the command it prints
pm2 save

A systemd unit or any other process manager works just as well. The server shuts down gracefully on SIGTERM, SIGINT and SIGUSR2.

Next step¶

Expose AMW on your blog under /item.