Question 77 of 724
DVA-C02 Development with AWS Services Practice Question
A developer must locally test a SAM-based Lambda function with an API event before deployment. Which tool command family is designed for this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse the AWS SAM CLI with other AWS CLI tools or services, mistakenly thinking that general-purpose CLI commands or unrelated security tools can perform local Lambda testing with API events.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS SAM CLI local invoke/start-api
The AWS SAM CLI provides the `local invoke` and `local start-api` commands specifically for testing Lambda functions locally with simulated API Gateway events before deployment. `sam local start-api` creates a local HTTP server that mimics API Gateway, allowing developers to send requests to their Lambda functions as if they were deployed, while `sam local invoke` directly invokes the function with a specified event payload. This is the only tool family designed for local testing of SAM-based Lambda functions with API events.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
AWS SAM CLI local invoke/start-api
Why this is correct
The AWS SAM CLI `local invoke` and `local start-api` commands are specifically designed for testing serverless applications locally. `sam local invoke` allows developers to execute a single Lambda function with a provided event payload, simulating a direct invocation. `sam local start-api` launches a local HTTP server that emulates Amazon API Gateway, enabling testing of Lambda functions integrated with API Gateway by making actual HTTP requests to the local endpoint, providing a comprehensive local testing environment for SAM-based applications.
- ✗
AWS Shield Advanced CLI
Why it's wrong here
AWS Shield Advanced CLI commands are used to configure and manage advanced Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection for AWS resources such as Elastic Load Balancers, Amazon CloudFront distributions, and Route 53 hosted zones. This service focuses on network security and resilience against large-scale attacks. It provides no functionality for executing, simulating, or debugging Lambda functions locally, making it entirely irrelevant for the task of locally testing a SAM-based Lambda function's business logic or runtime behavior.
- ✗
AWS Organizations policy simulator
Why it's wrong here
The AWS Organizations policy simulator is a tool used to evaluate the effects of Service Control Policies (SCPs) within an AWS Organization on specific AWS accounts. Its purpose is to help administrators understand which actions are allowed or denied by the applied SCPs, ensuring governance and compliance across the organization. This simulator does not provide any mechanism to execute, debug, or test the functional code of a Lambda function locally, as its scope is purely policy evaluation, not application runtime testing.
- ✗
Amazon Inspector SBOM export
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Inspector's SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) export functionality provides a detailed list of open-source and third-party components used within an application, along with their known vulnerabilities. This feature is crucial for identifying security risks in dependencies and maintaining software supply chain security. However, exporting an SBOM is an auditing and security analysis function; it does not involve executing the Lambda function's code or simulating its runtime environment locally, thus it cannot be used for functional local testing.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This DVA-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DVA-C02 exam.
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