CreateTableCommand

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The CreateTable operation adds a new table to your account. In an Amazon Web Services account, table names must be unique within each Region. That is, you can have two tables with same name if you create the tables in different Regions.

CreateTable is an asynchronous operation. Upon receiving a CreateTable request, DynamoDB immediately returns a response with a TableStatus of CREATING. After the table is created, DynamoDB sets the TableStatus to ACTIVE. You can perform read and write operations only on an ACTIVE table.

You can optionally define secondary indexes on the new table, as part of the CreateTable operation. If you want to create multiple tables with secondary indexes on them, you must create the tables sequentially. Only one table with secondary indexes can be in the CREATING state at any given time.

You can use the DescribeTable action to check the table status.

Example Syntax

Use a bare-bones client and the command you need to make an API call.

import { DynamoDBClient, CreateTableCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-dynamodb"; // ES Modules import
// const { DynamoDBClient, CreateTableCommand } = require("@aws-sdk/client-dynamodb"); // CommonJS import
const client = new DynamoDBClient(config);
const input = { // CreateTableInput
  AttributeDefinitions: [ // AttributeDefinitions // required
    { // AttributeDefinition
      AttributeName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
      AttributeType: "S" || "N" || "B", // required
    },
  ],
  TableName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
  KeySchema: [ // KeySchema // required
    { // KeySchemaElement
      AttributeName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
      KeyType: "HASH" || "RANGE", // required
    },
  ],
  LocalSecondaryIndexes: [ // LocalSecondaryIndexList
    { // LocalSecondaryIndex
      IndexName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
      KeySchema: [ // required
        {
          AttributeName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
          KeyType: "HASH" || "RANGE", // required
        },
      ],
      Projection: { // Projection
        ProjectionType: "ALL" || "KEYS_ONLY" || "INCLUDE",
        NonKeyAttributes: [ // NonKeyAttributeNameList
          "STRING_VALUE",
        ],
      },
    },
  ],
  GlobalSecondaryIndexes: [ // GlobalSecondaryIndexList
    { // GlobalSecondaryIndex
      IndexName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
      KeySchema: [ // required
        {
          AttributeName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
          KeyType: "HASH" || "RANGE", // required
        },
      ],
      Projection: {
        ProjectionType: "ALL" || "KEYS_ONLY" || "INCLUDE",
        NonKeyAttributes: [
          "STRING_VALUE",
        ],
      },
      ProvisionedThroughput: { // ProvisionedThroughput
        ReadCapacityUnits: Number("long"), // required
        WriteCapacityUnits: Number("long"), // required
      },
      OnDemandThroughput: { // OnDemandThroughput
        MaxReadRequestUnits: Number("long"),
        MaxWriteRequestUnits: Number("long"),
      },
      WarmThroughput: { // WarmThroughput
        ReadUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
        WriteUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
      },
    },
  ],
  BillingMode: "PROVISIONED" || "PAY_PER_REQUEST",
  ProvisionedThroughput: {
    ReadCapacityUnits: Number("long"), // required
    WriteCapacityUnits: Number("long"), // required
  },
  StreamSpecification: { // StreamSpecification
    StreamEnabled: true || false, // required
    StreamViewType: "NEW_IMAGE" || "OLD_IMAGE" || "NEW_AND_OLD_IMAGES" || "KEYS_ONLY",
  },
  SSESpecification: { // SSESpecification
    Enabled: true || false,
    SSEType: "AES256" || "KMS",
    KMSMasterKeyId: "STRING_VALUE",
  },
  Tags: [ // TagList
    { // Tag
      Key: "STRING_VALUE", // required
      Value: "STRING_VALUE", // required
    },
  ],
  TableClass: "STANDARD" || "STANDARD_INFREQUENT_ACCESS",
  DeletionProtectionEnabled: true || false,
  WarmThroughput: {
    ReadUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
    WriteUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
  },
  ResourcePolicy: "STRING_VALUE",
  OnDemandThroughput: {
    MaxReadRequestUnits: Number("long"),
    MaxWriteRequestUnits: Number("long"),
  },
};
const command = new CreateTableCommand(input);
const response = await client.send(command);
// { // CreateTableOutput
//   TableDescription: { // TableDescription
//     AttributeDefinitions: [ // AttributeDefinitions
//       { // AttributeDefinition
//         AttributeName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
//         AttributeType: "S" || "N" || "B", // required
//       },
//     ],
//     TableName: "STRING_VALUE",
//     KeySchema: [ // KeySchema
//       { // KeySchemaElement
//         AttributeName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
//         KeyType: "HASH" || "RANGE", // required
//       },
//     ],
//     TableStatus: "CREATING" || "UPDATING" || "DELETING" || "ACTIVE" || "INACCESSIBLE_ENCRYPTION_CREDENTIALS" || "ARCHIVING" || "ARCHIVED",
//     CreationDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//     ProvisionedThroughput: { // ProvisionedThroughputDescription
//       LastIncreaseDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//       LastDecreaseDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//       NumberOfDecreasesToday: Number("long"),
//       ReadCapacityUnits: Number("long"),
//       WriteCapacityUnits: Number("long"),
//     },
//     TableSizeBytes: Number("long"),
//     ItemCount: Number("long"),
//     TableArn: "STRING_VALUE",
//     TableId: "STRING_VALUE",
//     BillingModeSummary: { // BillingModeSummary
//       BillingMode: "PROVISIONED" || "PAY_PER_REQUEST",
//       LastUpdateToPayPerRequestDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//     },
//     LocalSecondaryIndexes: [ // LocalSecondaryIndexDescriptionList
//       { // LocalSecondaryIndexDescription
//         IndexName: "STRING_VALUE",
//         KeySchema: [
//           {
//             AttributeName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
//             KeyType: "HASH" || "RANGE", // required
//           },
//         ],
//         Projection: { // Projection
//           ProjectionType: "ALL" || "KEYS_ONLY" || "INCLUDE",
//           NonKeyAttributes: [ // NonKeyAttributeNameList
//             "STRING_VALUE",
//           ],
//         },
//         IndexSizeBytes: Number("long"),
//         ItemCount: Number("long"),
//         IndexArn: "STRING_VALUE",
//       },
//     ],
//     GlobalSecondaryIndexes: [ // GlobalSecondaryIndexDescriptionList
//       { // GlobalSecondaryIndexDescription
//         IndexName: "STRING_VALUE",
//         KeySchema: [
//           {
//             AttributeName: "STRING_VALUE", // required
//             KeyType: "HASH" || "RANGE", // required
//           },
//         ],
//         Projection: {
//           ProjectionType: "ALL" || "KEYS_ONLY" || "INCLUDE",
//           NonKeyAttributes: [
//             "STRING_VALUE",
//           ],
//         },
//         IndexStatus: "CREATING" || "UPDATING" || "DELETING" || "ACTIVE",
//         Backfilling: true || false,
//         ProvisionedThroughput: {
//           LastIncreaseDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//           LastDecreaseDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//           NumberOfDecreasesToday: Number("long"),
//           ReadCapacityUnits: Number("long"),
//           WriteCapacityUnits: Number("long"),
//         },
//         IndexSizeBytes: Number("long"),
//         ItemCount: Number("long"),
//         IndexArn: "STRING_VALUE",
//         OnDemandThroughput: { // OnDemandThroughput
//           MaxReadRequestUnits: Number("long"),
//           MaxWriteRequestUnits: Number("long"),
//         },
//         WarmThroughput: { // GlobalSecondaryIndexWarmThroughputDescription
//           ReadUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
//           WriteUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
//           Status: "CREATING" || "UPDATING" || "DELETING" || "ACTIVE",
//         },
//       },
//     ],
//     StreamSpecification: { // StreamSpecification
//       StreamEnabled: true || false, // required
//       StreamViewType: "NEW_IMAGE" || "OLD_IMAGE" || "NEW_AND_OLD_IMAGES" || "KEYS_ONLY",
//     },
//     LatestStreamLabel: "STRING_VALUE",
//     LatestStreamArn: "STRING_VALUE",
//     GlobalTableVersion: "STRING_VALUE",
//     Replicas: [ // ReplicaDescriptionList
//       { // ReplicaDescription
//         RegionName: "STRING_VALUE",
//         ReplicaStatus: "CREATING" || "CREATION_FAILED" || "UPDATING" || "DELETING" || "ACTIVE" || "REGION_DISABLED" || "INACCESSIBLE_ENCRYPTION_CREDENTIALS",
//         ReplicaStatusDescription: "STRING_VALUE",
//         ReplicaStatusPercentProgress: "STRING_VALUE",
//         KMSMasterKeyId: "STRING_VALUE",
//         ProvisionedThroughputOverride: { // ProvisionedThroughputOverride
//           ReadCapacityUnits: Number("long"),
//         },
//         OnDemandThroughputOverride: { // OnDemandThroughputOverride
//           MaxReadRequestUnits: Number("long"),
//         },
//         WarmThroughput: { // TableWarmThroughputDescription
//           ReadUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
//           WriteUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
//           Status: "CREATING" || "UPDATING" || "DELETING" || "ACTIVE" || "INACCESSIBLE_ENCRYPTION_CREDENTIALS" || "ARCHIVING" || "ARCHIVED",
//         },
//         GlobalSecondaryIndexes: [ // ReplicaGlobalSecondaryIndexDescriptionList
//           { // ReplicaGlobalSecondaryIndexDescription
//             IndexName: "STRING_VALUE",
//             ProvisionedThroughputOverride: {
//               ReadCapacityUnits: Number("long"),
//             },
//             OnDemandThroughputOverride: {
//               MaxReadRequestUnits: Number("long"),
//             },
//             WarmThroughput: {
//               ReadUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
//               WriteUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
//               Status: "CREATING" || "UPDATING" || "DELETING" || "ACTIVE",
//             },
//           },
//         ],
//         ReplicaInaccessibleDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//         ReplicaTableClassSummary: { // TableClassSummary
//           TableClass: "STANDARD" || "STANDARD_INFREQUENT_ACCESS",
//           LastUpdateDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//         },
//       },
//     ],
//     RestoreSummary: { // RestoreSummary
//       SourceBackupArn: "STRING_VALUE",
//       SourceTableArn: "STRING_VALUE",
//       RestoreDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"), // required
//       RestoreInProgress: true || false, // required
//     },
//     SSEDescription: { // SSEDescription
//       Status: "ENABLING" || "ENABLED" || "DISABLING" || "DISABLED" || "UPDATING",
//       SSEType: "AES256" || "KMS",
//       KMSMasterKeyArn: "STRING_VALUE",
//       InaccessibleEncryptionDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//     },
//     ArchivalSummary: { // ArchivalSummary
//       ArchivalDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//       ArchivalReason: "STRING_VALUE",
//       ArchivalBackupArn: "STRING_VALUE",
//     },
//     TableClassSummary: {
//       TableClass: "STANDARD" || "STANDARD_INFREQUENT_ACCESS",
//       LastUpdateDateTime: new Date("TIMESTAMP"),
//     },
//     DeletionProtectionEnabled: true || false,
//     OnDemandThroughput: {
//       MaxReadRequestUnits: Number("long"),
//       MaxWriteRequestUnits: Number("long"),
//     },
//     WarmThroughput: {
//       ReadUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
//       WriteUnitsPerSecond: Number("long"),
//       Status: "CREATING" || "UPDATING" || "DELETING" || "ACTIVE" || "INACCESSIBLE_ENCRYPTION_CREDENTIALS" || "ARCHIVING" || "ARCHIVED",
//     },
//     MultiRegionConsistency: "EVENTUAL" || "STRONG",
//   },
// };

CreateTableCommand Input

See CreateTableCommandInput for more details

Parameter
Type
Description
AttributeDefinitions
Required
AttributeDefinition[] | undefined

An array of attributes that describe the key schema for the table and indexes.

KeySchema
Required
KeySchemaElement[] | undefined

Specifies the attributes that make up the primary key for a table or an index. The attributes in KeySchema must also be defined in the AttributeDefinitions array. For more information, see Data Model  in the Amazon DynamoDB Developer Guide.

Each KeySchemaElement in the array is composed of:

  • AttributeName - The name of this key attribute.

  • KeyType - The role that the key attribute will assume:

    • HASH - partition key

    • RANGE - sort key

The partition key of an item is also known as its hash attribute. The term "hash attribute" derives from the DynamoDB usage of an internal hash function to evenly distribute data items across partitions, based on their partition key values.

The sort key of an item is also known as its range attribute. The term "range attribute" derives from the way DynamoDB stores items with the same partition key physically close together, in sorted order by the sort key value.

For a simple primary key (partition key), you must provide exactly one element with a KeyType of HASH.

For a composite primary key (partition key and sort key), you must provide exactly two elements, in this order: The first element must have a KeyType of HASH, and the second element must have a KeyType of RANGE.

For more information, see Working with Tables  in the Amazon DynamoDB Developer Guide.

TableName
Required
string | undefined

The name of the table to create. You can also provide the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the table in this parameter.

BillingMode
BillingMode | undefined

Controls how you are charged for read and write throughput and how you manage capacity. This setting can be changed later.

  • PAY_PER_REQUEST - We recommend using PAY_PER_REQUEST for most DynamoDB workloads. PAY_PER_REQUEST sets the billing mode to On-demand capacity mode .

  • PROVISIONED - We recommend using PROVISIONED for steady workloads with predictable growth where capacity requirements can be reliably forecasted. PROVISIONED sets the billing mode to Provisioned capacity mode .

DeletionProtectionEnabled
boolean | undefined

Indicates whether deletion protection is to be enabled (true) or disabled (false) on the table.

GlobalSecondaryIndexes
GlobalSecondaryIndex[] | undefined

One or more global secondary indexes (the maximum is 20) to be created on the table. Each global secondary index in the array includes the following:

  • IndexName - The name of the global secondary index. Must be unique only for this table.

  • KeySchema - Specifies the key schema for the global secondary index.

  • Projection - Specifies attributes that are copied (projected) from the table into the index. These are in addition to the primary key attributes and index key attributes, which are automatically projected. Each attribute specification is composed of:

    • ProjectionType - One of the following:

      • KEYS_ONLY - Only the index and primary keys are projected into the index.

      • INCLUDE - Only the specified table attributes are projected into the index. The list of projected attributes is in NonKeyAttributes.

      • ALL - All of the table attributes are projected into the index.

    • NonKeyAttributes - A list of one or more non-key attribute names that are projected into the secondary index. The total count of attributes provided in NonKeyAttributes, summed across all of the secondary indexes, must not exceed 100. If you project the same attribute into two different indexes, this counts as two distinct attributes when determining the total. This limit only applies when you specify the ProjectionType of INCLUDE. You still can specify the ProjectionType of ALL to project all attributes from the source table, even if the table has more than 100 attributes.

  • ProvisionedThroughput - The provisioned throughput settings for the global secondary index, consisting of read and write capacity units.

LocalSecondaryIndexes
LocalSecondaryIndex[] | undefined

One or more local secondary indexes (the maximum is 5) to be created on the table. Each index is scoped to a given partition key value. There is a 10 GB size limit per partition key value; otherwise, the size of a local secondary index is unconstrained.

Each local secondary index in the array includes the following:

  • IndexName - The name of the local secondary index. Must be unique only for this table.

  • KeySchema - Specifies the key schema for the local secondary index. The key schema must begin with the same partition key as the table.

  • Projection - Specifies attributes that are copied (projected) from the table into the index. These are in addition to the primary key attributes and index key attributes, which are automatically projected. Each attribute specification is composed of:

    • ProjectionType - One of the following:

      • KEYS_ONLY - Only the index and primary keys are projected into the index.

      • INCLUDE - Only the specified table attributes are projected into the index. The list of projected attributes is in NonKeyAttributes.

      • ALL - All of the table attributes are projected into the index.

    • NonKeyAttributes - A list of one or more non-key attribute names that are projected into the secondary index. The total count of attributes provided in NonKeyAttributes, summed across all of the secondary indexes, must not exceed 100. If you project the same attribute into two different indexes, this counts as two distinct attributes when determining the total. This limit only applies when you specify the ProjectionType of INCLUDE. You still can specify the ProjectionType of ALL to project all attributes from the source table, even if the table has more than 100 attributes.

OnDemandThroughput
OnDemandThroughput | undefined

Sets the maximum number of read and write units for the specified table in on-demand capacity mode. If you use this parameter, you must specify MaxReadRequestUnits, MaxWriteRequestUnits, or both.

ProvisionedThroughput
ProvisionedThroughput | undefined

Represents the provisioned throughput settings for a specified table or index. The settings can be modified using the UpdateTable operation.

If you set BillingMode as PROVISIONED, you must specify this property. If you set BillingMode as PAY_PER_REQUEST, you cannot specify this property.

For current minimum and maximum provisioned throughput values, see Service, Account, and Table Quotas  in the Amazon DynamoDB Developer Guide.

ResourcePolicy
string | undefined

An Amazon Web Services resource-based policy document in JSON format that will be attached to the table.

When you attach a resource-based policy while creating a table, the policy application is strongly consistent.

The maximum size supported for a resource-based policy document is 20 KB. DynamoDB counts whitespaces when calculating the size of a policy against this limit. For a full list of all considerations that apply for resource-based policies, see Resource-based policy considerations .

You need to specify the CreateTable and PutResourcePolicy IAM actions for authorizing a user to create a table with a resource-based policy.

SSESpecification
SSESpecification | undefined

Represents the settings used to enable server-side encryption.

StreamSpecification
StreamSpecification | undefined

The settings for DynamoDB Streams on the table. These settings consist of:

  • StreamEnabled - Indicates whether DynamoDB Streams is to be enabled (true) or disabled (false).

  • StreamViewType - When an item in the table is modified, StreamViewType determines what information is written to the table's stream. Valid values for StreamViewType are:

    • KEYS_ONLY - Only the key attributes of the modified item are written to the stream.

    • NEW_IMAGE - The entire item, as it appears after it was modified, is written to the stream.

    • OLD_IMAGE - The entire item, as it appeared before it was modified, is written to the stream.

    • NEW_AND_OLD_IMAGES - Both the new and the old item images of the item are written to the stream.

TableClass
TableClass | undefined

The table class of the new table. Valid values are STANDARD and STANDARD_INFREQUENT_ACCESS.

Tags
Tag[] | undefined

A list of key-value pairs to label the table. For more information, see Tagging for DynamoDB .

WarmThroughput
WarmThroughput | undefined

Represents the warm throughput (in read units per second and write units per second) for creating a table.

CreateTableCommand Output

See CreateTableCommandOutput for details

Parameter
Type
Description
$metadata
Required
ResponseMetadata
Metadata pertaining to this request.
TableDescription
TableDescription | undefined

Represents the properties of the table.

Throws

Name
Fault
Details
InternalServerError
server

An error occurred on the server side.

InvalidEndpointException
client
LimitExceededException
client

There is no limit to the number of daily on-demand backups that can be taken.

For most purposes, up to 500 simultaneous table operations are allowed per account. These operations include CreateTable, UpdateTable, DeleteTable,UpdateTimeToLive, RestoreTableFromBackup, and RestoreTableToPointInTime.

When you are creating a table with one or more secondary indexes, you can have up to 250 such requests running at a time. However, if the table or index specifications are complex, then DynamoDB might temporarily reduce the number of concurrent operations.

When importing into DynamoDB, up to 50 simultaneous import table operations are allowed per account.

There is a soft account quota of 2,500 tables.

GetRecords was called with a value of more than 1000 for the limit request parameter.

More than 2 processes are reading from the same streams shard at the same time. Exceeding this limit may result in request throttling.

ResourceInUseException
client

The operation conflicts with the resource's availability. For example:

  • You attempted to recreate an existing table.

  • You tried to delete a table currently in the CREATING state.

  • You tried to update a resource that was already being updated.

When appropriate, wait for the ongoing update to complete and attempt the request again.

DynamoDBServiceException
Base exception class for all service exceptions from DynamoDB service.