Bug: TableManager Lambda missing lodash.isequal dependency causes all DynamoDB table creation to fail

[he-engineer]

Bug Report: TableManager Lambda Missing lodash.isequal Dependency

Environment

• Package: @aws-amplify/backend@1.16.1
• Affected Package: @aws-amplify/graphql-model-transformer@3.3.1
• Node Version: v20.x (Lambda runtime)
• Region: us-east-1
• Amplify Gen: Gen 2

Description

The TableManager Lambda function deployed by @aws-amplify/data-construct fails with Runtime.ImportModuleError because the deprecated lodash.isequal package is required but not bundled with the Lambda.

This causes all DynamoDB table creation to fail in Amplify Gen 2 Data constructs.

Error

Runtime.ImportModuleError: Error: Cannot find module 'lodash.isequal'
Require stack:
- /var/task/import-table.js
- /var/task/amplify-table-manager-handler.js
- /var/runtime/index.mjs

Reproduction Steps

1. Create any Amplify Gen 2 project with data models:

   // amplify/data/resource.ts
   import { a, defineData } from '@aws-amplify/backend';
   
   const schema = a.schema({
     Todo: a.model({
       content: a.string(),
     }).authorization(allow => [allow.owner()]),
   });
   
   export const data = defineData({ schema });

2. Deploy to sandbox or production:

   npx ampx sandbox

3. Observe CloudFormation failure:

   • Auth stack: ✅ CREATE_COMPLETE
   • Data stack: ❌ CREATE_FAILED
   • Error: "CloudFormation did not receive a response from your Custom Resource"

4. Check TableManager Lambda logs:

   aws logs tail /aws/lambda/<TableManagerFunction> --since 1h

   Result:

   INIT_START Runtime Version: nodejs:20.v82
   ERROR Uncaught Exception {"errorType":"Runtime.ImportModuleError",
   "errorMessage":"Error: Cannot find module 'lodash.isequal'..."}
   

Root Cause

File: node_modules/@aws-amplify/data-construct/node_modules/@aws-amplify/graphql-model-transformer/lib/resources/amplify-dynamodb-table/amplify-table-manager-lambda/import-table.js

Line 7:

const lodash_isequal_1 = __importDefault(require("lodash.isequal"));

Problems:

1. lodash.isequal is deprecated (last published 9 years ago)
2. Not included in Lambda bundle dependencies
3. Lambda bundling process excludes it

Impact

Severity: Critical 🔴

• ❌ All DynamoDB tables fail to create
• ❌ Blocks all Amplify Gen 2 Data deployments
• ❌ Affects sandbox, staging, and production
• ❌ No workaround available (patch-package doesn't work for Lambda bundles)

Tested Versions

Version	Status
@aws-amplify/backend@1.16.1	❌ Fails
@aws-amplify/backend@1.5.0	❌ Fails (different bug)

Proposed Solutions

Option A: Use full lodash package (recommended)

Replace:

const lodash_isequal_1 = __importDefault(require("lodash.isequal"));

With:

const { isEqual } = require("lodash");

Update package.json to include lodash@^4.17.21

Option B: Implement custom isEqual

Replace deprecated package with custom deep equality function (no dependencies):

const isDeepEqual = (a, b) => {
    if (a === b) return true;
    if (a === null || b === null || a === undefined || b === undefined) return a === b;
    if (Array.isArray(a) && Array.isArray(b)) {
        if (a.length !== b.length) return false;
        for (let i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
            if (!isDeepEqual(a[i], b[i])) return false;
        }
        return true;
    }
    if (typeof a === 'object' && typeof b === 'object') {
        const keysA = Object.keys(a);
        const keysB = Object.keys(b);
        if (keysA.length !== keysB.length) return false;
        for (const key of keysA) {
            if (!Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(b, key)) return false;
            if (!isDeepEqual(a[key], b[key])) return false;
        }
        return true;
    }
    return false;
};

Workarounds Attempted

1. ❌ patch-package: Doesn't work (Lambda uses pre-bundled code)
2. ❌ Lambda layers: Can't modify Amplify's internal Lambda
3. ❌ Downgrade: Bug exists in all Gen 2 versions
4. ⚠️ Amplify Gen 1: Works, but requires full migration (2-3 days)

Additional Context

• Issue discovered during production deployment
• Confirmed in fresh Amplify Gen 2 projects
• No official documentation mentions this limitation
• Community reports similar lodash dependency issues in Gen 2

Related Issues

(Search for similar issues and link here)

Logs

Full Lambda Error Log

INIT_START Runtime Version: nodejs:20.v82	Runtime Version ARN: arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1::runtime:dd206d5c0479b082438417cc6b87731a870d3c7d4c6f2375bbacade0b935398d
2025-10-11T05:20:32.821Z	undefined	ERROR	Uncaught Exception 	{"errorType":"Runtime.ImportModuleError","errorMessage":"Error: Cannot find module 'lodash.isequal'\nRequire stack:\n- /var/task/import-table.js\n- /var/task/amplify-table-manager-handler.js\n- /var/runtime/index.mjs","stack":["Runtime.ImportModuleError: Error: Cannot find module 'lodash.isequal'","Require stack:","- /var/task/import-table.js","- /var/task/amplify-table-manager-handler.js","- /var/runtime/index.mjs","    at _loadUserApp (file:///var/runtime/index.mjs:1192:17)","    at async UserFunction.js.module.exports.load (file:///var/runtime/index.mjs:1235:21)","    at async start (file:///var/runtime/index.mjs:1454:23)","    at async file:///var/runtime/index.mjs:1464:1"]}
INIT_REPORT Init Duration: 458.61 ms	Phase: init	Status: error	Error Type: Runtime.ImportModuleError

CloudFormation Error

CREATE_FAILED | ZenShiftTable | CloudFormation did not receive a response from your Custom Resource. Please check your logs for requestId [6a8ecc5b-b4f2-471a-b359-5a9502bd6126].

---

Expected Behavior: TableManager Lambda should successfully create DynamoDB tables.

Actual Behavior: Lambda fails to initialize due to missing lodash.isequal dependency.

Request: Please fix this in the next patch release by either:

• Including lodash in Lambda bundle dependencies
• Replacing lodash.isequal with custom implementation
• Updating to a maintained lodash package