AWS Connects Step Functions Workflows to Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Gateway
AWS has connected its Step Functions state machines to Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, establishing defined operational boundaries for autonomous AI agents.
AWS Connects Step Functions Workflows to Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Gateway
AWS has connected its Step Functions state machines to Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, establishing defined operational boundaries for autonomous AI agents.
Defined Execution Boundaries for AI Agents
Amazon Web Services has enabled existing Standard and Express Step Functions workflows to be called as tools through its agent gateway, known as Amazon Bedrock AgentCore. Under this architecture announced on October 29, 2026, an autonomous agent can decide whether to invoke a workflow and pass input to it, but the underlying state machine determines the sequence and execution of the steps.
According to AWS, this structure creates a clear action boundary. It allows agents to initiate existing business processes encoded as state machines without granting models the capability to rewrite those processes while they run. The predefined workflow retains full control over the execution contract.
Integrating Amazon Bedrock AgentCore with Step Functions
The newly introduced connector documentation outlines ten distinct operations. Four of these operations are pinned directly to a state machine, including StartExecution, StartSyncExecution, ListExecutions, and DescribeStateMachine. Six additional operations accept an execution ARN or task token, such as DescribeExecution, StopExecution, GetExecutionHistory, SendTaskSuccess, SendTaskFailure, and SendTaskHeartbeat.
The capabilities available to builders depend heavily on the chosen workflow type. Standard workflows support StartExecution alongside management actions like ListExecutions, DescribeExecution, StopExecution, and GetExecutionHistory. Conversely, Express workflows offer StartSyncExecution but do not support the Standard-only management operations or the .waitForTaskToken callback pattern.
Regional Restrictions and Dual Metering
AWS setup documentation specifies that the agent gateway and the target state machine must reside in the same AWS Region, as the connector cannot reach across regional boundaries. Security configurations rely on separate IAM resource scopes for state-machine, execution, and task-token operations, with task-token actions requiring wildcard resource permissions.
Pricing for the integration combines the standard fees of both underlying services rather than charging a single workflow rate. Step Functions Standard workflows are billed per state transition, such as $0.000025 per transition in US East (N. Virginia) after a monthly 4,000-transition free tier, while Express workflows charge based on requests, duration, and memory. On top of these charges, AgentCore Gateway adds a meter of $0.005 per 1,000 API invocations, along with tool indexing billed at $0.02 per 100 tools indexed monthly.
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