# Introduction: AWS Control Tower Controls Reference Guide
Introduction

The *AWS Control Tower Controls Reference Guide* accompanies the [https://docs.aws.amazon.com//controltower/latest/userguide/what-is-control-tower.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//controltower/latest/userguide/what-is-control-tower.html). It gives information about the controls that are specific to the AWS Control Tower environment.

**The *Controls Reference Guide* contains**
+ A detailed page about each control that can be enabled through AWS Control Tower.
+ Extensive reference tables showing the regional availability and the metadata for the controls. 
+ It explains how to view and enable controls from the AWS Control Tower console and with AWS Control Tower APIs.
+ It includes examples of using the AWS CLI and AWS CloudFormation to work with controls.
+ The *Controls and compliance* section explains how AWS Control Tower defines compliance and how an administrator can review compliance within the AWS Control Tower environment.

For more information about the AWS Control Tower application programming interface (API), see [The AWS Control Tower API Reference](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//controltower/latest/APIReference/Welcome.html).

Additional control APIs are available in the AWS Control Catalog namespace. The [https://docs.aws.amazon.com//controlcatalog/latest/APIReference/API_GetControl.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//controlcatalog/latest/APIReference/API_GetControl.html) and [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/controlcatalog/latest/APIReference/API_ListControls.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/controlcatalog/latest/APIReference/API_ListControls.html) APIs can help you find information about AWS Control Tower controls.

For information about availability of specific controls across AWS Regions, see [Control limitations](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/controltower/latest/userguide/control-limitations.html), and [AWS Region availability for AWS Control Tower controls](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//controltower/latest/controlreference/control-region-tables.html).