# Get a reference to a key value store
<a name="kvs-with-functions-get-reference"></a>

To work with the key value stores programmatically, you need the `ETag` and the name of the key value store. 

To get both values, you can use the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) or the CloudFront API.

------
#### [ AWS CLI ]

**To get the key value store reference**

1. To return a list of key value stores, run the following command Find the name of the key value store that you want to change.

   ```
   aws cloudfront list-key-value-stores
   ```

1. From the response, find the name of the key value store that you want.

   **Response**

   ```
   {
       "KeyValueStoreList": {
           "Items": [
               {
                   "Name": "keyvaluestore3",
                   "Id": "37435e19-c205-4271-9e5c-example3",
                   "ARN": "arn:aws:cloudfront::123456789012:key-value-store/37435e19-c205-4271-9e5c-example3",
                   "Status": "READY",
                   "LastModifiedTime": "2024-05-08T14:50:18.876000+00:00"
               },
               {
                   "Name": "keyvaluestore2",
                   "Id": "47970d59-6408-474d-b850-example2",
                   "ARN": "arn:aws:cloudfront::123456789012:key-value-store/47970d59-6408-474d-b850-example2",
                   "Status": "READY",
                   "LastModifiedTime": "2024-05-30T21:06:22.113000+00:00"
               },
               {
                   "Name": "keyvaluestore1",
                   "Id": "8aa76c93-3198-462c-aaf6-example",
                   "ARN": "arn:aws:cloudfront::123456789012:key-value-store/8aa76c93-3198-462c-aaf6-example",
                   "Status": "READY",
                   "LastModifiedTime": "2024-08-06T22:19:30.510000+00:00"
               }
           ]
       }
   }
   ```

1. Run the following command to return the `ETag` for the specified key value store.

   ```
   aws cloudfront describe-key-value-store \
       --name=keyvaluestore1
   ```

   **Response**

   ```
   {
       "ETag": "E3UN6WX5RRO2AG",
       "KeyValueStore": {
           "Name": "keyvaluestore1",
           "Id": "8aa76c93-3198-462c-aaf6-example",
           "Comment": "This is an example KVS",
           "ARN": "arn:aws:cloudfront::123456789012:key-value-store/8aa76c93-3198-462c-aaf6-example",
           "Status": "READY",
           "LastModifiedTime": "2024-08-06T22:19:30.510000+00:00"
       }
   }
   ```

------
#### [ API ]

**To get the key value store reference**

1. Use the [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/latest/APIReference/API_ListKeyValueStores.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/latest/APIReference/API_ListKeyValueStores.html) API operation to return a list of key value stores. Find the name of the key value store that you want to change. 

1. Use the [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/latest/APIReference/API_DescribeKeyValueStore.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/latest/APIReference/API_DescribeKeyValueStore.html) API operation and specify the name of the key value store that you returned from the previous step. 

------

The response includes a UUID, the ARN of the key value store, and the `ETag` of the key value store.
+ An `ETag`, such as `E3UN6WX5RRO2AG`
+ The UUID is 128 bits, such as `8aa76c93-3198-462c-aaf6-example`
+ The ARN includes the AWS account number, the constant `key-value-store`, and the UUID, like the following example:

  `arn:aws:cloudfront::123456789012:key-value-store/8aa76c93-3198-462c-aaf6-example`

For more information about the `DescribeKeyValueStore` operation, see [About the CloudFront KeyValueStore](kvs-with-functions-kvp.md#kvs-with-functions-api-describe).