Use DescribeTasks with an AWS SDK or CLI

Example 1: To describe a single task tasks

The following describe-tasks example retrieves the details of a task in a cluster. You can specify the task by using either the ID or full ARN of the task. This example uses the full ARN of the task.

aws ecs describe-tasks \
    --cluster MyCluster \
    --tasks arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task/MyCluster/4d590253bb114126b7afa7b58EXAMPLE

Output:

{
    "tasks": [
        {
            "attachments": [],
            "attributes": [
                {
                    "name": "ecs.cpu-architecture",
                    "value": "x86_64"
                }
            ],
            "availabilityZone": "us-east-1b",
            "clusterArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:cluster/MyCluster",
            "connectivity": "CONNECTED",
            "connectivityAt": "2021-08-11T12:21:26.681000-04:00",
            "containerInstanceArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:container-instance/test/025c7e2c5e054a6790a29fc1fEXAMPLE",
            "containers": [
                {
                    "containerArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:container/MyCluster/4d590253bb114126b7afa7b58eea9221/a992d1cc-ea46-474a-b6e8-24688EXAMPLE",
                    "taskArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task/MyCluster/4d590253bb114126b7afa7b58EXAMPLE",
                    "name": "simple-app",
                    "image": "httpd:2.4",
                    "runtimeId": "91251eed27db90006ad67b1a08187290869f216557717dd5c39b37c94EXAMPLE",
                    "lastStatus": "RUNNING",
                    "networkBindings": [
                        {
                            "bindIP": "0.0.0.0",
                            "containerPort": 80,
                            "hostPort": 80,
                            "protocol": "tcp"
                        }
                    ],
                    "networkInterfaces": [],
                    "healthStatus": "UNKNOWN",
                    "cpu": "10",
                    "memory": "300"
                }
            ],
            "cpu": "10",
            "createdAt": "2021-08-11T12:21:26.681000-04:00",
            "desiredStatus": "RUNNING",
            "enableExecuteCommand": false,
            "group": "service:testupdate",
            "healthStatus": "UNKNOWN",
            "lastStatus": "RUNNING",
            "launchType": "EC2",
            "memory": "300",
            "overrides": {
                "containerOverrides": [
                    {
                        "name": "simple-app"
                    }
                ],
                "inferenceAcceleratorOverrides": []
            },
            "pullStartedAt": "2021-08-11T12:21:28.234000-04:00",
            "pullStoppedAt": "2021-08-11T12:21:33.793000-04:00",
            "startedAt": "2021-08-11T12:21:34.945000-04:00",
            "startedBy": "ecs-svc/968695068243EXAMPLE",
            "tags": [],
            "taskArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task/MyCluster/4d590253bb114126b7afa7b58eea9221",
            "taskDefinitionArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task-definition/console-sample-app-static2:1",
            "version": 2
        }
    ],
    "failures": []
}

For more information, see Amazon ECS Task Definitions in the Amazon ECS Developer Guide.

Example 2: To describe multiple tasks

The following describe-tasks example retrieves the details of multiple tasks in a cluster. You can specify the task by using either the ID or full ARN of the task. This example uses the full IDs of the tasks.

aws ecs describe-tasks \
    --cluster MyCluster \
    --tasks "74de0355a10a4f979ac495c14EXAMPLE" "d789e94343414c25b9f6bd59eEXAMPLE"

Output:

{
    "tasks": [
        {
            "attachments": [
                {
                    "id": "d9e7735a-16aa-4128-bc7a-b2d51EXAMPLE",
                    "type": "ElasticNetworkInterface",
                    "status": "ATTACHED",
                    "details": [
                        {
                            "name": "subnetId",
                            "value": "subnet-0d0eab1bb3EXAMPLE"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "networkInterfaceId",
                            "value": "eni-0fa40520aeEXAMPLE"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "macAddress",
                            "value": "0e:89:76:28:07:b3"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "privateDnsName",
                            "value": "ip-10-0-1-184.ec2.internal"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "privateIPv4Address",
                            "value": "10.0.1.184"
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ],
            "attributes": [
                {
                    "name": "ecs.cpu-architecture",
                    "value": "x86_64"
                }
            ],
            "availabilityZone": "us-east-1b",
            "clusterArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:cluster/MyCluster",
            "connectivity": "CONNECTED",
            "connectivityAt": "2021-12-20T12:13:37.875000-05:00",
            "containers": [
                {
                    "containerArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:container/MyCluster/74de0355a10a4f979ac495c14EXAMPLE/aad3ba00-83b3-4dac-84d4-11f8cEXAMPLE",
                    "taskArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task/MyCluster/74de0355a10a4f979ac495c14EXAMPLE",
                    "name": "web",
                    "image": "nginx",
                    "runtimeId": "74de0355a10a4f979ac495c14EXAMPLE-265927825",
                    "lastStatus": "RUNNING",
                    "networkBindings": [],
                    "networkInterfaces": [
                        {
                            "attachmentId": "d9e7735a-16aa-4128-bc7a-b2d51EXAMPLE",
                            "privateIpv4Address": "10.0.1.184"
                        }
                    ],
                    "healthStatus": "UNKNOWN",
                    "cpu": "99",
                    "memory": "100"
                }
            ],
            "cpu": "256",
            "createdAt": "2021-12-20T12:13:20.226000-05:00",
            "desiredStatus": "RUNNING",
            "enableExecuteCommand": false,
            "group": "service:tdsevicetag",
            "healthStatus": "UNKNOWN",
            "lastStatus": "RUNNING",
            "launchType": "FARGATE",
            "memory": "512",
            "overrides": {
                "containerOverrides": [
                    {
                        "name": "web"
                    }
                ],
                "inferenceAcceleratorOverrides": []
            },
            "platformVersion": "1.4.0",
            "platformFamily": "Linux",
            "pullStartedAt": "2021-12-20T12:13:42.665000-05:00",
            "pullStoppedAt": "2021-12-20T12:13:46.543000-05:00",
            "startedAt": "2021-12-20T12:13:48.086000-05:00",
            "startedBy": "ecs-svc/988401040018EXAMPLE",
            "tags": [],
            "taskArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task/MyCluster/74de0355a10a4f979ac495c14EXAMPLE",
            "taskDefinitionArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task-definition/webserver:2",
            "version": 3,
            "ephemeralStorage": {
            "sizeInGiB": 20
            }
        },
        {
            "attachments": [
                {
                    "id": "214eb5a9-45cd-4bf8-87bc-57fefEXAMPLE",
                    "type": "ElasticNetworkInterface",
                    "status": "ATTACHED",
                    "details": [
                        {
                            "name": "subnetId",
                            "value": "subnet-0d0eab1bb3EXAMPLE"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "networkInterfaceId",
                            "value": "eni-064c7766daEXAMPLE"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "macAddress",
                            "value": "0e:76:83:01:17:a9"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "privateDnsName",
                            "value": "ip-10-0-1-41.ec2.internal"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "privateIPv4Address",
                            "value": "10.0.1.41"
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ],
            "attributes": [
                {
                    "name": "ecs.cpu-architecture",
                    "value": "x86_64"
                }
            ],
            "availabilityZone": "us-east-1b",
            "clusterArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:cluster/MyCluster",
            "connectivity": "CONNECTED",
            "connectivityAt": "2021-12-20T12:13:35.243000-05:00",
            "containers": [
                {
                    "containerArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:container/MyCluster/d789e94343414c25b9f6bd59eEXAMPLE/9afef792-609b-43a5-bb6a-3efdbEXAMPLE",
                    "taskArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task/MyCluster/d789e94343414c25b9f6bd59eEXAMPLE",
                    "name": "web",
                    "image": "nginx",
                    "runtimeId": "d789e94343414c25b9f6bd59eEXAMPLE-265927825",
                    "lastStatus": "RUNNING",
                    "networkBindings": [],
                    "networkInterfaces": [
                        {
                            "attachmentId": "214eb5a9-45cd-4bf8-87bc-57fefEXAMPLE",
                            "privateIpv4Address": "10.0.1.41"
                        }
                    ],
                    "healthStatus": "UNKNOWN",
                    "cpu": "99",
                    "memory": "100"
                }
            ],
            "cpu": "256",
            "createdAt": "2021-12-20T12:13:20.226000-05:00",
            "desiredStatus": "RUNNING",
            "enableExecuteCommand": false,
            "group": "service:tdsevicetag",
            "healthStatus": "UNKNOWN",
            "lastStatus": "RUNNING",
            "launchType": "FARGATE",
            "memory": "512",
            "overrides": {
                "containerOverrides": [
                    {
                        "name": "web"
                    }
                ],
                "inferenceAcceleratorOverrides": []
            },
            "platformVersion": "1.4.0",
            "platformFamily": "Linux",
            "pullStartedAt": "2021-12-20T12:13:44.611000-05:00",
            "pullStoppedAt": "2021-12-20T12:13:48.251000-05:00",
            "startedAt": "2021-12-20T12:13:49.326000-05:00",
            "startedBy": "ecs-svc/988401040018EXAMPLE",
            "tags": [],
            "taskArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task/MyCluster/d789e94343414c25b9f6bd59eEXAMPLE",
            "taskDefinitionArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-1:123456789012:task-definition/webserver:2",
            "version": 3,
            "ephemeralStorage": {
                "sizeInGiB": 20
            }
        }
    ],
    "failures": []
}

For more information, see Amazon ECS Task Definitions in the Amazon ECS Developer Guide.

import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.EcsClient;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.model.DescribeTasksRequest;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.model.DescribeTasksResponse;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.model.EcsException;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.ecs.model.Task;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * Before running this Java V2 code example, set up your development
 * environment, including your credentials.
 *
 * For more information, see the following documentation topic:
 *
 * https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-java/latest/developer-guide/get-started.html
 */
public class ListTaskDefinitions {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        final String usage = """

                Usage:
                  <clusterArn> <taskId>\s

                Where:
                  clusterArn - The ARN of an ECS cluster.
                  taskId - The task Id value.
                """;

        if (args.length != 2) {
            System.out.println(usage);
            System.exit(1);
        }

        String clusterArn = args[0];
        String taskId = args[1];
        Region region = Region.US_EAST_1;
        EcsClient ecsClient = EcsClient.builder()
                .region(region)
                .build();

        getAllTasks(ecsClient, clusterArn, taskId);
        ecsClient.close();
    }

    public static void getAllTasks(EcsClient ecsClient, String clusterArn, String taskId) {
        try {
            DescribeTasksRequest tasksRequest = DescribeTasksRequest.builder()
                    .cluster(clusterArn)
                    .tasks(taskId)
                    .build();

            DescribeTasksResponse response = ecsClient.describeTasks(tasksRequest);
            List<Task> tasks = response.tasks();
            for (Task task : tasks) {
                System.out.println("The task ARN is " + task.taskDefinitionArn());
            }

        } catch (EcsException e) {
            System.err.println(e.awsErrorDetails().errorMessage());
            System.exit(1);
        }
    }
}

class EcsWrapper:
    """Encapsulates Amazon ECS operations."""

    def __init__(self, ecs_client: BaseClient):
        """
        Initializes the EcsWrapper with an ECS client.

        :param ecs_client: A Boto3 Amazon ECS client. Boto3 clients are created
            by the ``boto3.client`` factory function and are instances of
            ``botocore.client.BaseClient``, which is the correct type to
            annotate here (``boto3.client`` itself is a function, not a type).
        """
        self.ecs_client = ecs_client

    @classmethod
    def from_client(cls) -> "EcsWrapper":
        """Creates an EcsWrapper using a default Boto3 ECS client."""
        ecs_client = boto3.client("ecs")
        return cls(ecs_client)


    def describe_tasks(
        self, cluster: str, task_arns: List[str]
    ) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
        """
        Describes the specified tasks.

        :param cluster: The cluster name or ARN.
        :param task_arns: A list of task ARNs.
        :return: A list of task details.
        :raises ClientError: If the request fails (e.g., ClusterNotFoundException).
        """
        try:
            response = self.ecs_client.describe_tasks(
                cluster=cluster,
                tasks=task_arns,
            )
            tasks = response.get("tasks", list())
            for task in tasks:
                logger.info(
                    "Task '%s': status=%s, desired_status=%s",
                    task["taskArn"],
                    task["lastStatus"],
                    task["desiredStatus"],
                )
            return tasks
        except ClientError as err:
            if err.response["Error"]["Code"] == "ClusterNotFoundException":
                logger.error(
                    "Cluster '%s' not found when describing tasks: %s",
                    cluster,
                    err.response["Error"]["Message"],
                )
            raise