The REST API doesn't contain any methods

WHAT IT MEANS

What this error means

A REST API deployment snapshots the API's methods. CloudFormation creates resources in dependency order — and it only knows about dependencies that are declared through Ref/GetAtt or DependsOn. A Deployment resource references the API, but nothing forces it to wait for each AWS::ApiGateway::Method. If the deployment wins the race, the API genuinely has no methods yet and this error fails the stack. Typical setups that hit it:

• A manual AWS::ApiGateway::Deployment alongside AWS::Serverless::Api. SAM already generates a deployment; the handwritten one races the SAM-generated methods.
• Raw CloudFormation templates where the Deployment lacks DependsOn entries for the methods.
• An AWS::Serverless::Api with no routes at all — no function declares an Api event referencing it and its OpenAPI definition defines no paths — so the API really does have zero methods.

FIX

How to fix it

1. Prefer the SAM-managed deployment. If the template uses AWS::Serverless::Api (or implicit APIs from function Api events), delete the handwritten AWS::ApiGateway::Deployment/Stage pair and let SAM generate them. This removes the race entirely.
2. If you must manage the deployment manually, declare the ordering explicitly — every method the snapshot needs:

   ApiDeployment:
     Type: AWS::ApiGateway::Deployment
     DependsOn:
       - GetItemsMethod
       - PostItemMethod
     Properties:
       RestApiId: !Ref MyRestApi

   Remember to add each new method to that list; a forgotten one reintroduces the race intermittently.
3. Confirm the API actually has routes. Check the transformed template to see what SAM generated:

   sam validate --lint
   aws cloudformation get-template --stack-name YOUR_STACK \
     --template-stage Processed

   If no AWS::ApiGateway::Method resources exist, wire a function to the API with an Api event or define paths in the OpenAPI body.
4. Redeploy. If the first failed attempt left a new stack in ROLLBACK_COMPLETE, delete it before deploying again.

AUTOMATE THE TRIAGE

Diagnose this automatically

SAM Doctor recognizes this API Gateway ordering failure (high confidence) and suppresses the generic CREATE_FAILED noise around it, so the report points at the deployment/method race instead of the rollback symptoms. Runs locally; no AWS access, no log upload.

python -m pip install sam-doctor
sam-doctor diagnose deployment.log --format markdown

RELATED

Related errors

• ROLLBACK_COMPLETE state and can not be updated — the state this failure leaves a first deploy in.
• InsufficientCapabilitiesException — the other classic first-deploy stopper.
• Esbuild Failed: Cannot find esbuild — a build-time failure in the same serverless API stacks.