SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✓

  Add a manual approval action in the pipeline stage with an SNS topic for notification.

  Why this is correct

  A manual approval action pauses the pipeline stage until a nominated person approves, and attaching an SNS topic notifies approvers when action is required. This satisfies the stem's need to gate production deployment behind human authorisation within CodePipeline.

• ✗

  Use Amazon CloudWatch Events to trigger an SNS topic for approval.

  Why it's wrong here

  CloudWatch Events and SNS can notify a person, but neither pauses the pipeline nor records an approval decision, so deployment proceeds regardless. It is tempting because SNS delivers messages reliably, yet that suits alerting scenarios, whereas CodePipeline's native manual approval action halts execution until approved.

• ✗

  Create a custom action using AWS CodeDeploy.

  Why it's wrong here

  CodeDeploy performs deployments, not interactive human approvals; a custom action would require building and hosting the approval logic yourself. It is tempting because CodeDeploy integrates with pipelines, but it suits automated deployment strategies such as blue/green, while CodePipeline's built-in manual approval action provides the gate.

• ✗

  Add a Lambda function that sends an email and pauses the pipeline until a token is provided.

  Why it's wrong here

  A Lambda function sending an email and pausing for a token lacks the native approval workflow integration that CodePipeline provides through its built-in manual approval action. The pipeline would require custom logic to resume, whereas CodePipeline’s own approval action automatically pauses and resumes upon manual confirmation in the AWS console. This option is tempting because Lambda can trigger notifications and manage state, making it a valid pattern for custom approval flows outside CodePipeline, such as in a Step Functions workflow where no native approval gate exists.