DynamoDB

Amazon DynamoDB fully managed NoSQL database service with single-digit millisecond performance at any scale.

Configuration

Property	Value
Protocol	`AwsJson1_0`
Signing Name	`dynamodb`
Target Prefix	`DynamoDB_20120810`
Persistence	Yes

Quick Start

Create a table, put an item, and retrieve it:

bash

# Create table
curl -s http://localhost:4566 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.0" \
  -H "X-Amz-Target: DynamoDB_20120810.CreateTable" \
  -H "Authorization: AWS4-HMAC-SHA256 Credential=test/20260421/us-east-1/dynamodb/aws4_request, SignedHeaders=host, Signature=fake" \
  -d '{"TableName":"users","KeySchema":[{"AttributeName":"pk","KeyType":"HASH"},{"AttributeName":"sk","KeyType":"RANGE"}],"AttributeDefinitions":[{"AttributeName":"pk","AttributeType":"S"},{"AttributeName":"sk","AttributeType":"S"}],"BillingMode":"PAY_PER_REQUEST"}'

# Put item
curl -s http://localhost:4566 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.0" \
  -H "X-Amz-Target: DynamoDB_20120810.PutItem" \
  -H "Authorization: AWS4-HMAC-SHA256 Credential=test/20260421/us-east-1/dynamodb/aws4_request, SignedHeaders=host, Signature=fake" \
  -d '{"TableName":"users","Item":{"pk":{"S":"user#1"},"sk":{"S":"profile"},"name":{"S":"Alice"},"age":{"N":"30"}}}'

# Get item
curl -s http://localhost:4566 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.0" \
  -H "X-Amz-Target: DynamoDB_20120810.GetItem" \
  -H "Authorization: AWS4-HMAC-SHA256 Credential=test/20260421/us-east-1/dynamodb/aws4_request, SignedHeaders=host, Signature=fake" \
  -d '{"TableName":"users","Key":{"pk":{"S":"user#1"},"sk":{"S":"profile"}}}'

Operations

Table Operations

Operation	Description
`CreateTable`	Create a table with key schema, billing mode, and optional streams. Returns `TableDescription` with `TableStatus: "ACTIVE"` immediately
`DeleteTable`	Delete a table and all its data. Returns `TableDescription` with `TableStatus: "DELETING"`
`DescribeTable`	Get table metadata: key schema, attribute definitions, item count, table size, stream ARN
`ListTables`	List all tables; supports `ExclusiveStartTableName` and `Limit` for pagination
`UpdateTable`	Update billing mode (`PAY_PER_REQUEST` or `PROVISIONED`) or stream specification
`DescribeEndpoints`	Return the regional DynamoDB endpoint. Used by SDK endpoint discovery; returns a single endpoint entry

TTL Operations

Operation	Description
`DescribeTimeToLive`	Get the TTL configuration for a table. Returns `TimeToLiveDescription` with `TimeToLiveStatus` and `AttributeName`
`UpdateTimeToLive`	Enable or disable TTL on a table. Input: `TableName`, `TimeToLiveSpecification` (`{Enabled, AttributeName}`)

Backup Operations

Operation	Description
`DescribeContinuousBackups`	Get the point-in-time recovery (PITR) status for a table. Returns `ContinuousBackupsDescription`
`CreateBackup`	Create an on-demand backup (stub — returns a backup ARN but does not persist)
`DeleteBackup`	Delete a backup (stub — always succeeds)
`DescribeBackup`	Describe a backup (stub — always returns not-found)
`ListBackups`	List on-demand backups (stub — returns empty list)

Global Tables

Operation	Description
`DescribeGlobalTable`	Describe a global table (stub — returns not-found)
`ListGlobalTables`	List global tables (stub — returns empty list)

Export / Import

Operation	Description
`DescribeExport`	Describe an export (stub — returns not-found)
`ExportTableToPointInTime`	Export to S3 (stub — returns not-supported error)
`ListExports`	List exports (stub — returns empty list)
`DescribeImport`	Describe an import (stub — returns not-found)
`ImportTable`	Import from S3 (stub — returns not-supported error)
`ListImports`	List imports (stub — returns empty list)

Account Limits

Operation	Description
`DescribeLimits`	Return default account-level throughput limits (called by Terraform on every plan)

Contributor Insights

Operation	Description
`DescribeContributorInsights`	Describe contributor insights for a table (stub — always returns DISABLED)
`UpdateContributorInsights`	Enable/disable contributor insights (stub — acknowledges the change)
`ListContributorInsights`	List contributor insights summaries (stub — returns empty list)

Tagging Operations

Operation	Description
`TagResource`	Add tags to a table (by ARN). Input: `ResourceArn`, `Tags` list
`UntagResource`	Remove tags from a table. Input: `ResourceArn`, `TagKeys` list
`ListTagsOfResource`	List all tags for a table. Input: `ResourceArn`. Returns paginated `Tags` list

Item Operations

Operation	Description
`PutItem`	Write an item. All attributes use DynamoDB type notation: `{"S":"string"}`, `{"N":"123"}`, `{"BOOL":true}`, `{"L":[...]}`, `{"M":{...}}`
`GetItem`	Read an item by primary key. Returns `Item` or empty if not found. Use `ProjectionExpression` to return subset of attributes
`DeleteItem`	Delete an item by primary key. Use `ReturnValues: "ALL_OLD"` to get the deleted item back
`UpdateItem`	Update specific attributes using `UpdateExpression` (e.g., `SET #name = :val`), `ExpressionAttributeNames`, `ExpressionAttributeValues`

Query and Scan

Operation	Description
`Query`	Query items using `KeyConditionExpression` on partition key (and optionally sort key). Supports `FilterExpression`, `ProjectionExpression`, `Limit`, `ScanIndexForward` (ascending/descending), pagination via `ExclusiveStartKey`
`Scan`	Scan all items with optional `FilterExpression`. Supports `Limit`, pagination via `ExclusiveStartKey`. Use sparingly on large tables

Batch Operations

Operation	Description
`BatchGetItem`	Read up to 100 items from one or more tables in one call. Returns `Responses` (found items) and `UnprocessedKeys` (retry these)
`BatchWriteItem`	Write or delete up to 25 items in one call. Mix of `PutRequest` and `DeleteRequest`. Returns `UnprocessedItems`

Transactions

Operation	Description
`TransactGetItems`	Atomic multi-table read of up to 25 items; all succeed or all fail
`TransactWriteItems`	Atomic multi-table write of up to 25 items; mix of `Put`, `Update`, `Delete`, `ConditionCheck`

PartiQL

Operation	Description
`ExecuteStatement`	Execute a single PartiQL statement. Supports basic `SELECT`, `INSERT INTO ... VALUE {...}`, `UPDATE ... SET`, `DELETE FROM` with simple `WHERE` equality conditions
`BatchExecuteStatement`	Execute multiple PartiQL statements; returns per-statement results with partial failures
`ExecuteTransaction`	Execute multiple PartiQL statements as an atomic transaction; any failure aborts all

Streams

Operation	Description
`DescribeStream`	Get stream metadata including shards. Stream ARN is returned in `DescribeTable`
`GetShardIterator`	Get a position marker (`TRIM_HORIZON`, `LATEST`, `AT_SEQUENCE_NUMBER`, `AFTER_SEQUENCE_NUMBER`)
`GetRecords`	Read change records from a shard; each record has `eventName` (`INSERT`, `MODIFY`, `REMOVE`) and `dynamodb` with old/new images
`ListStreams`	List streams for a table or account

SDK Example

typescript

import {
  DynamoDBClient,
  CreateTableCommand,
  QueryCommand,
} from '@aws-sdk/client-dynamodb';
import {
  DynamoDBDocumentClient,
  PutCommand,
  GetCommand,
  UpdateCommand,
  DeleteCommand,
} from '@aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb';

const client = new DynamoDBClient({
  region: 'us-east-1',
  endpoint: 'http://localhost:4566',
  credentials: { accessKeyId: 'test', secretAccessKey: 'test' },
});

const ddb = DynamoDBDocumentClient.from(client);

// Create table
await client.send(new CreateTableCommand({
  TableName: 'users',
  KeySchema: [
    { AttributeName: 'pk', KeyType: 'HASH' },
    { AttributeName: 'sk', KeyType: 'RANGE' },
  ],
  AttributeDefinitions: [
    { AttributeName: 'pk', AttributeType: 'S' },
    { AttributeName: 'sk', AttributeType: 'S' },
  ],
  BillingMode: 'PAY_PER_REQUEST',
  StreamSpecification: { StreamEnabled: true, StreamViewType: 'NEW_AND_OLD_IMAGES' },
}));

// Put item (Document client handles type marshalling automatically)
await ddb.send(new PutCommand({
  TableName: 'users',
  Item: { pk: 'user#123', sk: 'profile', name: 'Alice', age: 30, tags: ['admin', 'beta'] },
}));

// Get item
const { Item } = await ddb.send(new GetCommand({
  TableName: 'users',
  Key: { pk: 'user#123', sk: 'profile' },
}));
console.log(Item?.name); // Alice

// Update a field
await ddb.send(new UpdateCommand({
  TableName: 'users',
  Key: { pk: 'user#123', sk: 'profile' },
  UpdateExpression: 'SET age = :newAge',
  ExpressionAttributeValues: { ':newAge': 31 },
}));

// Query all items for a user
const { Items } = await client.send(new QueryCommand({
  TableName: 'users',
  KeyConditionExpression: 'pk = :pk',
  ExpressionAttributeValues: { ':pk': { S: 'user#123' } },
}));
console.log('User items:', Items?.length);

CLI Example

bash

# Create table
aws --endpoint-url http://localhost:4566 dynamodb create-table \
  --table-name users \
  --key-schema AttributeName=pk,KeyType=HASH AttributeName=sk,KeyType=RANGE \
  --attribute-definitions AttributeName=pk,AttributeType=S AttributeName=sk,AttributeType=S \
  --billing-mode PAY_PER_REQUEST

# Put item
aws --endpoint-url http://localhost:4566 dynamodb put-item \
  --table-name users \
  --item '{"pk":{"S":"user#1"},"sk":{"S":"profile"},"name":{"S":"Alice"}}'

# Get item
aws --endpoint-url http://localhost:4566 dynamodb get-item \
  --table-name users \
  --key '{"pk":{"S":"user#1"},"sk":{"S":"profile"}}'

# Query
aws --endpoint-url http://localhost:4566 dynamodb query \
  --table-name users \
  --key-condition-expression "pk = :pk" \
  --expression-attribute-values '{":pk":{"S":"user#1"}}'

# Scan with filter
aws --endpoint-url http://localhost:4566 dynamodb scan \
  --table-name users \
  --filter-expression "age > :age" \
  --expression-attribute-values '{":age":{"N":"25"}}'

Behavior Notes

DynamoDB is persistent: tables and items survive AWSim restarts.
Global Secondary Indexes (GSI) and Local Secondary Indexes (LSI) are accepted in CreateTable but queries with IndexName are not supported — they fall back to a full table scan.
Conditional expressions (ConditionExpression on PutItem, UpdateItem, DeleteItem) are stored but not enforced — operations always succeed.
TTL (Time to Live) configuration (UpdateTimeToLive) is accepted and stored but items are not automatically expired.
DescribeContinuousBackups returns a stub response indicating PITR is disabled — no actual backups are made.
DescribeEndpoints returns a single endpoint entry for SDK endpoint discovery compatibility.
Table tags (TagResource, UntagResource, ListTagsOfResource) are stored and returned correctly.
PartiQL (ExecuteStatement, BatchExecuteStatement, ExecuteTransaction) supports basic SELECT * FROM "Table" WHERE "key" = 'value', INSERT INTO "Table" VALUE {...}, UPDATE "Table" SET attr = val WHERE "key" = 'val', and DELETE FROM "Table" WHERE "key" = 'val'. Full PartiQL expressions, nested paths, and ? parameter binding (with Parameters list) are partially supported.
Streams store change records in memory; use GetShardIterator with TRIM_HORIZON to read from the beginning.

DynamoDB ​

Configuration ​

Quick Start ​

Operations ​

Table Operations ​

TTL Operations ​

Backup Operations ​

Global Tables ​

Export / Import ​

Account Limits ​

Contributor Insights ​

Tagging Operations ​

Item Operations ​

Query and Scan ​

Batch Operations ​

Transactions ​

PartiQL ​

Streams ​

SDK Example ​

CLI Example ​

Behavior Notes ​

DynamoDB

Configuration

Quick Start

Operations

Table Operations

TTL Operations

Backup Operations

Global Tables

Export / Import

Account Limits

Contributor Insights

Tagging Operations

Item Operations

Query and Scan

Batch Operations

Transactions

PartiQL

Streams

SDK Example

CLI Example

Behavior Notes