---
title: "Container Image"
description: "Learn how to install the Sentry Lambda extension to use Sentry in your container image-based Lambda functions."
url: https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/javascript/guides/aws-lambda/install/container-image/
---

# Container Image | Sentry for AWS Lambda

When you deploy a Lambda function as a container image (for example, with the [Lambda Web Adapter](https://github.com/awslabs/aws-lambda-web-adapter) for SvelteKit, Next.js, or Remix), you can't attach a Lambda layer. That means you also lose the Sentry Lambda extension that ships with our [Lambda Layer](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/javascript/guides/aws-lambda/install/layer.md).

Without the extension, events queued at the moment Lambda freezes the runtime can be lost. The extension runs as a sidecar process that receives events on a local port and forwards them to Sentry, so envelopes leave the function before the freeze.

This guide shows how to install the extension into your Docker image and point any Sentry SDK at it.

## [1. Prerequisites](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/javascript/guides/aws-lambda/install/container-image.md#1-prerequisites)

* Your Lambda function is deployed as a [container image](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/images-create.html).
* You have a Sentry SDK in your application (`@sentry/aws-serverless`, `@sentry/sveltekit`, `@sentry/nextjs`, etc.).

## [2. Install `@sentry/aws-serverless`](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/javascript/guides/aws-lambda/install/container-image.md#2-install-sentryaws-serverless)

The extension binaries ship inside the `@sentry/aws-serverless` npm package. Install it as a dependency even if your application uses a different Sentry SDK — only the extension files from this package are copied into the image.

```bash
npm install @sentry/aws-serverless
```

## [3. Copy the Extension into Your Docker Image](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/javascript/guides/aws-lambda/install/container-image.md#3-copy-the-extension-into-your-docker-image)

AWS Lambda discovers extensions by scanning `/opt/extensions/` for executable files. Copy the wrapper script there and the runtime entrypoint to `/opt/sentry-extension/`:

`Dockerfile`

```dockerfile
FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/nodejs:22

# Copy the Sentry Lambda extension
RUN mkdir -p /opt/sentry-extension
COPY node_modules/@sentry/aws-serverless/build/lambda-extension/sentry-extension /opt/extensions/sentry-extension
COPY node_modules/@sentry/aws-serverless/build/lambda-extension/index.mjs /opt/sentry-extension/index.mjs
RUN chmod +x /opt/extensions/sentry-extension /opt/sentry-extension/index.mjs

# ... rest of your Dockerfile
```

Make sure the wrapper at `/opt/extensions/sentry-extension` is executable, or Lambda will skip it.

## [4. Tunnel Sentry Events Through the Extension](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/javascript/guides/aws-lambda/install/container-image.md#4-tunnel-sentry-events-through-the-extension)

Point your SDK at the extension by setting the `tunnel` option to `http://localhost:9000/envelope`. This URL is fixed — the extension always listens on port 9000.

The same setting works with any Sentry SDK in your image:

`instrument.js`

```javascript
import * as Sentry from "@sentry/sveltekit";

Sentry.init({
  dsn: "___PUBLIC_DSN___",
  tunnel: "http://localhost:9000/envelope",
});
```

## [How It Works](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/javascript/guides/aws-lambda/install/container-image.md#how-it-works)

When Lambda starts your container, it launches every executable in `/opt/extensions/` alongside the runtime. The Sentry extension registers for `INVOKE` and `SHUTDOWN` events and starts a local HTTP server on port 9000.

Each envelope your SDK sends to `http://localhost:9000/envelope` is forwarded to the Sentry ingestion endpoint derived from the envelope's DSN header. Because the extension is a separate process from your function, Lambda keeps it alive across the freeze/thaw boundary, so that events queued just before a freeze still get delivered.