Amazon Q Developer

Amazon Q Developer is AWS’s AI coding assistant, available as a VS Code/JetBrains extension and CLI.

Overview


Type	Extension + CLI
Open Source	No
Best For	AWS users, enterprise, large context

Key Features

200k Context — One of the largest context windows
AWS Integration — Native cloud service support
Code Transformation — Automated Java upgrades, .NET porting
Security Scanning — Built-in vulnerability detection
CLI Support — q command for terminal

Access Model

Amazon Q has individual and enterprise-oriented access paths. The durable decision is whether you want AWS-native workflows, Bedrock alignment, and centralized AWS governance.

Privacy

Setting	Value
Training	OFF (code not used)
Data Storage	AWS security standards
Self-hosted	Via Bedrock
Jurisdiction	US (AWS)

Models

Claude Sonnet 4.5 / Opus 4.5 (via Bedrock)
Amazon Titan
Custom fine-tuned models (Enterprise)

Installation

VS Code:

Extensions → Search "Amazon Q"
Install → Sign in with AWS Builder ID

CLI:

# Install Q CLI
brew install amazon-q  # macOS
# or download from AWS

Key Features

Code Transformation

Automated upgrades and migrations:

Q: "Upgrade this Java 8 project to Java 17"
→ Analyzes dependencies
→ Updates syntax
→ Fixes deprecated APIs
→ Generates migration report

Security Scanning

# Scan for vulnerabilities
q scan --path ./src

# Auto-fix security issues
q fix --security

AWS Service Integration

Q: "How do I set up an S3 bucket with versioning?"
→ Generates CloudFormation/CDK code
→ Includes IAM policies
→ Follows AWS best practices

Tips

Use with AWS Toolkit extension for full integration
Verify current access terms separately if you depend on usage limits
Code transformation saves days on Java upgrades
Security scanning catches issues before PR