Support for Vitis AFI flow (`create_vitis_afi.sh`) on F2 instances for new projects

[yzhwang]

We have recently started a new FPGA project (H2 2025) and are targeting F2 instances as our primary platform. Since F1 instances are at End of Life (Dec 20, 2025) and restricted to legacy customers, F2 is our only available deployment path.

Our development is based on Vitis/HLS, but we have found that the f2 branch of the aws-fpga repository still does not include the create_vitis_afi.sh script or the official flow to convert Vitis-generated .xclbin files into AFIs for F2.

The Problem

In Issue #719 (May 2025), it was stated that Vitis AFI support for F2 was the "next feature" to be released. However, as of late 2025:

1. The f2 branch documentation still indicates that Vitis AFI generation is not supported.
2. The helper scripts (like create_vitis_afi.sh) and the automated DMA/Shell integration for Vitis are missing from the f2 branch.
3. New users who did not have F1 access are forced onto F2, but currently have no documented way to create AFI after built bitstream with Vitis.

Questions / Requests

1. Official Support Status: What is the current status of Vitis support for F2? Is there a release candidate or a specific branch we should be using?
2. Missing Tooling: Is there a timeline for when create_vitis_afi.sh (or an equivalent tool) will be added to the F2 flow?
3. Manual Flow Documentation: If the automated script is not ready, is there a manual "recipe" for wrapping a Vitis HLS kernel for the F2 Shell?
4. DMA Compatibility: Does the F2 shell currently support the XRT/Vitis standard DMA, or are we still required to use the cl_sde with a custom HDL wrapper?

As a new project starting directly on F2, the lack of Vitis support is a significant blocker for our development timeline. We would appreciate any guidance or early-access scripts you can provide.