diff --git a/dist/aws/handler.py b/dist/aws/handler.py
index ebeb931eb..45f763837 100644
--- a/dist/aws/handler.py
+++ b/dist/aws/handler.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import urllib.parse as urllib
+from six import string_types
 from collections import OrderedDict
 
 import _pickle as cPickle
@@ -21,49 +22,59 @@
 import boto3
 import botocore
 
-# Add /tmp/ path to handle python path for dependencies
-sys.path.append("/tmp/")
-
-# TODO: move to s3fs for simpler access
-# not sure if this is possible?
-# continue to assume that lambda handler has access to all s3 resources
-s3 = boto3.client("s3")
+"""
+Helper method to determine if the given event was triggered by an S3 event
+"""
+def is_s3_trigger(event):
+    return "Records" in event and event["Records"][0]["eventSource"] == "aws:s3"
 
-# TODO: handle settings from within the API gateway call or dynamically from bucket
-# this is currently bundled with lambda function
-settings_json = {}  # default to empty
-try:
-    # currently loaded into lambda function
-    with open("settings.json", "r") as f:
-        settings_json = json.load(f)
+"""
+Helper method to merge two local settings json/dict objects, then update the `PodpacSettings`.
 
-    print (settings_json)  # TODO: remove
-except:
-    pass
+The settings variable here is podpac.settings.
+"""
+def update_podpac_settings(old_settings_json, new_settings_json):
+    updated_settings = {**old_settings_json, **new_settings_json}
+    for key in updated_settings:
+        settings[key] = updated_settings[key]
 
+"""
+Returns true if the requested output is already computed (and force_compute is false.)
+"""
+def check_for_cached_output(input_file_key, pipeline, settings_json, bucket):
+    output_filename = input_file_key.replace(".json", "." + pipeline["output"]["format"])
+    output_filename = output_filename.replace(settings_json["S3_INPUT_FOLDER"], settings_json["S3_OUTPUT_FOLDER"])
+    try:
+        s3.head_object(Bucket=bucket, Key=output_filename)
+        # Object exists, so we don't have to recompute
+        if not pipeline.get("force_compute", False):
+            return True, output_filename
+    except botocore.exceptions.ClientError as e:
+        if e.response["Error"]["Code"] == "404":
+            # It does not exist, so we should proceed
+            return False, output_filename
+        # Something else has gone wrong... not handling this case.
+        return False, output_filename
+    return False, output_filename
 
 def handler(event, context, get_deps=True, ret_pipeline=False):
 
-    # TODO: remove
-    print (event)
+    # Add /tmp/ path to handle python path for dependencies
+    sys.path.append("/tmp/")
 
-    # get bucket path
-    # this should be defined by S3 trigger or API gateway trigger
-    bucket = settings_json["S3_BUCKET_NAME"]
+    # TODO: move to s3fs for simpler access
+    # not sure if this is possible?
+    # continue to assume that lambda handler has access to all s3 resources
+    s3 = boto3.client("s3")
 
-    # get dependencies path
-    if "FUNCTION_DEPENDENCIES_KEY" in settings_json:
-        dependencies = settings_json["FUNCTION_DEPENDENCIES_KEY"]
-    else:
-        dependencies = "podpac_deps_{}.zip".format(
-            settings_json["PODPAC_VERSION"]
-        )  # this should be equivalent to version.semver()
+    args = []
+    kwargs = {}
 
-    if "Records" in event and event["Records"][0]["eventSource"] == "aws:s3":
-        # <start S3 trigger specific>
+    # This event was triggered by S3, so let's see if the requested output is already cached.
+    if is_s3_trigger(event):
 
-        # TODO: get the name of the calling bucket from event for s3 triggers?
-        # bucket = event['Records'][0]['s3']['bucket']['name']
+        # We always have to look to the bucket that triggered the event for the input
+        bucket = event['Records'][0]['s3']['bucket']['name']
 
         file_key = urllib.unquote_plus(event["Records"][0]["s3"]["object"]["key"])
         _json = ""
@@ -78,15 +89,38 @@ def handler(event, context, get_deps=True, ret_pipeline=False):
                 _json += "\n"
             _json += r.decode()
         pipeline = json.loads(_json, object_pairs_hook=OrderedDict)
+
+        # We can return if there is a valid cached output to save compute time.
+        settings_json = pipeline["settings"]
+        cached, output_filename = check_for_cached_output(file_key, pipeline, settings_json, bucket)
+        if cached:
+            return
     else:
-        # elif ('pathParameters' in event and event['pathParameters'] is not None and 'proxy' in event['pathParameters']) or ('authorizationToken' in event and event['authorizationToken'] == "incoming-client-token"):
-        # TODO: Need to get the pipeline from the event...
-        print ("DSullivan: we have an API Gateway event")
-        pipeline = None
+        print ("DSullivan: we have an API Gateway event. Will now get deps in order to proceed.")
+        url = event["queryStringParameters"]
+        if isinstance(url, string_types):
+            url = urllib.parse_qs(urllib.urlparse(url).query)
+
+        # Capitalize the keywords for consistency
+        settings_json = {}
+        for k in url:
+            if k.upper() == "SETTINGS":
+                settings_json = url[k]
+        bucket = settings_json["S3_BUCKET_NAME"]
 
+    # get dependencies path
+    if "FUNCTION_DEPENDENCIES_KEY" in settings_json:
+        dependencies = settings_json["FUNCTION_DEPENDENCIES_KEY"]
+    else:
+        # TODO: this could be a problem, since we can't import podpac settings yet
+        # which means the input event might have to include the version or
+        # "FUNCTION_DEPENDENCIES_KEY".
+        dependencies = "podpac_deps_{}.zip".format(
+            settings_json["PODPAC_VERSION"]
+        )  # this should be equivalent to version.semver()
     # Download dependencies from specific bucket/object
     if get_deps:
-        s3.download_file(bucket, "podpac/" + dependencies, "/tmp/" + dependencies)
+        s3.download_file(bucket, dependencies, "/tmp/" + dependencies)
         subprocess.call(["unzip", "/tmp/" + dependencies, "-d", "/tmp"])
         sys.path.append("/tmp/")
         subprocess.call(["rm", "/tmp/" + dependencies])
@@ -101,38 +135,18 @@ def handler(event, context, get_deps=True, ret_pipeline=False):
     from podpac.core.utils import JSONEncoder, _get_query_params_from_url
     import podpac.datalib
 
-    # check if file exists
-    if pipeline is not None:
-        filename = file_key.replace(".json", "." + pipeline["output"]["format"])
-        filename = filename.replace(settings["S3_INPUT_FOLDER"], settings["S3_OUTPUT_FOLDER"])
-        try:
-            s3.head_object(Bucket=bucket, Key=filename)
-            # Object exists, so we don't have to recompute
-            if not pipeline.get("force_compute", False):
-                return
-        except botocore.exceptions.ClientError as e:
-            if e.response["Error"]["Code"] == "404":
-                # It does not exist, so we should proceed
-                pass
-            else:
-                # Something else has gone wrong... not handling this case.
-                pass
+    try:
+        update_podpac_settings(settings, settings_json)
+    except Exception:
+        print("The settings could not be updated.")
 
-    args = []
-    kwargs = {}
-    # if from S3 trigger
-    if pipeline is not None:
-        # if 'Records' in event and event['Records'][0]['eventSource'] == 'aws:s3':
+    if is_s3_trigger(event):
         node = Node.from_definition(pipeline["pipeline"])
         coords = Coordinates.from_json(json.dumps(pipeline["coordinates"], indent=4, cls=JSONEncoder))
         fmt = pipeline["output"]["format"]
         kwargs = pipeline["output"].copy()
         kwargs.pop("format")
-
-    # else from api gateway and it's a WMS/WCS request
     else:
-        # elif ('pathParameters' in event and event['pathParameters'] is not None and 'proxy' in event['pathParameters']) or ('authorizationToken' in event and event['authorizationToken'] == "incoming-client-token"):
-        print (_get_query_params_from_url(event["queryStringParameters"]))
         coords = Coordinates.from_url(event["queryStringParameters"])
         node = Node.from_url(event["queryStringParameters"])
         fmt = _get_query_params_from_url(event["queryStringParameters"])["FORMAT"].split("/")[-1]
@@ -144,8 +158,10 @@ def handler(event, context, get_deps=True, ret_pipeline=False):
         return node
 
     body = output.to_format(fmt, *args, **kwargs)
-    if pipeline is not None:
-        s3.put_object(Bucket=bucket, Key=filename, Body=body)
+
+    # output_filename only exists if this was an S3 triggered event.
+    if output_filename is not None:
+        s3.put_object(Bucket=bucket, Key=output_filename, Body=body)
     else:
         try:
             json.dumps(body)
diff --git a/doc/source/developer/aws.md b/doc/source/developer/aws.md
index 1f1dd725d..aabd06881 100644
--- a/doc/source/developer/aws.md
+++ b/doc/source/developer/aws.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # AWS Lambda #
 
+TODO: This needs rewritten.
+
 Podpac includes a package to create an Amazon Web Services Lambda function to execute nodes in a server-less environment. This package can be altered to handle events according to the developer's use case.
 
 ## AWS Architecture ##
diff --git a/podpac/core/managers/aws.py b/podpac/core/managers/aws.py
index dc47237de..21adedfba 100644
--- a/podpac/core/managers/aws.py
+++ b/podpac/core/managers/aws.py
@@ -1168,6 +1168,8 @@ def get_bucket(session, bucket_name):
     # init empty object
     bucket = {"name": bucket_name}
 
+    # TODO: this is usually none, even though the bucket has a region. It could either be a bug
+    # in getting the region/LocationConstraint, or just misleading
     # get location constraint. this will be None for no location constraint
     bucket["region"] = s3.get_bucket_location(Bucket=bucket_name)["LocationConstraint"]