CreateTable - Amazon DynamoDB
Request SyntaxRequest ParametersResponse SyntaxResponse ElementsErrorsExamplesSee Also

CreateTable

The CreateTable operation adds a new table to your account. In an AWS 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.

Request Syntax

{
   "AttributeDefinitions": [ 
      { 
         "AttributeName": "string",
         "AttributeType": "string"
      }
   ],
   "BillingMode": "string",
   "DeletionProtectionEnabled": boolean,
   "GlobalSecondaryIndexes": [ 
      { 
         "IndexName": "string",
         "KeySchema": [ 
            { 
               "AttributeName": "string",
               "KeyType": "string"
            }
         ],
         "OnDemandThroughput": { 
            "MaxReadRequestUnits": number,
            "MaxWriteRequestUnits": number
         },
         "Projection": { 
            "NonKeyAttributes": [ "string" ],
            "ProjectionType": "string"
         },
         "ProvisionedThroughput": { 
            "ReadCapacityUnits": number,
            "WriteCapacityUnits": number
         },
         "WarmThroughput": { 
            "ReadUnitsPerSecond": number,
            "WriteUnitsPerSecond": number
         }
      }
   ],
   "KeySchema": [ 
      { 
         "AttributeName": "string",
         "KeyType": "string"
      }
   ],
   "LocalSecondaryIndexes": [ 
      { 
         "IndexName": "string",
         "KeySchema": [ 
            { 
               "AttributeName": "string",
               "KeyType": "string"
            }
         ],
         "Projection": { 
            "NonKeyAttributes": [ "string" ],
            "ProjectionType": "string"
         }
      }
   ],
   "OnDemandThroughput": { 
      "MaxReadRequestUnits": number,
      "MaxWriteRequestUnits": number
   },
   "ProvisionedThroughput": { 
      "ReadCapacityUnits": number,
      "WriteCapacityUnits": number
   },
   "ResourcePolicy": "string",
   "SSESpecification": { 
      "Enabled": boolean,
      "KMSMasterKeyId": "string",
      "SSEType": "string"
   },
   "StreamSpecification": { 
      "StreamEnabled": boolean,
      "StreamViewType": "string"
   },
   "TableClass": "string",
   "TableName": "string",
   "Tags": [ 
      { 
         "Key": "string",
         "Value": "string"
      }
   ],
   "WarmThroughput": { 
      "ReadUnitsPerSecond": number,
      "WriteUnitsPerSecond": number
   }
}

Request Parameters

The request accepts the following data in JSON format.

Note

In the following list, the required parameters are described first.

AttributeDefinitions

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

Type: Array of AttributeDefinition objects

Required: Yes

KeySchema

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

Note

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.

Type: Array of KeySchemaElement objects

Array Members: Minimum number of 1 item. Maximum number of 2 items.

Required: Yes

TableName

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

Type: String

Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 1024.

Required: Yes

BillingMode

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

  • PROVISIONED - We recommend using PROVISIONED for predictable workloads. PROVISIONED sets the billing mode to Provisioned capacity mode.

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

Type: String

Valid Values: PROVISIONED | PAY_PER_REQUEST

Required: No

DeletionProtectionEnabled

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

Type: Boolean

Required: No

GlobalSecondaryIndexes

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.

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

Type: Array of GlobalSecondaryIndex objects

Required: No

LocalSecondaryIndexes

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.

Type: Array of LocalSecondaryIndex objects

Required: No

OnDemandThroughput

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.

Type: OnDemandThroughput object

Required: No

ProvisionedThroughput

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.

Type: ProvisionedThroughput object

Required: No

ResourcePolicy

An AWS 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.

Note

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

Type: String

Required: No

SSESpecification

Represents the settings used to enable server-side encryption.

Type: SSESpecification object

Required: No

StreamSpecification

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.

Type: StreamSpecification object

Required: No

TableClass

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

Type: String

Valid Values: STANDARD | STANDARD_INFREQUENT_ACCESS

Required: No

Tags

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

Type: Array of Tag objects

Required: No

WarmThroughput

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

Type: WarmThroughput object

Required: No

Response Syntax

{
   "TableDescription": { 
      "ArchivalSummary": { 
         "ArchivalBackupArn": "string",
         "ArchivalDateTime": number,
         "ArchivalReason": "string"
      },
      "AttributeDefinitions": [ 
         { 
            "AttributeName": "string",
            "AttributeType": "string"
         }
      ],
      "BillingModeSummary": { 
         "BillingMode": "string",
         "LastUpdateToPayPerRequestDateTime": number
      },
      "CreationDateTime": number,
      "DeletionProtectionEnabled": boolean,
      "GlobalSecondaryIndexes": [ 
         { 
            "Backfilling": boolean,
            "IndexArn": "string",
            "IndexName": "string",
            "IndexSizeBytes": number,
            "IndexStatus": "string",
            "ItemCount": number,
            "KeySchema": [ 
               { 
                  "AttributeName": "string",
                  "KeyType": "string"
               }
            ],
            "OnDemandThroughput": { 
               "MaxReadRequestUnits": number,
               "MaxWriteRequestUnits": number
            },
            "Projection": { 
               "NonKeyAttributes": [ "string" ],
               "ProjectionType": "string"
            },
            "ProvisionedThroughput": { 
               "LastDecreaseDateTime": number,
               "LastIncreaseDateTime": number,
               "NumberOfDecreasesToday": number,
               "ReadCapacityUnits": number,
               "WriteCapacityUnits": number
            },
            "WarmThroughput": { 
               "ReadUnitsPerSecond": number,
               "Status": "string",
               "WriteUnitsPerSecond": number
            }
         }
      ],
      "GlobalTableVersion": "string",
      "ItemCount": number,
      "KeySchema": [ 
         { 
            "AttributeName": "string",
            "KeyType": "string"
         }
      ],
      "LatestStreamArn": "string",
      "LatestStreamLabel": "string",
      "LocalSecondaryIndexes": [ 
         { 
            "IndexArn": "string",
            "IndexName": "string",
            "IndexSizeBytes": number,
            "ItemCount": number,
            "KeySchema": [ 
               { 
                  "AttributeName": "string",
                  "KeyType": "string"
               }
            ],
            "Projection": { 
               "NonKeyAttributes": [ "string" ],
               "ProjectionType": "string"
            }
         }
      ],
      "MultiRegionConsistency": "string",
      "OnDemandThroughput": { 
         "MaxReadRequestUnits": number,
         "MaxWriteRequestUnits": number
      },
      "ProvisionedThroughput": { 
         "LastDecreaseDateTime": number,
         "LastIncreaseDateTime": number,
         "NumberOfDecreasesToday": number,
         "ReadCapacityUnits": number,
         "WriteCapacityUnits": number
      },
      "Replicas": [ 
         { 
            "GlobalSecondaryIndexes": [ 
               { 
                  "IndexName": "string",
                  "OnDemandThroughputOverride": { 
                     "MaxReadRequestUnits": number
                  },
                  "ProvisionedThroughputOverride": { 
                     "ReadCapacityUnits": number
                  },
                  "WarmThroughput": { 
                     "ReadUnitsPerSecond": number,
                     "Status": "string",
                     "WriteUnitsPerSecond": number
                  }
               }
            ],
            "KMSMasterKeyId": "string",
            "OnDemandThroughputOverride": { 
               "MaxReadRequestUnits": number
            },
            "ProvisionedThroughputOverride": { 
               "ReadCapacityUnits": number
            },
            "RegionName": "string",
            "ReplicaInaccessibleDateTime": number,
            "ReplicaStatus": "string",
            "ReplicaStatusDescription": "string",
            "ReplicaStatusPercentProgress": "string",
            "ReplicaTableClassSummary": { 
               "LastUpdateDateTime": number,
               "TableClass": "string"
            },
            "WarmThroughput": { 
               "ReadUnitsPerSecond": number,
               "Status": "string",
               "WriteUnitsPerSecond": number
            }
         }
      ],
      "RestoreSummary": { 
         "RestoreDateTime": number,
         "RestoreInProgress": boolean,
         "SourceBackupArn": "string",
         "SourceTableArn": "string"
      },
      "SSEDescription": { 
         "InaccessibleEncryptionDateTime": number,
         "KMSMasterKeyArn": "string",
         "SSEType": "string",
         "Status": "string"
      },
      "StreamSpecification": { 
         "StreamEnabled": boolean,
         "StreamViewType": "string"
      },
      "TableArn": "string",
      "TableClassSummary": { 
         "LastUpdateDateTime": number,
         "TableClass": "string"
      },
      "TableId": "string",
      "TableName": "string",
      "TableSizeBytes": number,
      "TableStatus": "string",
      "WarmThroughput": { 
         "ReadUnitsPerSecond": number,
         "Status": "string",
         "WriteUnitsPerSecond": number
      }
   }
}

Response Elements

If the action is successful, the service sends back an HTTP 200 response.

The following data is returned in JSON format by the service.

TableDescription

Represents the properties of the table.

Type: TableDescription object

Errors

For information about the errors that are common to all actions, see Common Errors.

InternalServerError

An error occurred on the server side.

HTTP Status Code: 500

LimitExceededException

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.

HTTP Status Code: 400

ResourceInUseException

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.

HTTP Status Code: 400

Examples

Create a Table

This example creates a table named Thread. The table primary key consists of ForumName (partition key) and Subject (sort key). A local secondary index is also created; its key consists of ForumName (partition key) and LastPostDateTime (sort key).

Sample Request

POST / HTTP/1.1
Host: dynamodb.<region>.<domain>;
Accept-Encoding: identity
Content-Length: <PayloadSizeBytes>
User-Agent: <UserAgentString>
Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.0
Authorization: AWS4-HMAC-SHA256 Credential=<Credential>, SignedHeaders=<Headers>, Signature=<Signature>
X-Amz-Date: <Date>
X-Amz-Target: DynamoDB_20120810.CreateTable

{
    "AttributeDefinitions": [
        {
            "AttributeName": "ForumName",
            "AttributeType": "S"
        },
        {
            "AttributeName": "Subject",
            "AttributeType": "S"
        },
        {
            "AttributeName": "LastPostDateTime",
            "AttributeType": "S"
        }
    ],
    "TableName": "Thread",
    "KeySchema": [
        {
            "AttributeName": "ForumName",
            "KeyType": "HASH"
        },
        {
            "AttributeName": "Subject",
            "KeyType": "RANGE"
        }
    ],
    "LocalSecondaryIndexes": [
        {
            "IndexName": "LastPostIndex",
            "KeySchema": [
                {
                    "AttributeName": "ForumName",
                    "KeyType": "HASH"
                },
                {
                    "AttributeName": "LastPostDateTime",
                    "KeyType": "RANGE"
                }
            ],
            "Projection": {
                "ProjectionType": "KEYS_ONLY"
            }
        }
    ],
    "ProvisionedThroughput": {
        "ReadCapacityUnits": 5,
        "WriteCapacityUnits": 5
    },
    "Tags": [ 
      { 
         "Key": "Owner",
         "Value": "BlueTeam"
      }
   ]
}

Sample Response

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
x-amzn-RequestId: <RequestId>
x-amz-crc32: <Checksum>
Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.0
Content-Length: <PayloadSizeBytes>
Date: <Date>
 {
    "TableDescription": {
        "TableArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-west-2:123456789012:table/Thread",
        "AttributeDefinitions": [
            {
                "AttributeName": "ForumName",
                "AttributeType": "S"
            },
            {
                "AttributeName": "LastPostDateTime",
                "AttributeType": "S"
            },
            {
                "AttributeName": "Subject",
                "AttributeType": "S"
            }
        ],
        "CreationDateTime": 1.36372808007E9,
        "ItemCount": 0,
        "KeySchema": [
            {
                "AttributeName": "ForumName",
                "KeyType": "HASH"
            },
            {
                "AttributeName": "Subject",
                "KeyType": "RANGE"
            }
        ],
        "LocalSecondaryIndexes": [
            {
                "IndexArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-west-2:123456789012:table/Thread/index/LastPostIndex",
                "IndexName": "LastPostIndex",
                "IndexSizeBytes": 0,
                "ItemCount": 0,
                "KeySchema": [
                    {
                        "AttributeName": "ForumName",
                        "KeyType": "HASH"
                    },
                    {
                        "AttributeName": "LastPostDateTime",
                        "KeyType": "RANGE"
                    }
                ],
                "Projection": {
                    "ProjectionType": "KEYS_ONLY"
                }
            }
        ],
        "ProvisionedThroughput": {
            "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
            "ReadCapacityUnits": 5,
            "WriteCapacityUnits": 5
        },
        "TableName": "Thread",
        "TableSizeBytes": 0,
        "TableStatus": "CREATING"
    }
}

See Also

For more information about using this API in one of the language-specific AWS SDKs, see the following: