**To describe AWS CloudFormation stacks** The following ``describe-stacks`` command shows summary information for the ``myteststack`` stack:: aws cloudformation describe-stacks --stack-name myteststack Output:: { "Stacks": [ { "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-1:123456789012:stack/myteststack/466df9e0-0dff-08e3-8e2f-5088487c4896", "Description": "AWS CloudFormation Sample Template S3_Bucket: Sample template showing how to create a publicly accessible S3 bucket. **WARNING** This template creates an S3 bucket. You will be billed for the AWS resources used if you create a stack from this template.", "Tags": [], "Outputs": [ { "Description": "Name of S3 bucket to hold website content", "OutputKey": "BucketName", "OutputValue": "myteststack-s3bucket-jssofi1zie2w" } ], "StackStatusReason": null, "CreationTime": "2013-08-23T01:02:15.422Z", "Capabilities": [], "StackName": "myteststack", "StackStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE", "DisableRollback": false } ] } For more information, see `Stacks`_ in the *AWS CloudFormation User Guide*. .. _`Stacks`: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/concept-stack.html