diff --git a/.changeset/proud-dolls-hang.md b/.changeset/proud-dolls-hang.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..34cdba3c3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/proud-dolls-hang.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'@aws-amplify/integration-tests': patch
+'create-amplify': patch
+'@aws-amplify/backend': patch
+---
+
+chore: add new defineBackend to better align with other backend factories
diff --git a/.changeset/thick-goats-mix.md b/.changeset/thick-goats-mix.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..43308ff875
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/thick-goats-mix.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@aws-amplify/backend-deployer': patch
+---
+
+do not require confirmation at pipeline deploy
diff --git a/.github/workflows/health_checks.yml b/.github/workflows/health_checks.yml
index 1b7108f10b..5579ac83bb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/health_checks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/health_checks.yml
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    timeout-minutes: 60
     needs:
       - do_include_e2e
       - build
diff --git a/packages/backend-deployer/src/cdk_deployer.test.ts b/packages/backend-deployer/src/cdk_deployer.test.ts
index ca1102eb8e..9126cf2302 100644
--- a/packages/backend-deployer/src/cdk_deployer.test.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-deployer/src/cdk_deployer.test.ts
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ void describe('invokeCDKCommand', () => {
   void it('handles options for branch deployments', async () => {
     await invoker.deploy(uniqueBackendIdentifier);
     assert.strictEqual(execaMock.mock.callCount(), 1);
-    assert.equal(execaMock.mock.calls[0].arguments[1]?.length, 12);
+    assert.equal(execaMock.mock.calls[0].arguments[1]?.length, 14);
     assert.deepStrictEqual(execaMock.mock.calls[0].arguments[1], [
       'cdk',
       'deploy',
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ void describe('invokeCDKCommand', () => {
       'backend-id=123',
       '--context',
       'branch-name=testBranch',
+      '--require-approval',
+      'never',
     ]);
   });
 
@@ -161,7 +163,7 @@ void describe('invokeCDKCommand', () => {
       'es2022',
       'amplify/backend.ts',
     ]);
-    assert.equal(execaMock.mock.calls[1].arguments[1]?.length, 14);
+    assert.equal(execaMock.mock.calls[1].arguments[1]?.length, 16);
     assert.deepStrictEqual(execaMock.mock.calls[1].arguments[1], [
       'cdk',
       'deploy',
@@ -175,6 +177,8 @@ void describe('invokeCDKCommand', () => {
       'backend-id=123',
       '--context',
       'branch-name=testBranch',
+      '--require-approval',
+      'never',
       '--context',
       `${CDKContextKey.DEPLOYMENT_TYPE}=BRANCH`,
     ]);
@@ -226,7 +230,7 @@ void describe('invokeCDKCommand', () => {
         validateAppSources: true,
       });
       assert.strictEqual(execaMock.mock.callCount(), 1);
-      assert.equal(execaMock.mock.calls[0].arguments[1]?.length, 14);
+      assert.equal(execaMock.mock.calls[0].arguments[1]?.length, 16);
       assert.deepStrictEqual(execaMock.mock.calls[0].arguments[1], [
         'cdk',
         'deploy',
@@ -240,6 +244,8 @@ void describe('invokeCDKCommand', () => {
         'backend-id=123',
         '--context',
         'branch-name=testBranch',
+        '--require-approval',
+        'never',
         '--context',
         'deployment-type=BRANCH',
       ]);
diff --git a/packages/backend-deployer/src/cdk_deployer.ts b/packages/backend-deployer/src/cdk_deployer.ts
index 51339327d3..01c4c6d4bc 100644
--- a/packages/backend-deployer/src/cdk_deployer.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-deployer/src/cdk_deployer.ts
@@ -131,7 +131,9 @@ export class CDKDeployer implements BackendDeployer {
       if (deploymentType !== BackendDeploymentType.SANDBOX) {
         cdkCommandArgs.push(
           '--context',
-          `branch-name=${uniqueBackendIdentifier.disambiguator}`
+          `branch-name=${uniqueBackendIdentifier.disambiguator}`,
+          '--require-approval',
+          'never'
         );
       }
     }
diff --git a/packages/backend/API.md b/packages/backend/API.md
index 8b7b834ec4..2f2e2ddef6 100644
--- a/packages/backend/API.md
+++ b/packages/backend/API.md
@@ -18,18 +18,20 @@ import { Stack } from 'aws-cdk-lib';
 export { a }
 
 // @public
-export class Backend<T extends Record<string, ConstructFactory<Construct>>> {
-    constructor(constructFactories: T, stack?: Stack);
+export type Backend<T extends Record<string, ConstructFactory<Construct>>> = {
     getOrCreateStack: (name: string) => Stack;
     readonly resources: {
         [K in keyof T]: ReturnType<T[K]['getInstance']>;
     };
-}
+};
 
 export { ClientSchema }
 
 export { defineAuth }
 
+// @public
+export const defineBackend: <T extends Record<string, ConstructFactory<Construct>>>(constructFactories: T) => Backend<T>;
+
 export { defineData }
 
 export { defineStorage }
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/backend.ts b/packages/backend/src/backend.ts
index 32cd62597a..81f105f6cd 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/backend.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/backend.ts
@@ -1,103 +1,14 @@
-import { Construct } from 'constructs';
 import { ConstructFactory } from '@aws-amplify/plugin-types';
+import { Construct } from 'constructs';
 import { Stack } from 'aws-cdk-lib';
-import {
-  NestedStackResolver,
-  StackResolver,
-} from './engine/nested_stack_resolver.js';
-import { SingletonConstructContainer } from './engine/singleton_construct_container.js';
-import { ToggleableImportPathVerifier } from './engine/toggleable_import_path_verifier.js';
-import {
-  AttributionMetadataStorage,
-  StackMetadataBackendOutputStorageStrategy,
-} from '@aws-amplify/backend-output-storage';
-import { createDefaultStack } from './default_stack_factory.js';
-import { getUniqueBackendIdentifier } from './backend_identifier.js';
-import {
-  BackendDeploymentType,
-  SandboxBackendIdentifier,
-} from '@aws-amplify/platform-core';
-import { stackOutputKey } from '@aws-amplify/backend-output-schemas';
-import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
-
-// Be very careful editing this value. It is the value used in the BI metrics to attribute stacks as Amplify root stacks
-const rootStackTypeIdentifier = 'root';
 
 /**
- * Class that collects and instantiates all the Amplify backend constructs
+ * Top level type for instance returned from `defineBackend`. Contains property `resources` for overriding
+ * Amplify generated resources and `getOrCreateStack()` for adding custom resources.
  */
-export class Backend<T extends Record<string, ConstructFactory<Construct>>> {
-  private readonly stackResolver: StackResolver;
-  /**
-   * These are the resolved CDK constructs that are created by the inputs to the constructor
-   * Used for overriding properties of underlying CDK constructs or to reference in custom CDK code
-   */
+export type Backend<T extends Record<string, ConstructFactory<Construct>>> = {
+  getOrCreateStack: (name: string) => Stack;
   readonly resources: {
     [K in keyof T]: ReturnType<T[K]['getInstance']>;
   };
-  /**
-   * Initialize an Amplify backend with the given construct factories and in the given CDK App.
-   * If no CDK App is specified a new one is created
-   */
-  constructor(constructFactories: T, stack: Stack = createDefaultStack()) {
-    new AttributionMetadataStorage().storeAttributionMetadata(
-      stack,
-      rootStackTypeIdentifier,
-      fileURLToPath(new URL('../package.json', import.meta.url))
-    );
-    this.stackResolver = new NestedStackResolver(stack);
-
-    const constructContainer = new SingletonConstructContainer(
-      this.stackResolver
-    );
-
-    const outputStorageStrategy = new StackMetadataBackendOutputStorageStrategy(
-      stack
-    );
-
-    const uniqueBackendIdentifier = getUniqueBackendIdentifier(stack);
-    outputStorageStrategy.addBackendOutputEntry(stackOutputKey, {
-      version: '1',
-      payload: {
-        deploymentType:
-          uniqueBackendIdentifier instanceof SandboxBackendIdentifier
-            ? BackendDeploymentType.SANDBOX
-            : BackendDeploymentType.BRANCH,
-      },
-    });
-
-    const importPathVerifier = new ToggleableImportPathVerifier();
-
-    // register providers but don't actually execute anything yet
-    Object.values(constructFactories).forEach((factory) => {
-      if (typeof factory.provides === 'string') {
-        constructContainer.registerConstructFactory(factory.provides, factory);
-      }
-    });
-
-    // now invoke all the factories and collect the constructs into this.resources
-    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
-    this.resources = {} as any;
-    Object.entries(constructFactories).forEach(
-      ([resourceName, constructFactory]) => {
-        // The type inference on this.resources is not happy about this assignment because it doesn't know the exact type of .getInstance()
-        // However, the assignment is okay because we are iterating over the entries of constructFactories and assigning the resource name to the corresponding instance
-        this.resources[resourceName as keyof T] = constructFactory.getInstance(
-          {
-            constructContainer,
-            outputStorageStrategy,
-            importPathVerifier,
-          }
-          // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
-        ) as any;
-      }
-    );
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Returns a CDK stack within the Amplify project that can be used for creating custom resources
-   */
-  getOrCreateStack = (name: string): Stack => {
-    return this.stackResolver.getStackFor(name);
-  };
-}
+};
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/backend.test.ts b/packages/backend/src/backend_factory.test.ts
similarity index 94%
rename from packages/backend/src/backend.test.ts
rename to packages/backend/src/backend_factory.test.ts
index 2679a5d8b8..23bd6584a3 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/backend.test.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/backend_factory.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { beforeEach, describe, it } from 'node:test';
 import { ConstructFactory } from '@aws-amplify/plugin-types';
 import { Bucket } from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-s3';
 import { Construct } from 'constructs';
-import { Backend } from './backend.js';
+import { BackendFactory } from './backend_factory.js';
 import { App, Stack } from 'aws-cdk-lib';
 import { Template } from 'aws-cdk-lib/assertions';
 import assert from 'node:assert';
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ void describe('Backend', () => {
       },
     };
 
-    new Backend(
+    new BackendFactory(
       {
         testConstructFactory,
       },
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ void describe('Backend', () => {
       },
     };
 
-    new Backend(
+    new BackendFactory(
       {
         testConstructFactory,
       },
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ void describe('Backend', () => {
       },
     };
 
-    const backend = new Backend(
+    const backend = new BackendFactory(
       {
         testConstructFactory,
       },
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ void describe('Backend', () => {
   });
 
   void it('stores attribution metadata in root stack', () => {
-    new Backend({}, rootStack);
+    new BackendFactory({}, rootStack);
     const rootStackTemplate = Template.fromStack(rootStack);
     assert.equal(
       JSON.parse(rootStackTemplate.toJSON().Description).stackType,
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ void describe('Backend', () => {
 
   void describe('getOrCreateStack', () => {
     void it('returns nested stack', () => {
-      const backend = new Backend({}, rootStack);
+      const backend = new BackendFactory({}, rootStack);
       const testStack = backend.getOrCreateStack('testStack');
       assert.strictEqual(rootStack.node.findChild('testStack'), testStack);
     });
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/backend_factory.ts b/packages/backend/src/backend_factory.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aaeec7ae7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend/src/backend_factory.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+import { Construct } from 'constructs';
+import { ConstructFactory } from '@aws-amplify/plugin-types';
+import { Stack } from 'aws-cdk-lib';
+import {
+  NestedStackResolver,
+  StackResolver,
+} from './engine/nested_stack_resolver.js';
+import { SingletonConstructContainer } from './engine/singleton_construct_container.js';
+import { ToggleableImportPathVerifier } from './engine/toggleable_import_path_verifier.js';
+import {
+  AttributionMetadataStorage,
+  StackMetadataBackendOutputStorageStrategy,
+} from '@aws-amplify/backend-output-storage';
+import { createDefaultStack } from './default_stack_factory.js';
+import { getUniqueBackendIdentifier } from './backend_identifier.js';
+import {
+  BackendDeploymentType,
+  SandboxBackendIdentifier,
+} from '@aws-amplify/platform-core';
+import { stackOutputKey } from '@aws-amplify/backend-output-schemas';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
+import { Backend } from './backend.js';
+
+// Be very careful editing this value. It is the value used in the BI metrics to attribute stacks as Amplify root stacks
+const rootStackTypeIdentifier = 'root';
+
+/**
+ * Factory that collects and instantiates all the Amplify backend constructs
+ */
+export class BackendFactory<
+  T extends Record<string, ConstructFactory<Construct>>
+> implements Backend<T>
+{
+  private readonly stackResolver: StackResolver;
+  /**
+   * These are the resolved CDK constructs that are created by the inputs to the constructor
+   * Used for overriding properties of underlying CDK constructs or to reference in custom CDK code
+   */
+  readonly resources: {
+    [K in keyof T]: ReturnType<T[K]['getInstance']>;
+  };
+  /**
+   * Initialize an Amplify backend with the given construct factories and in the given CDK App.
+   * If no CDK App is specified a new one is created
+   */
+  constructor(constructFactories: T, stack: Stack = createDefaultStack()) {
+    new AttributionMetadataStorage().storeAttributionMetadata(
+      stack,
+      rootStackTypeIdentifier,
+      fileURLToPath(new URL('../package.json', import.meta.url))
+    );
+    this.stackResolver = new NestedStackResolver(stack);
+
+    const constructContainer = new SingletonConstructContainer(
+      this.stackResolver
+    );
+
+    const outputStorageStrategy = new StackMetadataBackendOutputStorageStrategy(
+      stack
+    );
+
+    const uniqueBackendIdentifier = getUniqueBackendIdentifier(stack);
+    outputStorageStrategy.addBackendOutputEntry(stackOutputKey, {
+      version: '1',
+      payload: {
+        deploymentType:
+          uniqueBackendIdentifier instanceof SandboxBackendIdentifier
+            ? BackendDeploymentType.SANDBOX
+            : BackendDeploymentType.BRANCH,
+      },
+    });
+
+    const importPathVerifier = new ToggleableImportPathVerifier();
+
+    // register providers but don't actually execute anything yet
+    Object.values(constructFactories).forEach((factory) => {
+      if (typeof factory.provides === 'string') {
+        constructContainer.registerConstructFactory(factory.provides, factory);
+      }
+    });
+
+    // now invoke all the factories and collect the constructs into this.resources
+    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+    this.resources = {} as any;
+    Object.entries(constructFactories).forEach(
+      ([resourceName, constructFactory]) => {
+        // The type inference on this.resources is not happy about this assignment because it doesn't know the exact type of .getInstance()
+        // However, the assignment is okay because we are iterating over the entries of constructFactories and assigning the resource name to the corresponding instance
+        this.resources[resourceName as keyof T] = constructFactory.getInstance(
+          {
+            constructContainer,
+            outputStorageStrategy,
+            importPathVerifier,
+          }
+          // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+        ) as any;
+      }
+    );
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns a CDK stack within the Amplify project that can be used for creating custom resources
+   */
+  getOrCreateStack = (name: string): Stack => {
+    return this.stackResolver.getStackFor(name);
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Creates a new Amplify backend instance and returns it
+ * @param constructFactories - list of backend factories such as those created by `defineAuth` or `defineData`
+ */
+export const defineBackend = <
+  T extends Record<string, ConstructFactory<Construct>>
+>(
+  constructFactories: T
+): Backend<T> => new BackendFactory(constructFactories);
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/index.ts b/packages/backend/src/index.ts
index 14d2ba18c1..931df8a103 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/index.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+export { defineBackend } from './backend_factory.js';
 export * from './backend.js';
 export * from './secret.js';
 
diff --git a/packages/create-amplify/templates/basic-auth-data/amplify/backend.ts b/packages/create-amplify/templates/basic-auth-data/amplify/backend.ts
index 7e5c96bfa5..56375d22c4 100644
--- a/packages/create-amplify/templates/basic-auth-data/amplify/backend.ts
+++ b/packages/create-amplify/templates/basic-auth-data/amplify/backend.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-import { Backend } from '@aws-amplify/backend';
+import { defineBackend } from '@aws-amplify/backend';
 import { auth } from './auth/resource.js';
 import { data } from './data/resource.js';
 
-new Backend({
+defineBackend({
   auth,
   data,
 });
diff --git a/packages/integration-tests/src/cdk_snapshot_test_suite_generator.ts b/packages/integration-tests/src/cdk_snapshot_test_suite_generator.ts
index f7876a55be..2eb32ee390 100644
--- a/packages/integration-tests/src/cdk_snapshot_test_suite_generator.ts
+++ b/packages/integration-tests/src/cdk_snapshot_test_suite_generator.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
  * If dirPath is an absolute path, it points to the directory
  * If dirPath is relative, the directory is located at path.resolve(\<this file location\>, relativeDirPath)
  * Each subdirectory is the name of the test
- * Within each test directory is a backend.ts file that contains the `new Backend({...})` entry point
+ * Within each test directory is a backend.ts file that contains the `defineBackend({...})` entry point
  * Within each test directory is an `expected-cdk-out` directory that contains a snapshot of the expected synthesis result of the backend
  * @example
  *
diff --git a/packages/integration-tests/test-projects/data-storage-auth-with-triggers/amplify/backend.ts b/packages/integration-tests/test-projects/data-storage-auth-with-triggers/amplify/backend.ts
index 34c8cc14d7..3f02f903a7 100644
--- a/packages/integration-tests/test-projects/data-storage-auth-with-triggers/amplify/backend.ts
+++ b/packages/integration-tests/test-projects/data-storage-auth-with-triggers/amplify/backend.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-import { Backend } from '@aws-amplify/backend';
+import { defineBackend } from '@aws-amplify/backend';
 import { auth } from './auth/resource.js';
 import { storage } from './storage/resource.js';
 import { myFunc } from './function.js';
 import { data } from './data/resource.js';
 
-new Backend({
+defineBackend({
   auth,
   storage,
   myFunc,
diff --git a/packages/integration-tests/test-projects/minimalist-project-with-typescript-idioms/amplify/backend.ts b/packages/integration-tests/test-projects/minimalist-project-with-typescript-idioms/amplify/backend.ts
index 4d99db91c3..a4a86080b7 100644
--- a/packages/integration-tests/test-projects/minimalist-project-with-typescript-idioms/amplify/backend.ts
+++ b/packages/integration-tests/test-projects/minimalist-project-with-typescript-idioms/amplify/backend.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-import { Backend } from '@aws-amplify/backend';
+import { defineBackend } from '@aws-amplify/backend';
 import { storage } from './storage/resource.js';
 
-new Backend({
+defineBackend({
   storage,
 });