[handler].zip Apr 2026
In the context of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and cloud deployments, typically refers to the deployment package for a serverless function, most commonly an AWS Lambda function .
: Use the output_base64sha256 attribute in Terraform to ensure the ZIP file only triggers a redeployment when the underlying code has actually changed [10]. [handler].zip
This write-up covers the creation, structure, and deployment of a handler.zip file using modern development tools. 1. File Structure and Contents In the context of Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
: Generates the handler.zip in a distribution folder [10]. 3. Deployment Integration For a Python-based Lambda
: You can point the aws_lambda_function resource in Terraform directly to the output_path of the archive_file data source.
: When zipping entire directories, always exclude local environment folders (like venv/ or node_modules/ ) and version control metadata (like .git/ ) to keep the file size under the deployment limits [10].
A standard handler.zip package contains the source code and all necessary dependencies required for the function to execute. For a Python-based Lambda, the structure usually looks like this: