A team needs to roll out a new API version to a small subset of users via Amazon API Gateway and wants a simple, safe, and transparent deployment method. Which option is the easiest way to route a portion of traffic to the new API version within API Gateway?

API Gateway's canary deployment option is purpose-built for this scenario. It allows you to define a canary release that routes a specified percentage of traffic to a new version of your API, while the remaining traffic goes to the stable version. This enables a controlled, low-risk rollout. Creating a new API and using Route 53 weighted routing is more complex and less integrated for API Gateway-specific versioning. Validating and promoting during low usage is a general deployment strategy but doesn't offer the granular traffic shifting of a canary. A CloudWatch alarm for automatic rollback is a good practice for any deployment but doesn't facilitate the initial traffic distribution for a phased rollout.