Adding a new version for Single-AMI products via CloudShell or AWS Catalog API

It appears there may be a misunderstanding about how version management works when using the AWS Marketplace Catalog API or CLI commands compared to the AWS Marketplace Management Portal UI.

When using the AWS Marketplace Catalog API or CLI commands to add a new version to a single-AMI product, you are not actually replacing the older version. Instead, you are creating a new version that coexists with the previous versions. The API and CLI methods do not remove or replace older versions.

The reason you might not be seeing the stack of previous versions when using the API or CLI could be due to how you're querying or viewing the product information after adding a new version. The API and CLI operations don't automatically display a list of all versions - you would need to specifically request that information.

On the other hand, the AWS Marketplace Management Portal UI is designed to show you a comprehensive view of your product, including all versions, which is why you can see the older versions when using the UI to update.

To address your concern about automating the process while maintaining visibility of all versions:

1. When using the API, make sure you're using the correct operations to view all versions of your product after adding a new one. You may need to use additional API calls to retrieve the full version history.

2. Consider implementing a process in your automation that keeps track of all versions you've added, perhaps by storing version information in a separate database or file.

3. If you need to frequently view the full version history, you might want to create a custom script or tool that uses the API to retrieve and display all versions in a format similar to what you see in the UI.

4. Remember that even though you may not immediately see the older versions when using the API or CLI, they are still there and accessible to your customers unless you've explicitly restricted them.

If you're still experiencing issues where older versions are actually being replaced rather than coexisting with new versions when using the API, this would be unexpected behavior and you should contact AWS support for further assistance.
Sources
Work with single AMI products using the AWS Marketplace APIs - AWS Marketplace
Working with single AMI products - AWS Marketplace Catalog API
Managing versions for single-AMI products on AWS Marketplace - AWS Marketplace
AWS Marketplace | AWS re:Post