AWS Appsync $ctx vs $context in resolvers

Question

I understand that context is what ever name you define in your Lambda functions but when it comes to Appsync resolvers I'm a bit confused. I've seen both $ctx and $context being used in AppSync resolvers including in AWS docs. Some of AWS's own code generation tools like AWS Amplify CLI create resolvers that use both in the same code! I can't find anything in the docs explaining this. What's going on here?

Answer 1

(AWS AppSync dev here)

$ctx and $context in AWS AppSync refer to the same Resolver Context. We added $ctx as an alias for $context to reduce the number of characters users have to type ($ctx is 50% shorter than $context!!)

Choosing $context or $ctx is a personal preference. I prefer $ctx when I'm authoring AWS AppSync resolvers.