Cannot remove cross-stack reference in a single cdk deploy (Export/Import deadlock)

[andresliszt]

Hi! I love cdk, thanks for this tool.

When a ChildStack references an attribute from a ParentStack (e.g., using a Parent resource property inside a Child's Lambda Function environment variable), AWS CDK automatically creates an implicit CloudFormation Export/Import.If I refactor the code to remove this reference by deleting the usage in the ChildStack AND removing the property from the ParentStack simultaneously, cdk deploy fails. CloudFormation attempts to update the ParentStack first (removing the exported Output) while the ChildStack still relies on it, causing a deployment blockage due to the export being in use.

What is the recommended best practice to remove this cross-stack reference in a single deployment pipeline execution? OR the official (recommended) way to it is just apply targeting the ChildStack stack alone and after a second deployment to update ParentStack ?

As user, I think this tool has to be smart enough to detect that is safe to delete from parent in a single deployment.